Much is expected of the Pragmatic Allies in 1744, but the timidity of their general, Field Marshal George Wade, produces nothing against a numerically inferior enemy.
Wade eventually advances towards Lille, but he does little more than bicker with the Austrians about the cost of moving his siege train from Antwerp.
Maurice de Saxe, Marshal of France, is able to maintain his position at Courtrai and along the lines of the Lys, and remain relatively untroubled throughout.
The risible results of the Allied campaign in the Low Countries have led in part to the fall of the Carteret government in Britain, leading to a new administration led by Henry Pelham and his brother, the Duke of Newcastle.
Elsewhere, the Pragmatic Allies in late 1744 score considerable success.
A joint Austro-Saxon force under Charles of Lorraine and Count Traun drives the Prussian army of Frederick II from Bohemia; and Piedmont-Sardinia expels the Bourbons from northern Italy.
