1673 - Political Events

Political Events

Willem III of Orange saves Amsterdam and the province of Holland from France's Louis XIV by opening the sluice gates and flooding the country, an operation directed by mathematician and Amsterdam burgomaster Johan van Waveren Hudde, now 45 (see Leyden, 1574). Willem is supported by Friedrich Wilhelm, elector of Brandenburg, who concludes a separate peace with Louis and retains most of his possessions in Clèves.

Polish forces under the command of Jan Sobieski score a stunning victory over an Ottoman army near Chocim (later Hotin) November 10; Poland's incompetent king Mikhail Wishniowiecki dies at his native Lwów that day at age 33 after a 4-year reign (see 1674).

Dutch forces retake New York and Delaware (see 1655; 1664; 1674).

Vietnam's Trinh family sends troops to the south in an effort to regain control of the region and unite it with the north, which they have ruled for a century from Hanoi (see 1558). They have tried for 50 years to conquer the south from the Nguyen family and they fail again. The two sides sign a truce, and for the next century they will rule the two halves of the country separately while the Le dynasty continues puppet suzerainty over a "united" Vietnam (see 1777).

The Chinese warlord Shang Kexi (Shang K'o-hsi) petitions the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty emperor Kangxi (K'ang-hsi) to retire from his post as governor of Guangdong (Kwangtung) province and return to his native Manchurian birthplace. Now 18, Kangxi quickly agrees; preparations begin to bring the province under direct rule from the capital; and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories begins as Shang's elder son joins with two other southern generals who fear the loss or restriction of their power, which has rivaled that of the government at Beijing. Leading the revolt is General Wu Sangui (Wu San-kuei), now 61, who played a leading role in establishing the Qing dynasty 29 years ago and now proclaims himself emperor of a new Zhou (Chou) dynasty, but Kangxi actually welcomes the opportunity to end what he has considered the inevitable threat posed to his government by having virtually autonomous regimes in the south (see 1674).