France was at war from November 1688 until October 1697, so that the name of the Nine Years War accords almost exactly with the facts. It is also less likely to mislead than the other names which have been used. ‘The War of the League of Augsburg’, which originated with French writers, seems to impute responsibility to the Augsburg alliance of 1686. This alliance was, indeed, one of the preliminary steps towards the organizing of a coalition against France but, strictly speaking, it was abortive. Its signatories never acted upon it. A third name, ‘King William's War’, may be misunderstood to mean that King William III was chiefly responsible for the outbreak of the war.

Except for the short war with Spain in 1683–4, France was legally at peace or in truce with all the states of Europe for the ten years following the treaties of Nymegen in 1678–9; but during these years Louis XIV took possession of various towns and territories beyond his borders. His methods were various; they ranged from the legal pretexts of the Réunions to the purchase of Casale from the duke of Mantua; but the lordships and revenues so acquired were not as miscellaneous as might appear. The French moved forward from the points where their armies had halted at the peace settlement. They acquired three first-class fortresses. Strasbourg, with Kehl to support it, commanded the crossing of the Rhine on the road to the Danube; Luxemburg was the point d'appui on the left flank of the defence of the Spanish Netherlands; Casale stood on the Po, above the point where it entered the Spanish duchy of Milan.