Western History 110: What was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) all about?

On November 1^st, 1700, the Spanish Hapsburg Monarch Charles II died in his palace in Madrid. The key predicament surrounding the monarch’s death was that he left no obvious successor as he was childless. Three powers jostled to provide the claimant – France, England and the Dutch Republic.

Inbred Monarch Charles II source: historycollection.com

The roots of problem went back to 1698 when all three powers signed the First Partition Agreement  agreeing that on the death of Charles II  Prince Joseph Ferdinand, whose father was the elector of Bavaria, would inherit the Spanish throne and her colonies but all of Spain’s Italian possessions would be portioned between Austria and France. Unfortunately the Prince died in 1699, resulting in the signing of a Second Partition Agreement that handed Spain and the colonies to the Archduke Charles (second son of the Holy Roman Emperor) with France taking the Italian territories.

Philip, duc of Anjou source: repro-tableaux.com

The Spanish  elite were not in favour of this partition and in the fall of 1700 convinced an ailing Charles to change his will and proclaim Philip, duc of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV to be his heir.  On Charles’ death French troops moved in to claim the Spanish Netherlands (modern day Belgium) .This infuriated the English and Dutch who cobbled together an alliance that would bring in Prussia, Austria, Hanover and Portugal. Bavaria and Mantua would side with the French. Savoy did as well but later switched sides.

After the death of England’s William III, his successor Queen Anne placed John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough in Charge of the English war effort. Together with the Austrian General, Price Eugene the two staged a very strong campaign against the French. In three big victories at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706) and Oudernaarde (1708) the French were expelled from the Low countries. Eugene also drove the French out of Italy after smashing the siege of Turin in 1706.

Duke of Marlborough (ancestor of Winston Churchill) source: blenheimpalace.com

Prince Eugene of Savoy - a very capable military figure. source: brittanica.com

However French forces held firm in Spain itself. The French showed their worth by performing well at the Battle of Malplaquet (1709), which was an allied victory that came at a high cost.

Louis XIV offered to cut his losses by surrendering his Spanish claim to the Hapsburgs however the allies insisted that French troops physically remove Louis’s grandson from the Spanish throne. Negotiations broke down. The British and Dutch were also not in favour of resurrecting Hapsburg strength in Spain.

Battle scene from the War sources: weapons and warfare.com

In 1711, Queen Anne was convinced by Marlborough’s enemies to have him removed as commander. Infighting between the various stakeholders in the Anti-French alliance weakened the pact . By 1712 the Alliance collapse. The war would end with two treaties – Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt and Baden (1714).

Queen Anne source: historic-uk.com

At the end, the will of Charles II was negated. Spanish controlled territory was divided among the great powers. Austria won control of the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples and Sardinia, Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca .  Louis XIV’s grandson secured the Spanish throne for the Bourbons with France picking up territory in Provence and the Rhineland.