War of Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a conflict arising from the disputed succession to the throne of Spain after the death of the childless King of Spain, Charles II. The initial negotiations for succession to the Spanish throne involved the chief claimants: Philip, son of Louis XIV of France; Archduke Charles (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI), son of Emperor Leopold I; and Joseph Ferdinand, electoral prince of Bavaria. Each candidate was supported, and in turn opposed, by a group of European powers. Both England and Holland, opposed to the extension of either French Bourbon or Austrian Hapsburg power into Spain, and therefore favored Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria as a middle-of-the-road compromise. The French obviously favored the Bourbon Philip, and the Imperialist alliance led by Austria supported the Hapsburg Charles. In 1698 an agreement was reached called the First Partition Treaty in which Joseph Ferdinand was to get the crown, and the Spanish territories in the Low Countries would go to go to Austria and France. However as fate would have it, Joseph Ferdinand died before Charles II, and on his death bed Charles named Philip, duke of Anjou, as the successor to the Spanish throne.
When Philip took the Spanish throne as Philip V, his grandfather Louis XIV invaded the Spanish Netherlands. The former anti-French alliance from the War of the Grand Alliance was revived in 1701, and Britain, Holland, Austria and most of the German states went to war against France. France was initially supported by Spain, Portugal (Car Hire Portugal) , Bavaria and Savoy, with Portugal changing sides in 1703.
The British forces, led by the Duke of Marlborough, won a series of victories over France between 1704 and 1709, that forced the French out of the Low Countries and Italy. The Imperial general, Eugene of Savoy, also won notable victories. In 1711 conflicts within the alliance led to its collapse, and peace negotiations began in 1712. The war concluded with the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, which marked the rise of the power of Britain at the expense of both France and Spain, and the Treaties of Rastatt and Baden in 1714.