War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict, fought between 1701 and 1714. The death of Charles II of Spain in November 1700 without children resulted in a succession struggle. Philip of Anjou was backed by his grandfather Louis XIV of France. His opponent, Archduke Charles of Austria, was supported by the Grand Alliance. Significant related conflicts include the Great Northern War and Queen Anne's War.
Although no longer the predominant power in Europe, the Spanish Empire remained a vast global power, including the Spanish Netherlands, large parts of Italy, the Americas and the Spanish East Indies. Its union with either France or Austria threatened the European balance of power, and the proclamation of Philip as king of Spain on 16 November 1700 led to war. Although by 1709 the Grand Alliance had forced France onto the defensive, Philip had confirmed his position in Spain, the ostensible cause of the war.
When Emperor Joseph I died in 1711, Archduke Charles succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor. Union with Austria was as unwelcome as that with France, while mounting costs led the new British government to withdraw from the war. The Grand Alliance's remaining forces continued to fight until British military and financial support collapsed. This led to the 1713 Peace of Utrecht, followed by the treaties of Rastatt and Baden in 1714.
Philip was confirmed as King of Spain, but renounced his place in the French line of succession. In addition, most Spanish possessions in Italy were ceded to Savoy and Austria, which also acquired the Austrian Netherlands. Britain retained the Spanish ports of Gibraltar and Menorca, along with trade concessions in the Americas. This established the British as the primary European commercial entity, replacing the Dutch, who thereafter declined as a significant power despite securing their barrier fortresses and gaining part of Upper Guelders. France was left financially exhausted but placing a Bourbon on the Spanish throne meant it had succeeded in the long envisioned goal of breaking the encirclement of its borders by the Habsburg monarchy.
Background
succeeded his father Philip IV at the age of four in 1665. Subject to extended periods of ill-health for much of his life, the issue of his successor was a matter of diplomatic debate for decades. For example, in 1670 Charles II of England agreed to support the rights of Louis XIV of France, while the 1689 Grand Alliance committed England and the Dutch Republic to back those of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.When Charles died in 1700, the Spanish Empire was no longer the dominant great power, but still included much of Italy and the Americas, the Spanish Netherlands, and colonies such as the Philippines. Negotiations between Louis and Emperor Leopold centered on dividing these territories, which the Spanish refused to allow. Since the acquisition of an undivided empire by either Austria or France would make them too powerful, its inheritance led to a war that involved most of Europe. The 1700–1721 Great Northern War is considered a connected conflict since it affected the involvement of states such as Sweden, Saxony, Denmark–Norway and Russia.
Armies in the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War frequently numbered over 100,000, requiring expenditure unsustainable for pre-industrial economies. The 1690s also marked the low point of the Little Ice Age, a period of cold and wet weather that drastically reduced crop yields across Europe. The Great Famine of 1695–1697 killed an estimated 15–25% of the population in present-day Scotland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states, plus another two million in France and Northern Italy.
This combination of financial exhaustion and famine led to the October 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, a compromise that left the succession unresolved. Since it now seemed clear Charles would die without children, Leopold signed only with extreme reluctance, and all sides viewed Ryswick as only a temporary suspension of hostilities.
Partition treaties
Unlike the crowns of France or Austria, that of Spain could be inherited through the female line. This allowed Charles' sisters Maria Theresa and Margaret Theresa to pass their rights onto the children of their respective marriages with Louis XIV and Emperor Leopold. Louis sought to avoid conflict over the issue through direct negotiation with his main opponent William III of England while excluding the Spanish.Leopold and Margaret's daughter Maria Antonia married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria in 1685, and on 28 October 1692, they had a son, Joseph Ferdinand. Under the October 1698 Treaty of the Hague between France, Britain and the Dutch Republic, five-year-old Joseph was designated heir to Charles II; in return, France and Austria would receive parts of Spain's European territories. Charles refused to accept this; on 14 November 1698, he published a will leaving an undivided Spanish monarchy to Joseph Ferdinand. However, the latter's death from smallpox in February 1699 undid these arrangements.
In 1685, Maria Antonia passed her claim to the Spanish throne onto Leopold's sons, Joseph and Archduke Charles. Her right to do so was doubtful, but Louis and William used this to devise the 1700 Treaty of London. Archduke Charles became the new heir, while France, Savoy and Austria received territorial compensation; however, since neither Leopold nor Charles agreed, the treaty was largely pointless. By early October 1700, Charles was dying; his final will left the throne to Louis XIV's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou; if he refused, the offer would pass to his younger brother the Duke of Berry, followed by Archduke Charles.
Charles died on 1 November 1700, and on the 9th, Spanish ambassadors formally offered the throne to Philip. Louis briefly considered refusing; although it meant the succession of Archduke Charles, insisting William help him enforce the Treaty of London meant he might achieve his territorial aims without fighting. However, his son the Dauphin rejected the idea; French diplomats also advised Austria would fight regardless, while neither the British nor Dutch would go to war for a settlement intended to avoid war. Louis therefore accepted on behalf of his grandson, who was proclaimed Philip V of Spain on 16 November 1700.
Prelude to war
With most of his objectives achieved by diplomacy, Louis now made a series of moves that combined to make war inevitable. The Tory majority in the English Parliament objected to the Partition Treaties, chiefly the French acquisition of Sicily, an important link in the lucrative Levant trade. However, a foreign diplomat observed their refusal to become involved in a European war was true "only so long as English commerce does not suffer". Louis either failed to appreciate this or decided to ignore it and his actions gradually eroded Tory opposition.In early 1701, Louis registered Philip's claim to the French throne with the Parlement of Paris, raising the possibility of union with Spain, contrary to Charles' will, though Philip was only third in the French succession. In February, the Spanish-controlled Duchy of Milan and allied Duchy of Mantua in Northern Italy announced their support for Philip and accepted French troops. Combined with efforts to build an alliance between France and Imperial German states in Swabia and Franconia, these were challenges Leopold could not ignore.
Helped by the governor, Max Emanuel of Bavaria, French troops replaced Dutch garrisons in the 'Barrier' fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands, granted at Ryswick. It also threatened the Dutch monopoly over the Scheldt granted by the 1648 Peace of Münster, while French control of Antwerp and Ostend would allow them to blockade the English Channel at will. Combined with other French actions that threatened English trade, this produced a clear majority for war and in May 1701, Parliament urged William to negotiate an anti-French alliance.
On 7 September, Leopold, the Dutch Republic and Britain signed the Treaty of The Hague renewing the 1689 Grand Alliance. Its provisions included securing the Dutch Barrier in the Spanish Netherlands, the Protestant succession in England and Scotland and an independent Spain but did not refer to placing Archduke Charles on the Spanish throne. When the exiled James II of England died on 16 September 1701, Louis reneged on his recognition of the Protestant William III as king of England and Scotland and supported the claim of James' son, James Francis Edward Stuart. War became inevitable and when William himself died in March 1702, his successor Queen Anne confirmed her support for the Treaty of the Hague. The Dutch now led by Grand Pensionary Anthonie Heinsius did the same, despite French hopes that without a Stadtholder the republic would be torn apart internally. On 8 May the Dutch Republic declared war on France, followed by the British and the Emperor on 15 May and the Imperial Diet on 30 September.
General strategic drivers
The importance of trade and economic interests to the participants is often underestimated; contemporaries viewed Dutch and English support for the Habsburg cause as primarily driven by a desire for access to Spanish markets in the Americas. While modern economists generally assume a constantly growing market, the then dominant theory of mercantilism viewed it as relatively static. This meant increasing one's own share of a market required taking it from someone else, with the state facilitating this by attacking opponents' merchant ships and colonies.As a result, the war quickly expanded to North America, India, and other parts of Asia, with tariffs used as a policy weapon. The 1651–1663 Navigation Acts were a major factor in the Anglo-Dutch Wars, while between 1690 and 1704, English import duties on foreign goods increased by 400%. On 6 September 1700, France banned the import of English manufactured goods such as cloth and imposed prohibitive duties on a wide range of others.
The field armies that operated in the Southern Netherlands during the Nine Years' War had sometimes reached 100,000 men. The size of armies continued to grow during the War of the Spanish Succession. Between 1702 and 1707, the field armies in the Southern Netherlands had a strength of 60,000 to 80,000 men, and from 1708 onwards, over 120,000 men. These extensive armies placed immense strain on pre-industrial economies. Armies were restricted by their dependence on water-borne transport for supplies, so campaigns focused on rivers like the Rhine, Scheldt and Adda, while their absence limited operations in areas like Northern Spain. Better logistics, unified command, and simpler internal lines of communication gave Bourbon armies an advantage over their opponents.