The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) is the largest European conflict that began in 1701 after the death of the last King of Spain from the Habsburg dynasty, Charles II.
Causes of the war
1700, October - the childless Spanish king Charles II declared his grand-nephew and grandson of Louis XIV, Philip of Anjou, heir to the throne. However, at the same time, the monarch set a condition that the Spanish possessions should never be annexed to the French crown. Louis accepted this will, but retained for his grandson (who in April 1701, after the coronation in Madrid, took the name of Philip V) the right to the French throne and introduced French garrisons to some of the Belgian cities (Belgium at that time remained part of Spain).
This strengthening of France did not suit many states, in particular the eternal rivals of the French rulers - the Habsburg emperors. The Austrian party nominated its contender for the Spanish throne - Archduke Karl of Habsburg, the son of Emperor Leopold I. England and Holland, which was in union with her, were Austria's allies. The Prussian king, the Elector of Hanover, many imperial cities and small princes of Upper Germany also joined the anti-French alliance. On the side of Louis XIV were the Electors of Bavaria, Cologne, the Dukes of Savoy and Mantua.
Start of the War of the Spanish Succession
The war (which went down in history as the War of the Spanish Succession) began in the summer of 1701 with the invasion of the Imperial troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy into the Duchy of Milan (which belonged to Philip as King of Spain).
Promotional video:
Yevgeny Savoisky is an eminently remarkable figure. He belonged to the ancient family of the Dukes of Savoy, it was rumored that he was the son of Louis XIV, famous for his love. However, the "Sun King" did not want to admit this fact, which is why Eugene fell out of favor and went from France to seek his fortune in Austria. The prince was celebrated when the Turkish siege of Vienna was lifted in 1683, and then he made a dizzying military career in the empire. By the age of 29, the most talented commander had already received the title of field marshal.
Initially, hostilities in Italy unfolded successfully for France, but the treason of the Duke of Savoy in 1702 gave the Austrians an advantage. An English army led by the Duke of Marlborough landed in Belgium. At the same time, war broke out in Spain, and the Portuguese king went over to the side of the coalition. This made it possible for the British and Archduke Charles to begin successful actions against Philip directly on the territory of his state.
Louis XIV
Military operations also unfolded in Germany. The French occupied Lorraine, entered Nancy, and in 1703 advanced to the banks of the Danube and began to threaten Vienna. The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene hurried to the rescue of Emperor Leopold. 1704, August - the battle of Hochstedt took place, in which the French were completely defeated. After which all of southern Germany was lost by them, which marked the beginning of a long series of failures.
Bad news came from all sides to Versailles. 1706 May - The French were defeated at the Battle of Ramil, near Brussels, leaving Belgium as a result. In Italy, they were defeated at Turin by Prince Eugene and retreated, abandoning all the artillery. The Austrians took possession of the Duchies of Milan and Mantuan and entered the Neapolitan territory. The British captured Sardinia, Minorca and the Balearic Islands. 1707, June - the forty thousandth Austrian army crossed the Alps, invaded Provence and laid siege to Toulon for five months. Meanwhile, in Spain things were going very badly: Philip was expelled from Madrid and miraculously managed to stay on the throne.
The war completely drained France out. If the huge budget deficit affected the royal court, then what can we say about ordinary French. Hunger and poverty were aggravated by the unprecedentedly harsh winter of 1709.
Back in May 1709, Louis XIV was already ready to make serious concessions to his opponents. He not only renounced the Bourbon claims to the Spanish crown, Strasbourg, Landau and Alsace, but was also ready to return the French possessions in the Spanish Netherlands and even announced his readiness to support the coalition's struggle against his grandson, the Spanish king Philip V. …
1709, September 11 - in the bloodiest battle of the 18th century at Malplac on the Scheldt, the French were defeated by the combined forces of the Duke of Marlborough and the Prince of Savoy. The position of the French seemed hopeless. 1710, summer - the Allies intensified their actions in Spain. In Catalonia, they enjoyed full support, but the rest of Spain largely supported Philip V.
But a year later, the coalition began to disintegrate. England's foreign policy has changed. 1710 - the opponents of the continuation of the war, the Tories, won the parliamentary elections. The positions of the military party were weakened by the disgrace of the Duchess of Marlborough, the maid of honor of Queen Anne. The death of Emperor Joseph (the eldest son of Leopold I) and the election of Archduke Charles in his place created a real threat of the revival of the state of Charles V, that is, the unification of the empire with Spain. This did not suit the British either. July 1711 - The British government entered into secret negotiations with France.
Evgeny Savoisky
Utrecht world
1712, January - a peace congress was opened in the Dutch Utrecht with the participation of France, England, Holland, Savoy, Portugal, Prussia and a number of other countries. As a result of his work, a series of treaties were signed from April 11, 1713 to February 6, 1715, which received the general name "Utrecht Peace".
Philip V was recognized as king of Spain and its overseas possessions on condition that he and his heirs renounce the rights to the crown of France; Spain ceded to the Duchy of Savoy Sicily, and Great Britain - Gibraltar and the island of Minorca, and also gave her the right to monopoly the sale of African slaves in her American colonies; France gave England a number of possessions in North America (Nova Scotia, St. Christopher and Newfoundland) and pledged to tear down the fortifications of Dunkirk; the French recognized the title of "King of Prussia" for the Elector of Brandenburg, Prussia acquired Geldern and the county of Nefchatel, Portugal - some territories in the Amazon valley; Holland received equal rights with the British in trade with France.
Left without allies, the emperor tried to continue the war against the French on his own. He and some of the German princes wanted the restoration of the conditions of the Peace of Westphalia, the return of Strasbourg and Alsace, and the provision of the privileges of the Catalans, who had shown their loyalty to Austria. The French rushed to the Rhine, took Landau, Freiburg and prepared to invade Swabia.
Rastadt Peace Treaty
But after the defeat inflicted on the Austrians by the French commander Villard at Denene on July 24, 1712, and the success of the French on the Rhine in the summer of 1713, the emperor was forced in November 1713 to agree to negotiations, which ended with the signing of the Rastadt Peace Treaty on May 6, 1714.
Aftermath of the War of Spanish Succession
Emperor Charles VI recognized the transfer of the Spanish crown to the Bourbons, receiving for this a significant part of Spain's European possessions - the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan, the Spanish Netherlands and Sardinia.
France returned the fortresses it had captured on the right bank of the Rhine, but retained all its previous territorial acquisitions in Alsace and the Netherlands; the Bavarian and Cologne electors received their possessions back. In addition, Louis XIV insisted on preserving the article of the Riswick Peace Treaty in the treaty, according to which Catholic worship was to continue in those Protestant cities in which the French introduced it.
In general, the result of the war was the division of the huge Spanish power, which had finally lost its great status, and the weakening of France, which dominated Europe in the second half of the 17th century. At the same time, the maritime and colonial power of Great Britain in Central and Southern Europe increased significantly, the positions of the Austrian Habsburgs were strengthened; and in Northern Germany the influence of Prussia increased.
V. Karnatsevich