Duke of Marlborough

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duke of marlborough marlborough was one of the first generals to master the art of leading a coalition army from multiple different countries and was celebrated for his tactical genius and for his organizational skills that made his army one of the most dangerous in europe he was also a natural-born political animal rising to his high station in no small part due to his powerful friends including royalty he would eventually be undone not by defeat on the battlefield but by political backstabbing at home brought on by his own ruthless maneuvering regardless of his faults he is still recognized today as a crucial figure in british and european history whose actions both on and off the battlefield continue to be felt even 300 years later [Music] john churchill was born on may 26 1650 in his grandmother's house in devon in southwest england his father sir winston churchill had fought on the royalist side in the recently concluded english civil war the royalists had lost and king charles had been deposed and executed the year before and the victorious parliamentarians punished those who had served the royalist cause with heavy sanctions including fines so steep that it forced sir winston to move in with his mother-in-law the churchill family fortunes turned around in 1660 when the monarchy was restored and the prince of wales was crowned king charles ii five years later john's older sister arabella was made a maid of honor to the duchess of york and hyde and husband james the duke of york was king charles's brother and heir to the thrones of england and scotland james was smitten by the 17 year old arabella and she became his mistress an arrangement that lasted over a decade and produced four illegitimate children as was customary for the time james rewarded the churchill family with patronage and john and his brothers were given positions in the royal household and later in the military church got his first taste of battle in 1672 when england went to war against the dutch republic in an alliance with france he served under the command of the duke of monmouth the illegitimate child of king charles ii and acquitted himself well in the field he returned home in 1675 and soon after met 15 year old sarah jennings another maid of honor in the royal court and two years later the two married in secret since neither of their families approved of the match throughout the 1670s it became clear that king charles ii would not produce a legitimate heir to the throne meaning that upon his death the crown would go to his brother james the problem was james was a devout catholic there were fears that a catholic king would try to force the country to convert and outlaw the anglican church it had been the catholic sympathies of king charles the first that was a major factor in inciting the english civil war that had deposed him years earlier what to do about the succession precipitated a crisis that dominated english politics for over a decade king charles supported his brother and so did the church or family while not catholic themselves they owed their station to their friendship with james and so remained loyal to him even as most of parliament turned against him sarah churchill formed a friendship with james's daughter and that would prove to be extremely influential in the years to come while john cultivated a friendship with james who succeeded to the throne upon the death of his brother in 1685. soon after james coronation the duke of monmouth led a rebellion against him proclaiming himself king he hoped to use the fact that he was a protestant son of king charles or be it an illegitimate one to gain the throne for himself king james sent the royal army under the earl of feverisham to crush the rebellion john churchill was appointed second in command and played a key role in the defeat of the monmouth rebellion at the battle of sejmore on july 6 1685. soon though it became clear that protestant fears about king james were not groundless james favored catholics in senior court positions and favored policies that expressed toleration for catholics but not for other protestant sects such as presbyterians he was accused of being an absolute monarch who did whatever he wanted whether the people he ruled liked it or not his support eroded steadily and was so low that in 1688 there was open talk of deposing him and replacing him with his daughter mary and her husband william prince of orange the most powerful figure in the dutch republic in november 1688 william landed in england at the head of a large invasion force james watched in horror as most of his royal army deserted him to join the dutch invaders the majority of the english population welcomed william as a savior both of his daughters mary and ann turned against him but the hardest betrayal to take was that of john churchill it turned out that he had been secretly plotting with william for months to depose james and as one of james's senior commanders and trusted advisors knew what the king was planning and how to oppose it churchill deserted his king and joined william soon after he landed james fled the country in december and soon after william and mary were crowned as joint monarchs churchill was rewarded by being made earl of marlborough but many people looked upon his desertion of james as a disgrace effectively stabbing the man who had made his career in the back just for personal gain more than anything it demonstrated his ruthless ambition which was to help and hinder him in equal parts in the years to come william and mary never really trusted marlborough after they were crowned after all if he was willing to betray one monarch who's to say he wouldn't betray another if it stood to benefit him in fact marlborough maintained a secret correspondence with the deposed james through the 1690s which is viewed more as an insurance policy in case he was restored to the throne marlborough was not an active supporter of james or jack by it as they were called but he was above all a practical man marlborough made other powerful friends in this time period such as sydney gadolphin the first lord of the treasury and sarah who was now the favorite of princess anne who was next in line to the throne another reason the king and queen distrusted him although recognized as an exemplary soldier his vanity and inability to please his new monarchs would be his undoing in january 1692 he was summarily dismissed from his officers and banished from the court and in may he was accused of being a signatory to a letter that outlined a plot to replace william with james and he was sent to the tower of london after five weeks that letter was discredited as a forgery and marlborough was released it took until 1698 for marlborough to regain positions in the government although he still had a cool relationship with the king but events on the continent intervened that would turn marlborough into an international hero and if you want to become an 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much of germany by their essentially hereditary control of the throne of the holy roman empire another branch of the habsburgs controlled the vast spanish empire which while it wasn't the powerhouse that it once was still controlled much of the americas southern italy and the spanish netherlands which is modern-day belgium most of the conflicts of this period were driven by the need to keep the balance of power between these great two powers with the other countries of europe fighting each other one or the other in turn in order to keep them in check it was a complicated and violent system but the only one that worked in an age where monarchs were free to treat their nations like placings that could go to war on a whim a serious threat to the balance of power developed in 1700 the king of spain charles ii who had ruled for over 30 years was in perpetually ill health likely caused by genetic deficiencies resulting from centuries of inbreeding he was unable to produce an heir and with no other close relatives to succeed him both the bourbons and the habsburgs competed bitterly with each other to take the power of spain into their own fold something that would irrevocably tip the balance of power in favor of the victor on november the first 1700 charles ii died his will left the throne of spain to philip of andrew the grandson of king louis xiv the idea of the bourbons controlling both france and spain was unacceptable to holy roman emperor leopold and it horrified the rest of europe including king william a grand alliance was formed in 1701 consisting of england the dutch republic and the holy roman empire to oppose louie's ambitions in spain what became known as the war of spanish succession had begun king william iii died in march 1702 from complications that developed from a fall from his horse his sister-in-law was proclaimed queen anne soon after marlborough was made captain general of all english and scottish forces and also made commander of the dutch and hired german armies as well he now had a huge challenge ahead of him he faced a french army that was considered the best in the world at the time commanded by louis xiv's best marshals he also had to contend with an allied army with differing priorities and squabbling factions in parliament at home but it was this adversity that served to further showcase his brilliance in command marlborough took command in the low countries where the war was to be principally fought immediately outmaneuvered his opponent marshall bufler and took four cities in the netherlands a grateful queen made him the duke of marlborough but when he returned to war the next year the french foiled the allied designs for a quick end to the war and marlborough came under attack by the politics at home marlborough was a tory and they had control of the government and had the favor of the queen but many of his tory colleagues thought that a land war was a waste of time and resources and that they should devote their efforts instead due deploying the royal navy to attack france and spain's overseas colonies and trade routes by contrast the whigs headed by a group of powerful lords called the junto were fully in support of the continental campaign and marlborough's son-in-law was a leading wig but queen anne hated the whigs and didn't want them in control of her ministry marlborough was now caught between bitter political rivals and had to play a delicate game in order to keep everyone happy but he could do nothing if he lost the war and when he returned to the field in 1704 he faced a crisis the main thrust of the french war effort in 1704 was against austria the empire was hard-pressed by two french armies and a third commanded by france's ally the elector of bavaria they were advancing along the danube river towards the imperial capital of vienna if vienna was taken they would likely knock the habsburgs out of the war and the entire alliance would collapse marlborough knew he needed to save vienna but he also knew that the dutch would never willingly allow him to leave their borders and weaken the defenses of their home country so to get his army down the danube he decided to trick both his dutch allies and his french opponents by pretending to march west then abruptly turning south and floating his army on barges down the rhine river his deception worked he was able to march a force of 40 000 men over 250 miles in five weeks while being completely unhindered this torrid pace was accomplished with spectacular logistics planned by marlborough so that when his army arrived at the danube it was in a fit state to fight here he met up with the commander of the imperial army prince eugene of savoy an accomplished and flamboyant general who became marlborough's great friend personally and professionally together they faced off against the forces of marshalls tallade and marcin and the electorate of bavaria war in this time period was usually dominated by sieges but marlborough taking advantage of advances in technology such as the socket bayonet sought to destroy his enemies in the field proclaiming that one battle is worth 10 sieges but the french were reluctant to fight at first rating for reinforcement so marlborough resolved to attack them at their position near the small village known in english as blenheim the allied plan was simple eugene would attack the french position on the right flank pinning them down at the same time some of marlborough's force would attack the village of blenheim which formed the left flank with the two flanks pinned down marlborough himself would crash through the center of the line with the main body of his army dealing a deathly blow the battle of blernheim began with the simultaneous attacks on the french flanks at 1pm the battle unfolded just as marlborough had hoped the vicious and bloody flank attacks had pinned down large numbers of french troops that were unable to reinforce the centre of their battle line more troops were pinned in the center in the hamlet of oberglau now marlborough unleashed his hammer blow a massive combined wave of cavalry infantry and artillery that cut nine french battalions to pieces and sent the center of the french line into panicked flight over three thousand french are estimated to have drowned in the danube during the rout they took thousands more prisoners including marshall tallard on the right eugene personally led an attack that overwhelmed the bavarian artillery battery and put martin and the elector to flight then marlborough turned his attention to the ten thousand soldiers now trapped in the village of blenheim finally forcing them to surrender after heavy fighting at 9 pm it was a stunning victory for marlborough and eugene 27 000 french were dead wounded or captured compared with 12 000 allied casualties all of bavaria was soon overrun and put under austrian military rule knocking them out of the war and it made marlborough a hero he returned to london in december and led a triumphal procession to westminster palace queen anne allocated money to build a palatial estate blenheim palace as a reward for his deed it would be the high point of his career [Music] the campaign of 1705 was not nearly as successful for marlborough as he was stymied by french resistance and the reluctance of the dutch to leave their border defenses to attack the french it gave marlborough's tory enemies at home ammunition to call blenheim a fluke and the land war a waste of time meanwhile the queen's relationship with sarah had chilled sarah was a staunch wig and campaigned tirelessly against the tories irritating the queen 1706 did not start any better with the french making gains on all fronts and the lack of allied support forcing marlborough to fight in the spanish netherlands instead of germany or italy where he wanted to bolstered by a success louis xiv goaded marshall villeroy into leaving his defensive positions in flanders to attack marlborough seeking to avenge blenheim and perhaps force the dutch out of the war marlboro met him at ramaleis on may 23 and in a battle that took less than four hours completely outmaneuvered and crushed the french inflicting 15 to 20 000 casualties compared to 3500 of his own though not lauded as blenheim it was arguably his greatest victory of the war strategically it had great implications as well as marlborough's forces captured most of the spanish netherlands including the most important cities of brussels antwerp and bruges in 1707 marlborough was unable to win a victory on the battlefield but he achieved one diplomatically he successfully bribed carl piper one of king charles xii of sweden's chief advisors in return for piper persuading charles to launch an attack on russia instead of interfering in the war between the alliance and france in 1708 he was joined in flanders by his friend prince eugene and together they won another great victory over the french at udenard they advanced through the spanish netherlands towards france itself in 1709 in one of the bloodiest battles of the war they beat the french again at malplaque but the affair was a bloody one and the allies suffered twice as many casualties as the french it was to be the last great victory of the war for the remarkable partnership between marlborough and eugene at home though things were turning to disaster for marlborough his chief ally in the government lord godolphin had been forced to compel the queen to share power with the wig gento permanently fracturing the relationship between the marlboroughs and anne the queen had turned to a new favorite abigail mash and sarah's cousin and to robert harley a former ally of marlborough who had now turned against him the tories looked on the power sharing scheme as a betrayal and when they assumed power in 1710 the whigs were swept from government and godolphin went with them now harley and the tories went after marlborough they trumped up corruption charges against him that he was stealing public money meant for the army for his own profit and in december of 1711 queen anne who by now had turned on sarah completely dismissed her undefeated commander from his post [Music] the other members of the grand alliance were stunned by marlborough's dismissal and even more shocked when it was discovered that the british government had been hosting secret talks with the french for months beforehand to secure favorable terms for themselves at the expense of everyone else the treaty of ultra act which ended british participation in the war was heavily slanted in favor of the british and did little to nothing for the rest of the allies it kept philip as king of spain in exchange for his formal renunciation of the french throne which maintained the balance of power in europe it established great britain as the country was now called after the act of union in 1707 merged england and scotland into one nation as the dominant commercial power in the world some of its effects are still felt today the united kingdom still controls the port of gibraltar ceded to britain by spain in the treaty of ultra act for marlborough however the piece was a bitter pill to swallow he had been largely responsible for british success in the war only to be brought down by political infighting but really he had no one but himself to blame his attempt to play both sides to his own benefit had backfired and his inability to convince his wife sarah to be more subtle in her politicking and less haughty had alienated them both from queen anne marlborough went into self-imposed exile on the continent in 1712. he was still immensely popular in germany and austria and traveled extensively over the next two years marlborough was to play kingmaker one more time however queen anne had no living heirs and the act of settlement passed in 1701 ruled catholics to be ineligible to inherit the throne the closest protestant relative was the elector of hanover george lewis however the jacobites still hoped to restore the heir to king james to the throne instead it fell to marlborough to assure a smooth transition for george when queen anne died on august 1 1714. king george the first was crowned the jacobites were defeated when they rose in rebellion and all seemed well for the marblers but in 1716 the duke had the first of a series of strokes that would sap his health and force him to retire from public life he watched as his enemy robert harley was stripped of his officers and briefly imprisoned and oversaw the construction of blenheim palace on june 16 1722 following another stroke he died aged 72. he was given a state funeral and was buried in westminster abbey although his remains were later removed to lie next to his wife at the chapel at blanhein palace which was finished after the duke's death the palace is one of the largest estates in britain not owned by the royal family the ancestral home of the churchill family and the dukes of marlborough for the last 300 years it was at blenheim in 1874 that winston churchill was born this direct descendant of the duke would go on of course to become the most famous prime minister in the country's history duke of marlborough was one of the most inspired commanders in european history he routinely outfoxed and outfought his opponents on the battlefield and his talents for coalition building and logistics were just as important in his victories his partnership with prince eugene a great general in his own right provided a series of stunning victories that checked the power of the sun king and helped facilitate britain's rise to prominence in the 18th century if he had a fault it was his aggressive politicking and ambition to rise to power in the first place though it's hard to argue with his results once he got there after all not everyone wins a battle so thoroughly that you're given a palace named after it so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe don't forget to check out today's sponsor squarespace either and thank you for watching [Music]

Channel: Biographics

Views: 119,373

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: CW7d8CVvU9g

Length: 22min 19sec (1339 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 23 2020