Assess the Impact of the War of Spanish Succession and the Resulting Peace of Utrecht and Rastatt on European Relations

1903 Words8 Pages
The war of Spanish succession was fought amongst the greatest European powers of the early 18th century over the hegemony of Spanish and French crowns. The primary forces who fought for the unification were Spain (those who were loyal to Philip V) and France known as the Two Crowns. Those opposed were Britain, the Dutch Republic, Savoy, The Holy Roman Empire and Portugal known as the grand alliance. The war of Spanish Succession resulted in the treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt. These treaties provided important gains for Britain, Austria and the house of bourbon that set the foundation for future development in Europe and abroad. The treaties also labelled the defeat of French ambitions created under Louis XIV and introduced the concept of the balance of power into international relations for the first time. For most of the 17th century France dominated as a European super power. Britain, France's greatest opposition, had just recently emerged as a new superpower in the 1680's along with Austria and the Dutch Republic after victories in the 9 years’ war (McKay & Scott, 1983). Concurrently the king of Spain, Charles II, was nearing his deathbed with no heir to the Spanish throne. This left the European powers to debate upon how the Spanish empire would be ruled. In 1698 the first partition treaty is established between William III of England and Louis XIV. This partition treaty stated that the young Joseph Ferdinand would have the right to all Spanish possessions except Italy which was to be shared between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, Milan which would go to the Austrians and the rest of Spanish Italy to the French (Lynn, 1999). By doing this both the French and English were hoping to prevent a reassembling of the great Habsburg domain held in the 16th century by the emperor Charles V. Charles II, drawing closer to his final hours, was outraged by this

More about Assess the Impact of the War of Spanish Succession and the Resulting Peace of Utrecht and Rastatt on European Relations

Open Document