Battle Of Dunkirk, 1658, In A Franco-spanish War

By André Geraque Kiffer

Seventeenth-century Europe was dominated by the struggle between the Bourbon kings of France and their Habsburg rivals in Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. The Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) was fought mainly between France and Spain, but had the participation of a variable list of allies. The Battle of Dunkirk took place near the strategic port of the same name in what was then the Spanish Netherlands. Part of the Franco-Spanish War and concurrent Anglo-Spanish War, a joint French and English (parliamentary) army under Turenne besieged Dunkirk. Led by John of Austria and Louis the Great Condé, a joint Spanish, English (monarchist) and French (Huguenot) army attempted to lift the siege, but suffered a severe defeat. In the battle simulation I will try to correct the failures presented in the historical analysis, testing improvements in the maneuvers. And then we will see which maneuver will prevail, both being instructed with the best and with the maximum effort.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024

Book preview

Battle  of  Dunkirk,

1658,  in  a

Franco-Spanish  War A  historical  simulation

André  Geraque  Kiffer

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---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658,  in  a  Franco-Spanish  War.  A historical  simulation.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  2024. Bibliography:  103  p.  62  il.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  War Games.  I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-91977-6

HISTORICAL  FACT...................................................  5

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HISTORICAL  SIMULATION....................................  4

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REFERENCES.......................................................  1

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As  a  Military  Historian  I  rely  on  a  summary  of  the historical  fact,  I  analyze  and  highlight  the  decisive  factors, before  simulating  hypotheses  what  if…  hypotheses through  a  board  game.  In  the  simulation,  all  possibilities of  the  purpose  of  the  study  are  completed,  when  the  past of  history  is  analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the  present and  projected  for  similar  situations  in  the  future.  Since 2010  I  have  published  the  following  series  of  simulations: I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of  the  First  Empires; II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  in  Classical  Greece; III.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars;  IV.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era;  V.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774);  VI. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Age  of  Revolutions (1775  to  1860);  VII.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the Industrial  Age  (1861  to  1913);  VIII.  Historical  Simulation of  the  First  World  War;  IX.  Historical  Simulation  of  World War  II;  X.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917  to 1991);  and  XI.  Historical  Simulation  of  Contemporary Wars  (1991  to  ...). Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.  War

Games.

Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658.  A  historical  simulation  by  André  Geraque  Kiffer

HISTORICAL  FACT

Franco-Spanish  War  (1635-1659)

Im  1:  Franco-Spanish  War.

It  was  fought  between  France  and  Spain,  with  the participation  of  a  variable  list  of  allies.  The  first  phase, beginning  in  May  1635  and  ending  with  the  Peace  of Westphalia  in  1648,  is  considered  a  conflict  related  to  the Thirty  Years'  War.  The  second  phase  continued  until  1659, when  France  and  Spain  agreed  to  peace  terms  in  the Treaty  of  the  Pyrenees. Seventeenth-century  Europe  was  dominated  by  the struggle  between  the  Bourbon  kings  of  France  and  their Habsburg  rivals  in  Spain  and  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.

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Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658.  A  historical  simulation  by  André  Geraque  Kiffer

During  the  1620s  France  was  threatened  internally  by  a series  of  rebellions  by  Protestant  Huguenots  and externally  by  Habsburg  possessions  on  its  borders  in  the Spanish  Netherlands,  Franche-Comté,  Alsace,  Roussillon and  Lorraine.

Im  2:  The  Fronde.

Before  1635  they  sought  to  weaken  both  branches  of  the Habsburgs  by  financing  their  opponents,  including  the Dutch,  client  states  in  northern  Italy,  the  Ottomans,  the Republic  of  Venice,  Transylvania,  and  Sweden.

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Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658.  A  historical  simulation  by  André  Geraque  Kiffer

After  1635  they  intervened  directly  through  anti-Habsburg alliances  with  the  Dutch  and  Swedes,  while  supporting independence  insurgents  in  Portugal,  Catalonia  and Naples.

Im  3:  Bourbon  versus  Habsburgs.

For  their  part,  the  Habsburgs  supported  the  Huguenots and  numerous  conspiracies  led  by  feudal  lords  who resented  their  loss  of  power  under  Cardinal  Richelieu  and his  successor,  Cardinal  Mazarin.  Spain  also  financed  the 1648  to  1653  civil  war  known  as  the  Fronde. Wider  cooperation  between  the  Spanish  and  Austrian Habsburgs  was  limited,  as  their  goals  were  not  always aligned.  Spain  was  a  global  maritime  power,  Austria primarily  a  European  land  power,  focused  on  the  Holy

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Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658.  A  historical  simulation  by  André  Geraque  Kiffer

Roman  Empire,  which  contained  more  than  1,800  member states,  most  of  them  extremely  small.

Im  4:  The  Spanish  Road.

Although  a  Habsburg  had  been  Emperor  of  the  Holy Roman  Empire  since  1440,  his  control  over  the  Empire was  weakened  by  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  in  1555,  and  this continued  in  the  period  leading  up  to  1620.  Reversing  this

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Battle  of  Dunkirk,  1658.  A  historical  simulation  by  André  Geraque  Kiffer

trend  was  one  of  the  main  goals  of  the  Habsburgs  during the  Thirty  Years’  War,  but  they  recognized  the  failure  of the  1648  Treaty  of  Westphalia. France  faced  the  same  issue  of  divergent  objectives  with its  allies.  The  war  coincided  with  the  period  of  economic supremacy  known  as  the  Dutch  Golden  Age  and  by  1640 many  Dutch  statesmen  saw  French  ambitions  in  the Spanish  Netherlands  as  a  threat.  Unlike  France,  Swedish war  aims  were  restricted  to  Germany,  and  in  1641  they considered  a  separate  peace  with  Ferdinand. From  the  end  of  the  16th  century,  Italy,  especially  the Kingdom  of  Naples  in  the  southern  half  of  the  peninsula, was  the  main  source  of  soldiers  and  money  for  the Spanish  Army  of  Flanders.  As  a  result,  much  of  the fighting  focused  on  the  Spanish  Road,  an  overland  supply route  that  linked  Spanish  possessions  in  Italy  with Flanders,  but  which  also  passed  through  areas  considered vital  to  French  security,  such  as  Alsace. Until  the  advent