Preparations
Measures taken by Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Louvois (1639–91), Secretary of War under Louis XIV, allowed France to mobilize about 180,000 men. Of these about 120,000 would be used directly against the United Provinces. The bulk of the French army was divided into two bodies, one stationed in Charleroi and the other in Sedan. A third body, created from the allied armies of the prince-bishops of Münster and Cologne, was positioned on the right bank of the Rhine. It was expected that England would launch amphibious landings against the United Netherlands, although this never happened.
Read more about this topic: Franco-Dutch War
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)