The War of the Spanish Succession was a conflict between the European great powers, fought between 1701 and 1714. The death of Charles II of Spain in November 1700 without children led to a succession crisis, the rival claimants being Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France, and Archduke Charles of Austria, supported by the Grand Alliance. Related conflicts include the Great Northern War and Queen Anne's War in North America.
Although weakened by decades of warfare, when Charles died in 1701 the Spanish Empire remained a vast global power. This meant its acquisition either by France or by Austria threatened the European balance of power, and Philip's proclamation as king on 16 November 1700 triggered war. However, who ruled Spain was arguably less important than the division of its territories, an issue that became increasingly prominent as the war progressed.
By 1709, although the Grand Alliance had forced France onto the defensive, Philip had secured his position in Spain. When Archduke Charles succeeded his brother as Holy Roman Emperor in 1711, the new British government began negotiating their withdrawal from the war. The loss of British military and financial support forced their allies to agree 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 rights in the French royal line of succession. Most Spanish possessions in Italy were ceded to Savoy or to Austria, the latter also acquiring the Austrian Netherlands. Britain retained the key ports of Gibraltar and Menorca and now replaced the Dutch Republic as the leading European naval and commercial power, the latter thereafter declining as a major force. Although France was left financially exhausted, the installation of a Bourbon on the Spanish throne achieved its long-envisioned goal of breaking the Habsburg monarchy's encirclement of its borders.
Background
Charles II of Spain 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 II 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 France or Austria, the Spanish throne 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 secure his "rights" by ignoring the Spanish and negotiating directly with William III of England, main co-ordinator of the Grand Alliance.
Leopold and Margaret had a daughter Maria Antonia, who married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria in 1685, and in 1692, they had a son, Joseph Ferdinand. In October 1698, France, Britain and the Dutch Republic designated Joseph as heir to Charles II, in return for which France and Austria would be compensated with Spanish territories. Charles published another will specifying Joseph would inherit an undivided Spanish monarchy, but 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 agreed the 1700 Treaty of London, making Leopold's son Archduke Charles the new heir. Its terms included territorial concessions to France, Savoy and Austria, but neither Leopold nor Charles agreed, rendering the treaty largely pointless. By early October 1700, Charles was dying. His final will left the throne to Louis XIV's grandson Philip of Anjou, and 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 Spanish ambassadors formally offered the throne to Philip eight days later. Louis briefly considered refusing, since although it meant the succession of Archduke Charles, insisting William help him enforce the Treaty of London meant his territorial aims might be achieved peacefully. However, French diplomats argued 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 XIV now made a series of moves that combined to make war inevitable. The Tory majority in the Parliament of England 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 or decided to ignore this exception, and his actions gradually eroded Tory opposition.
In early 1701, Louis XIV 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. Leopold could not ignore these moves, especially when combined with French diplomatic efforts to build alliances with Imperial circles in Swabia and Franconia.
The pro-French Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Maximilian II Emanuel, allowed their troops to replace Dutch garrisons in the 'Barrier' fortresses granted at Ryswick. This threatened Dutch control of the Scheldt, a primary gain from the 1648 Peace of Münster, while access to Antwerp and Ostend would allow France to blockade the English Channel at will. Combined with other 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 XIV reneged on his recognition of William III at Ryswick in 1697, and supported the claim of James Francis Edward Stuart to the British throne. When William died in March 1702, his successor Queen Anne confirmed her support for the Treaty of the Hague. Grand Pensionary Anthonie Heinsius did the same for the Dutch, despite French hopes that internal conflicts would prevent this. The Dutch Republic declared war on 8 May, followed by Britain and the Emperor on 15th, 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.
Strategic objectives by participant
Spain
In 1700, Spain remained a great power in terms of territory control, while imports of bullion from the Americas reached their highest level between 1670 and 1700. However, this concealed the reality that the vast majority of these imports went straight to pay off debt or foreign merchants. When the new Bourbon administration took over in 1701, they found the empire bankrupt and effectively defenceless, with fewer than 15,000 troops in Spain itself and a navy consisting of 20 ships.
Almost constant warfare during the 17th century made the economy subject to long periods of low productivity and depression, and largely reliant upon others for its prosperity. In many ways, the continued existence of the empire was not due to Spanish strength but to maintain a balance between the powers competing for a share of its markets. Despite fighting a series of wars against Spain from 1667 to 1697, France was also its most significant economic partner, supplying labour and controlling a large proportion of its foreign trade. This consideration was an important factor in the Charles' decision to name Philip his heir. Its dependence on others was illustrated in 1703; despite the presence of an invading Allied army, the French ambassador urged Louis to allow Dutch and English merchants to purchase wool from Spanish farmers, "otherwise the flocks cannot be maintained".
Enacting political or economic reform was extremely complex, since Habsburg Spain was a personal union between the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, each with very different political cultures, while links with the former Spanish strongholds in the Netherlands and Italy were frayed. Most of Philip's support came from the Castilian elite, who saw comprehensive reforms as necessary to preserve an independent Spanish Empire. As these reforms included the elimination of the privileges, or Fueros, held by the Aragonese states, support for the Hapsburgs was strongest in areas that were part of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia and Valencia.
France
Broadly speaking, French objectives were to prevent others acquiring an undivided Spanish monarchy, to secure their borders with the Holy Roman Empire while weakening Austria, and to establish exclusive access to trade with Spanish America. At the outbreak of war, France was perhaps the most powerful state in Europe. Its army, along with the associated logistical and financial support base, was more powerful than any of its rivals individually. Its geographical position provided enormous tactical flexibility, while the concentration of power under Louis XIV meant a relatively unified strategy, unlike their opponents. Although the Nine Years' War had shown France could not impose its objectives unilaterally, the new alliance with Spain and Bavaria made a successful outcome more likely.
However, France had still not recovered from the financial effects of the previous wars, leading some statesmen to advise against a purely offensive strategy. They argued that the combined might of the Grand Alliance forces made it highly improbable for France to launch a successful attack. The Dutch and Imperial fortresses were located far from convenient Franco-Spanish bases, and the Netherlands and Rhineland lacked easily navigable rivers for the Bourbon armies. Furthermore, besieging a major Dutch fortress demanded the commitment of two full armies. The French would thus pursue a strategy described as a "mixed war" in Europe. In this strategy, the Franco-Spanish forces would primarily assume a defensive posture to safeguard the vital fortresses they needed to retain. Offensive actions, on the other hand, were characterized by assertive posturing and strategic positioning, with an emphasis on sustaining their forces by living off enemy territory whenever feasible, while blocking enemy thrusts, and trying to engage them in battle where possible.
Austria and the Holy Roman Empire
The Imperial Diet formally declared Reichskrieg against France in November 1702.
Despite being the dominant power within the Empire, Austrian and Imperial interests did not always coincide. The Habsburgs wanted to put Archduke Charles on the throne of an undivided Spanish monarchy, while their Allies were fighting to prevent either the Bourbons or the Habsburgs from doing so. This divergence and Austria's financial collapse in 1703 meant the campaign in Spain was reliant on Anglo-Dutch naval support and after 1706, British funding. Until the death of Joseph I in 1711, the Habsburg were unwilling to allocate resources to winning the war in Spain. Instead, their priorities were securing their southern borders by fighting France in northern Italy, and suppressing Rákóczi's War of Independence in Hungary.
The majority of the empire sided with the Emperor, with the exception of those states controlled by their Wittelsbach rivals. Bavaria, Liège, and Cologne allied with France, as did the Spanish-ruled Imperial states of Milan, the Spanish Netherlands and Mantua. Despite these defections, the Habsburgs were largely successful at mobilising Imperial resources, mustering an average strength of over 250,000.
However, even the larger entities within the Empire pursued their own policies. His claim to the Polish crown meant Augustus of Saxony focused on the Great Northern War, while Frederick I made his support dependent on Leopold recognising Prussia as a kingdom and making it an equal member of the Grand Alliance. Since the Elector of Hanover, was also heir to the British throne, his support was more reliable, but the suspicion remained that the interests of Hanover came first.
Britain
British foreign policy was based on three general principles, which remained largely consistent from the 16th through the 20th centuries. The first, overriding all others, was to preserve a balance of power in Europe, an objective threatened by French expansion under Louis XIV. The second was to prevent the Low Countries from being controlled by a hostile power or one stronger than Britain; this included both the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, whose deep harbours and prevailing winds made her a natural embarkation point for an attack on England, as demonstrated in 1688. The third was to maintain a navy strong enough to protect British trade, control her waters and launch attacks on her enemies' commercial routes and coastal areas.
Alignment on reducing the power of France and securing the Protestant succession for the British throne masked differences on how to achieve them. In general, the Tories favoured a mercantilist strategy of using the Royal Navy to attack French and Spanish trade while protecting and expanding their own; land commitments were viewed as expensive and primarily of benefit to others. The Whigs argued France could not be defeated by seapower alone, making a Continental strategy essential, while Britain's financial strength made it the only member of the Alliance able to operate on all fronts against France.
Dutch Republic
Under William of Orange, the Dutch Republic played a central role in organising European resistance to French expansionism. As the leading commercial power, the Dutch wanted to preserve the existing balance of power, and viewed the Spanish Netherlands as a key strategic buffer against French aggression. Since recent experience showed the Spanish could not defend them, the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick allowed the Dutch to place garrisons in eight key cities, providing strategic depth to protect their commercial and demographic heartlands against attack from the south. However, with the help of Maximilian of Bavaria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, by 1701 these garrisons had been nullified and replaced by French troops. At the request of the Elector of Cologne and Prince-bishop of Liège, Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, French troops also moved into his territories in the Rhineland and were thus directly threatening the Dutch border from both the south and the east. Dutch priorities were to secure their borders, re-establish and strengthen the Barrier fortresses, retain control of the economically vital Scheldt estuary, and gain access to trade in the Spanish Empire.
At the outset of the war, the Dutch States Army was the best prepared of the Grand Alliance, being similar in size to that of the Austrians, but of significantly higher quality. Although Marlborough was appointed commander of Allied forces in the Low Countries, the Dutch initially provided the bulk of troops and supplies. This made strategy in this theatre subject to the approval of their field deputies and generals. When Dutch forces operated outside the Low Countries, as during the Blenheim campaign, it was generally seen as a concession.
Savoy
Throughout the 17th century, Savoy sought to replace Spain as the dominant power in Northern Italy. Savoy consisted of two main geographic segments; Piedmont, which contained the capital Turin, and the Duchy of Aosta on the Italian side of the Alps, with the Duchy of Savoy and County of Nice in Transalpine France. The latter were almost impossible to defend and combined with the anti-Habsburg policy pursued by Louis XIV and his predecessors, this meant Savoy generally sided with France. However, Piedmont provided foreign powers access to the restive southern French provinces of the Dauphiné and Vaunage, former Huguenot strongholds with a long history of rebellion. This provided Victor Amadeus II with a degree of leverage, allowing him to manoeuvre between opposing parties to expand his territories.
During the Nine Years' War in 1690, Savoy joined the Grand Alliance before agreeing to a separate peace with France in 1696. The accession of Philip V in 1701 led to a reversal of long-standing strategic policy, with France now supporting the Spanish position in Lombardy, rather than seeking to weaken it, and Austria doing the opposite. While Victor Amadeus initially allied Savoy with France, his long-term goal was the acquisition of the Duchy of Milan, which neither Bourbons nor Habsburgs would relinquish voluntarily. As discussed elsewhere in this article, securing his borders in Italy was of greater concern to Emperor Leopold than Spain itself. This meant Britain was the only power inclined to help Victor Amadeus achieve this objective and he changed sides in 1703 after the Anglo-Dutch navies won control of the Western Mediterranean.
Portugal
Portugal had regained its independence following the end of the Portuguese Restoration War in 1668, a result elements in Madrid had never entirely accepted. Peter II of Portugal viewed participation as a potential means of increasing his diplomatic standing in Europe, but Portuguese society was divided on which side to support. The British and Dutch navies posed a serious threat to their colonies, much of the mercantile class and aristocracy had considerable economic or cultural ties with France, while supporting Archduke Charles could result in another land invasion.
Peter wished to expand Colonial Brazil to the Río de la Plata and Oyapock, while securing his land borders in Europe by acquiring Badajoz and Valencia de Alcántara from Spain, along with a number of smaller towns. As the Allies refused to support these demands, Portugal initially aligned with Philip V in exchange for naval support. However, when it became clear the new regime harboured ambitions of recapturing Portugal, and failed to produce a fleet capable of challenging the Allies, Portugal joined the Grand Alliance in May 1703.
Military campaigns; 1701–1708
Italy
The war in Italy primarily involved the Spanish-ruled Duchy of Milan and the French-allied Duchy of Mantua, considered essential to the security of Austria's southern borders. In 1701, French troops occupied both cities and Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, allied with France, his daughter Maria Luisa marrying Philip V. In May 1701, an Imperial army under Prince Eugene of Savoy moved into Northern Italy; by February 1702, victories at Carpi, Chiari and Cremona forced the French behind the Adda river.
Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, one of the best French generals, took command and was substantially reinforced; Prince Eugene managed a draw at the Battle of Luzzara but the French recovered most of the territory that it had lost to Prince Eugene the year before. In October 1703, Victor Amadeus declared war on France; by May 1706, the French held most of Savoy except Turin while victories at Cassano and Calcinato forced the Imperialists into the Trentino valley.
In July 1706 Vendôme and all the forces that could be spared were sent to reinforce France's northern frontier after the defeat at Ramillies. Reinforced by German auxiliaries led by Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, Prince Eugene broke the siege of Turin in September; despite a minor French victory at Castiglione, the war in Italy was over. To the fury of his allies, the 1707 Convention of Milan Emperor Joseph gave French troops in Lombardy free passage to Southern France.
A combined Savoyard-Imperial attack on the French base of Toulon planned for April was postponed when Imperial troops were diverted to seize the Spanish Bourbon Kingdom of Naples. By the time they besieged Toulon in August, the French were too strong, and they were forced to withdraw. By the end of 1707, fighting in Italy ceased, apart from minor attempts by Victor Amadeus to recover Nice and Savoy.
Low Countries, Rhine, and Danube
The first objective for the Grand Alliance in this theatre was to secure the Dutch frontiers, threatened by the alliance between France, Bavaria, and Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, ruler of Liège and Cologne. In early 1702 the Grand Alliance repelled an assault on Nijmegen and captured Kaiserswerth, a strong town along the Rhine on the eastern side of the Dutch Republic. The Allies then advanced into the Meuse valley, taking Venlo, Roermond, and Stevensweert, and concluding the campaign with the capture of Liège. The 1703 campaign was marred by Allied conflicts over strategy. Despite capturing Bonn, they failed to take Antwerp, while a Dutch contingent narrowly escaped disaster at Ekeren in June.
On the Upper Rhine, Imperial forces under Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden remained on the defensive, although they took Landau in 1702. Supported by the Bavarians, during the 1703 campaign French forces retook Landau, won victories at Friedlingen, Höchstädt and Speyerbach, then captured Kehl and Breisach. With Austrian resources absorbed by Rákóczi's War of Independence in Hungary, the Franco-Bavarian plan for 1704 was to march on Vienna. To relieve the pressure, Marlborough marched up the Rhine, joined forces with Louis of Baden and Prince Eugene, and crossed the Danube on 2 July. Allied victory at Blenheim on 13 August forced Bavaria out of the war and the Treaty of Ilbersheim placed it under Austrian rule.
Allied efforts to exploit their victory at Eliksem in 1705 floundered on poor coordination, tactical disputes, and command rivalries. A diplomatic crisis between the Dutch Republic and England was only averted by the dismissal of General Slangenburg, while the imposition of Austrian rule in Bavaria caused a brief but vicious peasant revolt. In May 1706, the French were comprehensively defeated at Ramillies by an Allied army under Marlborough, which then occupied much of the Spanish Netherlands in under two weeks. France assumed a largely defensive posture for the rest of the war.
The 1707 campaign was without any significant events, as both parties focussed on other fronts. The French, now under Marshal Vendôme, avoided battle and Marlborough did little to force one upon them. By 1708, the focus of both sides was again almost entirely on the fighting in the Low Countries. The allies once more set their sights on breaking French fortification belts, while the French themselves planned a counteroffensive. The French operation had early success when the French surprised the Allied garrisons at Ghent and Bruges, it failed after the Allies defeated them at the Battle of Oudenaarde. In its aftermath the Allies managed to capture Lille, the strongest fortress of the French fortress belts, while a French assault on Brussels was repelled and Ghent and Bruges recaptured. Despite losses like Lille and other strongpoints, the French prevented the Allies from making an irreparable breach in their frontiers.
Spain and Portugal
British involvement was primarily driven by the need to protect their trade routes in the Mediterranean. By putting Archduke Charles on the Spanish throne, they also hoped to gain commercial privileges within the Spanish Empire. Despite their dynastic claim, the Austrian Habsburgs viewed securing Northern Italy and suppressing the Hungarian revolt as higher priorities. With the Dutch focusing on Flanders post-1704, this theatre was largely dependent on British naval and military support.