War of Spanish Succession
...Britain was in no position to profess itself to be considered for candidacy. William, however, wanted to ensure that the decision would maintain the balance of power by keeping strategically important territories out of the hands of France while not negatively impact on British trade with Spain and Spanish America. The First Partition Treaty of 1698 was drawn up in order to appoint the position of Emperor of Spain to an individual of close enough relation to a legitimate successor of the Spanish throne but was not French. The son of the Elector Max Emmanuel of Bavaria; Joseph Ferdinand, the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, was selected to be the Spanish Emperor after the death of Carlos. Joseph was selected because of he possessed a claim to the Spanish throne through Leopold but his relationship was distant enough to prevent the likelihood of Austrian predominance. Joseph’s mother, Maria Antonia, was Leopold’s daughter by his Spanish wife meaning Joseph was his grandson. Austria would surely have been a slight benefactor to Joseph Ferdinand’s ascension to power in Spain while the rest of Europe would receive only the appeasement of what was becoming a growing concern. This pacified Leopold’s otherwise demanding demeanor during the succession issues. If Joseph had ascended in Spain there would have been no need for a new partition treaty meaning that Spain would have its Emperor and war would have been averted. The young Bavarian prince, however, died in February 1699 before the sickly albeit resilient Carlos causing the need for a second partition treaty. The Second Partition Treaty was generated in June 1699, again by Louis and William. This treaty did not name a candidate of compromise. It divided Spain and its possessions between the two valid successors; Leopold and Louis. Louis was given the Spanish Italian lands to appease his claim to Spain. These new territories were to be ruled by Louis’ son and heir; the Dauphin Louis. William made sure that Louis would receive the Italian lands which he desired but not the Southern Netherlands due to their strategic value. By providing Louis with some, but not all, of the territories he wished to acquire ensured that he would be satisfied but not be put in a position that would strengthen him militarily. A clause existed in The Second Partition Treaty which stated that the Dauphin Louis would try and exchange his Italian gains with those of Lorraine and Savoy. William also made sure that Louis did not obtain Spain itself knowing that the Dauphin Louis would make certain Louis XIV would benefit from trade in Old and New Spain. The Southern Netherlands and Spain were instead given to Leopold along with the Spanish colonies overseas. These new territories were to be ruled by the Archduke Charles who was Leopold’s younger son and thus not the immediate heir to the throne of Austria. Granting Spain and the overseas colonies to Leopold was clearly an attempt by William to protect his trade with the New World because Austria had no navy and no aspirations of trade in the colonies. Louis was pleased with his son’s gains in the Italian possessions and made moves to exchange Milan and Naples with the dukes of Savoy and Lorraine for their duchies as the treaty dictated. Leopold on the other hand refused The Second Partition Treaty for numerous reasons. Louis’ gained territories were to be controlled by his immediate heir; the Dauphin Louis. While the Austrian gains went to Leopold’s younger son, who was not the heir to Austria. By this time Leopold had realized that he himself would not be granted Spanish territories but he wanted his eldest son; Joseph, to rule over Austria and his younger son; the Archduke Charles, to be the Emperor of the Spanish Italian possessions. According to Leopold’s ministers Austria only desired “Milan, Naples, and Sicily; the rest can be taken by whoever wants it.” Leopold refused the Second Partition Treaty which granted him only territories that were of no interest to him and which were granted to a son who was not his heir. It was the intention of the Spanish court to have their empire ruled by one Emperor, not be split asunder and divided between two. To preserve Spain’s entirety the Spanish court attempted to persuade Carlos to sign a will leaving all of Spain and its possessions to Philip of Anjou; the grandson of Louis XIV. Louis had been consulted on the matter to see if he would accept such an offer. The Spanish court favored Louis over Leopold because they believed that only the French king had the power to protect Spain and maintain it intact. In September, before Carlos’ death, a letter from Pope Innocent XII arrived in Spain advising that he sign the proposed will leaving the sum of the Spanish Empire to Philip of Anjou. A sigh of relief was breathed by Spain because without Louis’ support they were completely helpless militarily. The conditions of the will trapped Louis because it stated that if Louis did not accept the will then the inheritance passed to the Archduke Charles, however, if the will were accepted Philip must renounce his rights to the French throne. Louis obviously did not want Spain passing wholly to Leopold’s son so he accepted the will and his grandson became the heir of the Spanish Empire. Carlos II died in November 1700 and with his death came the ascension of Philip of Anjou to the Spanish throne as Philip V. When Louis accepted the will he not only infuriated Leopold by taking away what territory his son was given but he also made the fears of Britain and the rest of Europe - French hegemony - as a very distinct possibility. The Dutch Republic initially thought that Philip would act as a functional and autonomous emperor in Spain because the will did call for the severance of Philip’s rights to the French throne. This confidence quickly evaporated as Philip made his way to Spain with an entourage of French troops and ministers. French troops occupied the border fortresses along the Southern Netherlands driving out the Dutch. The occupation of the border fortresses not only destroyed the Dutch confidence in Philip’s autonomy but also violated terms of Louis’ agreement in the Peace of Ryswick. It was now the realization in Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Austria that Philip was going to be greatly influenced by Louis. Philip, now on the throne, gave the Asiento contract of slave trade in Spanish America to French merchants as well as granting them previously non-existent concessions in Spain. The Maritime powers thought that this Spanish favoritism toward France would greatly undermine their trade with Spain and in the New World making the threat posed by this new relationship between Spain and France commercial as well as military. The unconditional support of Spain would not only ensure the hegemony but would also give Louis access to the great resource and commercial trade in the Spanish American colonies. Louis made two more grave mistakes leading up to the War of Spanish Succession. Louis disregarded the conditions of Carlos’ will and failed to sever Philip’s rights to the French throne. The perception of Europe was that Louis intended to unite France and Spain. Most likely he was planning to have Philip succeed him in France and then have one of Philip’s relatives on the Spanish throne. This may have been his intention but it made no attempt to make this known to the rest of Europe. To ...