Spanischer Erbfolgekrieg#

Spanish Succession, War of; war between Austria and France from 1701 to 1714 over the issue of the Spanish succession after the death of the last Spanish Habsburg, Karl II; Louis XIV of France wanted to assert the rights of his grandson Philip, duc d'Anjou, to whom Karl II had willed his possessions and Emperor Leopold I fought for the rights of his son Karl (VI). Austria's allies were England, Holland (Grand Alliance of The Hague, 1701), Brandenburg, Hanover and Savoy from 1703, France was supported by Bavaria, Cologne and Savoy until 1703. Battles took place all over Europe; the English conquered Gibraltar in 1704, Karl won Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia, he was elected king (Karl III) in Madrid in 1706, but lost most of his holdings in 1707. The Bavarians were defeated in battles in southern Germany and Tirol near the Pontlatz Bridge in 1703; on August 13, 1704 the Austrians and the English were victorious in the battle near Hoechstaedt; in Italy battles took place mainly in the plain of the River Po, on September 7, 1706 Austrians gained victory near Turin. The Austrians were victorious in the Spanish Netherlands, where they won the Battles of Ramillies on May 23, 1706, of Oudenaarde on July 11, 1708 and of Malplaquet on September 11, 1709. The Kuruc Invasions affected Hungary and the eastern part of Austria from 1703 to 1711. The most important generals fighting on the Habsburgs' side were Prince Eugène of Savoy and J. Churchill Duke of Marlborough, who led the joint English and Netherland troops, but neither succeeded in winning the war for the Habsburgs. After the death of Emperor Joseph I in 1711, Great Britain and Holland feared that the balance of powers might shift in favour of Joseph's successor, Karl VI and concluded the Peace of Utrecht in 1713; the Emperor entered negotiations over this treaty on March 6, 1714 in Rastatt and joined it on September 7, 1714 in Baden (Switzerland). Philip V remained King of Spain, the Habsburg emperor gained the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan with Mantua and Sardinia.

Literature#