195 William of Orange and the Grand Alliance
Learning Objective
- Explain William’s stake in the War of the Spanish Succession and the goals of the Grand Alliance
Key Points
- As William III’s life drew towards its conclusion, he, like many other European rulers, was concerned with the question of succession to the throne of Spain. He sought to prevent the Spanish inheritance from going to the descendants of either Louis XIV or Leopold I, as he feared this would upset the European balance of power.
- Fearing the growing strength of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV turned to William. The two signed two treaties partitioning Spain, but Charles II of Spain’s decision to choose Louis’s grandson as his successor made Louis ignore his treaty with England.
- While the Tory-dominated House of Commons was keen to prevent further conflict, to William III, France’s growing strength made war inevitable. From his perspective, losing the hard-won securities overturned the work of the last twenty years.
- As tensions mounted, Britain and the Dutch Republic grew enraged by Louis’s actions and decisions. With the Holy Roman Emperor and the petty German states, they formed another Grand Alliance. Securing the Protestant succession and curbing Louis’s ambitions was recognized by the Grand Alliance as one of England’s main war aims.
- Before the War of the Spanish Succession was even declared, William died. His successor, Anne, continued William’s policies to assure the Protestant succession in England and curb the French hegemony.
- The War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the partition of the Spanish Monarchy, which secured the balance of power and helped to regulate the relations between the major European powers over the coming century.
Terms
Treaty of Utrecht
A series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession in the Dutch city of Utrecht in 1713. The treaties between several European states, including Spain, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic, helped to end the war.
Treaty of Rastatt
A peace treaty between France and Austria, concluded in March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt, that put an end to the state of war between them following the War of the Spanish Succession. The treaty followed the earlier Treaty of Utrecht of April 1713, which ended hostilities between France and Spain on the one hand, and Britain and the Dutch Republic on the other hand. A third treaty at Baden was required to end the hostilities between France and the Holy Roman Empire.
Treaty of London
A 1700 treaty, known also as the Second Partition Treaty, attempting to restore the Pragmatic Sanction following the death of Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. The Pragmatic Sanction had undermined the First Partition Treaty (the Treaty of Hague). Under the new Treaty, Archduke Charles (later Charles VI), the second son of the Emperor Leopold I, was to become king of Spain when Char