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William was also stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, then in the preliminary stages of joining the War of the Grand Alliance against France, in a context of international tensions caused by the revocation by Louis XIV of the Edict of Nantes and the disputed succession of Cologne and the Electorate of the Palatinate.
William had already acquired the reputation of being the main champion in Europe of the Protestant cause against Catholicism and French absolutism ; in the developing English crisis he saw an opportunity to prevent an Anglo-French alliance and bring England to the anti-French side, by carrying out a military intervention directed against James.
This suited the desires of several English politicians who intended to depose James.
It is still a matter of controversy whether the initiative for the conspiracy was taken by the English or by the stadtholder and his wife.
William had been trying to influence English politics for well over a year, letting Grand Pensionary Gaspar Fagel publish an open letter to the English people in November 1687 deploring the religious policy of James, which action had generally been interpreted as a covert bid for kingship.

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