The War of the Spanish Succession

The following texts are the property of their respective authors and we thank them for giving us the opportunity to share for free to students, teachers and users of the Web their texts will used only for illustrative educational and scientific purposes only.

All the information in our site are given for nonprofit educational purposes

The information of medicine and health contained in the site are of a general nature and purpose which is purely informative and for this reason may not replace in any case, the council of a doctor or a qualified entity legally to the profession.

The War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714, also known as “Queen Anne’s War.” and as “Marlborough’s Wars” The last of the wars between England and France over Louis XIV’s territorial ambitions and religious differences. Historians like Stephen Saunders Webb have explored both the role of religious intolerance and the role of armies—the tools of early modern nation states—as agents of empire. The war took place after the death of Spain’s Charles II, who was childless. A succession crisis ensued, even though the major contending powers had reached an agreement in 1698 in the First Partition Treaty. The treaty was jeopardized when the proposed successor died before Charles II did. The strongest contender for the throne was Philip, Duke of Anjou, who was also the grandson of Louis XIV. The Duke ascended the throne as Philip V in 1700. Fearing Louis XIV’s extension of his territories, England, Holland, and the Holy Roman Empire formed a Grand Alliance against France. After the formation of the Grand Alliance, Louis made matters worse when he chose to recognize the claims of James Edward Stuart. “The Old Pretender,” as he was known, was the son of the Catholic English King James II, who had been deposed in 1688 in what amounted to a Protestant coup by William of Orange and James’s daughter Mary. Louis also banned English imports. In reaction, England formed a Grand Alliance with the Hapsburgs, Hanover, and Prussia. France, Spain, Bavaria, and Portugal opposed the Grand Alliance, though Savoy and Portugal changed sides in 1703, and joined the Grand Alliance. Under John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, English forces combined technologically advanced weaponry (flintlock rifles, paper cartridges, ring bayonets) with Churchill’s tactical brilliance to defeat Louis XIV in virtually every engagement. Louis’s troops were badly equipped, and lacked the leadership that Churchill provided. In the most famous battle of the war, Churchill roundly bested French troops at Blenheim in 1704 and again at Ramillies in 1706. France itself, meantime, was torn by famine, revolts, and financial difficulty during the years of 1708-06. In the Americas, the colonies of South Carolina and New England bore the brunt of the attack. Colonists from South Carolina raised a force that destroyed the Spanish-held town of St. Augustine, but were unable to capture the fort at San Marcos. Charleston fell under attack, and an intermittent border war ensued between South Carolina and Florida. The English colonists forged alliances with Yemassee and Creek Indians, who aided them in their fight. In New England, the frontier between Maine and Massachusetts was frequently raided. In Canada, despite the fall of Port Royal in 1710, the English were unsuccessful in their efforts to take Quebec. Several villages in Massachusetts were sacked. The English were more successful in their Caribbean efforts, where they gained control of the island of St. Christopher. France finally agreed to an armistice at Utrecht in 1713 and with Holland and the Hapsburg Empire in 1714, in the Treaty of Rastadt. According to the Treaty of Utrecht, Philip V remained on the Spanish throne, but had to give Gibraltar and Minorca to England, thus making England a Mediterranean as well as an Atlantic power. The Spanish renewed their asiento with Britain, a commercial arrangement whereby Britain earned the right to supply Spanish America with 4800 slaves every year. Louis XIV was forced to recognize the House of Hanover’s rights to the English throne. He also had to give up most of his claims in Germany. The war was a harbinger of things to come: England was to be the most powerful country in the Atlantic and European worlds in the eighteenth century.

Source : http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/lmtm/docs/colonial-7yr/glossary.doc

Web site link: http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/lmtm/

Google key word : The War of the Spanish Succession file type : doc

Author : not indicated on the source document of the above text

If you are the author of the text above and you not agree to share your knowledge for teaching, research, scholarship (for fair use as indicated in the United States copyrigh low) please send us an e-mail and we will remove your text quickly.