War of Spanish Succession
The War of Spanish Succession was an international war fought for the succession of the Spanish crown after the death of Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs.
The war was ended through the Treaty of Utrecht.
Antecedents
The kingdom of Spain had been bound to that of France recently, through the marriage of Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV, to Louis XIV. When Philip died a few years later, her younger brother Charles II succeeded the throne. This established a Bourbon dynasty.
While Charles never had children, the Spanish crown was inheritable through a female line. When Charles died in 1700, in accordance with his will, the Spanish nobility offered the crown to Maria Theresa's grandson, Philip V. Louis XIV accepted on behalf of his ward.
Leopold, Churchill (as the ailing William's representative), and Heinsius agreed to a support an independent claim to the Spanish crown in the Treaty of The Hague of 1701. This was a recreation of the Grand Alliance of the Nine Years' War. The treaty was delayed in part because the Tory majority in the British Parliament only objected to the threat of France annexing Sicily, not to the specific succession of Philip. Ultimately this alliance would support the alternate claim of Leopold's younger son, Charles.
History
The forces of the Grand Alliance were led by Churchill, Heinsius, and Eugene.
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Conclusion and Aftermath
The costs of fighting this war were burdensome on Anne's reign. Tories won a strong majority in the British Parliament in 1710 and implemented a strategy to force a peace treaty. Churchill was relieved of his command, and English forces were directed to cease combat. Bilateral diplomacy with Louis XIV was opened.
Effectively, one of the Grand Alliance's war goals was to prop up the Habsburgs in the western part of their empire. But in the course of the decade-long war, the Austrian Habsburgs became scarce. Leopold I died in 1705, leaving his eldest son Joseph I to inherit. Joseph himself then died in 1711, leaving the claimant Charles to now inherit the Austrian Habsburg empire as Charles VI. Within a few decades, Charles' own succession crisis would erupt into the War of Austrian Succession.
The Treaty of Utrecht dealt with peace on the Spanish front. Philip IV retained the Spanish crown, but renounced the French crown. Gibraltar and Minorca were ceded to England, and a slave trade monopoly was also granted to them.
In England, ratification of the treaty was pushed through the Parliament over Whig opposition by creating several new Tory peers.
The Treaty of Rastatt and the Treaty of Baden were both signed in 1714 and dealt with peace on the Austrian front. The Spanish Netherlands became the Austrian Netherlands. France kept Alsace and Landau, while returning the east bank of the Rhine, Bavaria, and Cologne. Austria also gained the kingdom of Sardinia.
The War of the Quadruple Alliance is a postcursor to this war.