Devastation of the Palatinate

Timeline

1. 1688Versailles · FranceAfter the Rhine blitz failed to bring a quick peace, Louvois and Chamlay proposed scorched earth in the Palatinate, Baden, and Württemberg, so the Imperial army could not be supplied locally or use the area as a base for attacking Alsace. In December a list of towns, villages, and castles to be destroyed was drawn up, and garrisons were ordered to carry it out before withdrawing.
2. 1689Heidelberg · Rhine PalatinateOn March 2, Tessé's troops set fire to Heidelberg's town, and the castle was also damaged, beginning the ruined landscape seen today. On March 8, Montclar's troops dismantled and burned Mannheim. Melac continued setting fires in the countryside around Heidelberg and Mannheim, and his name became a byword for cruelty in the German-speaking lands.
3. 1689The area around Speyer and Worms · Rhine PalatinateFrom late May to early June, French forces destroyed Oppenheim, Worms, Speyer, and Bingen, burning over twenty larger towns in all along with many villages and castles. Prints and pamphlets quickly spread throughout the Empire and the Netherlands; William III and others used them to justify the war against France. The scorched earth achieved limited military results but politically strengthened the Grand Alliance.