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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 14
PEACE OF UTRECHT, 1713 A.D.
This peace ranks with that of Westphalia among the most important diplomatic arrangements of modern times. First, Louis's grandson, Philip V, was recognized as king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that the Spanish and French crowns should never be united. Since this time Bourbon sovereigns have continued to rule in Spain. Next, the Austrian Hapsburgs gained most of the Spanish dominions in Italy, as well as the Belgian or Spanish Netherlands (henceforth for a century called the Austrian Netherlands). Finally, England obtained from France possessions in North America, and from Spain the island of Minorca and the rock of Gibraltar, commanding the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean. England has never since relaxed her hold upon Gibraltar.
BRANDENBURG AND PRUSSIA
Two of the smaller members of the Grand Alliance likewise profited by the Peace of Utrecht. The right of the elector of Brandenburg to enjoy the title of king of Prussia was acknowledged. This formed an important step in the fortunes of the Hohenzollern dynasty, which to-day rules over Germany. The duchy of Savoy also became a kingdom and received the island of Sicily (shortly afterwards exchanged for Sardinia). The house of Savoy in the nineteenth century provided Italy with its present reigning family.
POSITION OF FRANCE
France lost far less by the war than at one time seemed probable. Louis gave up his dream of dominating Europe, but he kept all the Continental acquisitions made earlier in his reign. And yet the price of the king's warlike policy had been a heavy one. France paid it in the shape of famine and pestilence, excessive taxes, heavy debts, and the impoverishment of the people. Louis, now a very old man, survived the Peace of Utrecht only two years. As he lay on his deathbed, the king turned to his little heir [16] and said, "Try to keep peace with your neighbors. I have been too fond of war; do not imitate me in that, nor in my too great expenditure." These words of the dying king showed an appreciation of the errors which robbed his long reign of much of its glory.
[16] His great-grandson, then a child of five years. The reign of Louis XV covered the period 1715-1774 A.D.
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
