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From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS
XXV. ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND, 1603-1715 A.D.
» Contents of this Chapter
Page 13
THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
Thus far the European balance of power had been preserved, but it was now threatened in another direction. Charles II, the king of Spain, lay dying, and as he was without children or brothers to succeed him, all Europe wondered what would be the fate of his vast possessions in Europe and America. Louis had married one of his sisters, and the Holy Roman Emperor another, so both the Bourbons and the Austrian Hapsburgs could put forth claims to the Spanish throne. When Charles died, it was found that he had left his entire dominions to Philip of Anjou, one of Louis's grandsons, in the hope that the power of France might be great enough to keep them undivided. Though Louis knew that acceptance of the inheritance would involve a war with Austria and probably with England, whose king was now Louis's old foe, William of Orange, [13] ambition triumphed over fear and the desire for glory over consideration for the welfare of France. At Versailles Louis proudly presented his grandson to the court, saying, "Gentlemen, behold the king of Spain."
[13] In 1689 A.D. he ascended the English throne as William III.
WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION, 1702-1713 A.D.
In the War of the Spanish Succession France and Spain faced the Grand Alliance, which included England, Holland, Austria, several of the German states, and Portugal. Europe had never known a war that concerned so many countries and peoples. The English ruler, William III, died shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, leaving the continuance of the contest as a legacy to his sister-in-law, Queen Anne. [14] England supplied the coalition with funds, a fleet, and also with the ablest commander of the age, the duke of Marlborough. In Eugène, prince of Savoy, the allies had another skillful and daring general. The great victory gained by them at Blenheim in 1704 A.D. was the first of a series of successes which finally drove the French out of Germany and Italy and opened the road to Paris. But dissensions among the allies and the heroic resistance of France and Spain enabled Louis to hold the enemy at bay, until the exhaustion of both sides led to the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht.
[14] In America the war was known as "Queen Anne's War."
THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents
url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp
Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy
