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| - The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was fought between European powers, including a divided Spain, over who had the right to succeed Charles II as King of Spain. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America. It was marked by the leadership of notable generals including the Duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, and the successful partnership of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Several battles are considered classics in military history, notably the Grand Alliance victories at Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706), which drove the French forces from Germany and the Netherlands, and the Franco-Bourbon Spanish victory at Almansa (1707), which in turn broke the Grand Alliance hold over Spain. The war concluded with the Pe
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| abstract
| - The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was fought between European powers, including a divided Spain, over who had the right to succeed Charles II as King of Spain. The war was fought mostly in Europe but included Queen Anne's War in North America. It was marked by the leadership of notable generals including the Duc de Villars, the Jacobite Duke of Berwick, and the successful partnership of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Several battles are considered classics in military history, notably the Grand Alliance victories at Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706), which drove the French forces from Germany and the Netherlands, and the Franco-Bourbon Spanish victory at Almansa (1707), which in turn broke the Grand Alliance hold over Spain. The war concluded with the Peace of Utrecht (1713), in which the warring states recognised the French candidate as King Philip V of Spain in exchange for territorial and economic concessions. In the years preceding the war, Spain's military was neglected during the long reign of its last Habsburg king, Charles II, so that by 1700 Spain had effectively slipped from the ranks of the great powers. However, Spain still possessed by far the largest empire in the world, with possessions in Europe and the Far East, vast territories in the Americas, and strongholds in North Africa and elsewhere. When Charles II designated Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor, the Grand Alliance intervened to prevent a dynastic unification of Spain with France, then the dominant military power on the continent, fearing that such a union would drastically alter the balance of power. Because of this, France entered the war diplomatically isolated. Having the support only of its traditional ally, the Electorate of Bavaria (itself knocked out of the war in 1704), and those Spanish loyal to Philip, France faced a Grand Alliance composed of the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy, all determined to preserve the Spanish throne for their Habsburg candidate, Archduke Charles. Spain itself became divided over which pretender should ascend the Spanish throne and suffered a long series of sieges and skirmishes, until a Franco-Bourbon Spanish victory at Villaviciosa (1710) decisively ended Habsburg hopes. In Flanders, the war went badly for France. In a series of intricate manoeuvres and campaigns, French generals were repeatedly defeated by Marlborough and Eugene. Following a French defeat at Oudenard (1708), Lille, the last of France's major northern fortifications, fell to a protracted siege, opening a corridor towards Paris. These dire reverses prompted Louis XIV to sue for peace, but the Grand Alliance imposed humiliating terms and he decided to press the war to its end. At the same time, a series of events led to the Grand Alliance faltering. At the Battle of Malplaquet (1709) the Alliance invasion of France was blunted by French forces under the Duc de Villars. Following the pyrrhic victory, Marlborough was recalled to London, which, combined with a new parliament pressing for peace, dramatically reduced the effectiveness of the British forces. Negotiations between France and Britain started in secret. In 1711, Archduke Charles' elder brother Joseph died and the Archduke became Emperor Charles VI. Other members of the Alliance were thus presented with the dilemma of a possible Austro-Spanish power bloc in place of a Franco-Spanish one. Meanwhile, continued skirmishing, sieges, and battles allowed the French to re-capture much ground, especially after Villars' decisive victory at Denain (1712). Unable to resist French advances without British support, first the Dutch, then the Austrians, formally sued for peace. The war was concluded by the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714). The negotiated settlements recognised the Bourbon pretender Philip V as King of Spain but required him to be removed from the French line of succession, averting a personal union of the two kingdoms. The Austrians gained most of the Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands and the British were granted the right to slave trading in Spain's American colonies for thirty years, as well as gaining Gibraltar and Minorca. France's hegemony over continental Europe was ended and the idea of a balance of power became a part of the European order. Philip revived Spanish territorial claims; taking advantage of the power vacuum caused by Louis XIV's death in 1715, Philip announced he would claim the French crown if the infant Louis XV died and attempted to reclaim Spanish territory in Italy, precipitating the War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1717.
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