War of the Spanish Succession

"With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a childing mother then, And new-born baby died; But things like that, you know, must be At every famous victory.

''They said it was a shocking sight ''After the field was won; ''For many thousand bodies here ''Lay rotting in the sun; But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.

''Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won, And our good Prince Eugene." -- "Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!" Said little Wilhelmine. "Nay ... nay ... my little girl," quoth he, ''"It was a famous victory."

"And everybody praised the Duke Who this great fight did win." ''"But what good came of it at last?" ''Quoth little Peterkin. ''"Why, that I cannot tell," said he, "But 'twas a famous victory.""

- R. Southey

The War of the Spanish Succession was the last great war (and the last war, period) fought by France under the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV.

The war pitted Habsburg Austria, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Prussia, various German states and Portugal against France, Spain and Bavaria.

This conflict started over the line of succession that ended when the last Habsburg King of Spain, Charles II, died heirless in 1700. His will left Philip, Charles' grandnephew and, at the time, Duc d'Anjou, as the heir to the Spanish throne. If Philip refused, the crown would be passed to Charles, Archduke of Austria (and the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI). This led to a succession crisis and eventually war, with Austria and its allies supporting Charles, and France and its allies supporting Philip.

The majority of the fighting took part in Spain and the Low Countries, as well as in Germany. For most of the war the commander of the allied forces was John Churchill, created Duke of Marlborough because of his brilliance (and his wife's friendship with the Queen).

It ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which ended hostilities between the French-led alliance and Britain and most of its allies. Austria continued to fight practically on its own, but due to changing fortunes of war was forced to swallow the bitter pill in the treaty of Rastatt in 1714. Philip was recognized as king of Spain, but he was no longer in line of succession for the French throne. In addition, Spain lost the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium), Naples, Milan and Sardinia (all in modern-day Italy) to Austria, Sicily to Savoy, and Gibraltar and Minorca to Great Britain (Minorca was eventually returned, but Gibraltar is still a sore spot for Spain to this day).


 * The Alliance: The Grand Alliance, natch.
 * Asskicking Equals Authority: The British government was scared that the Duke of Marlborough would use the popularity he obtained from his victories to come home and lead a coup, and they refused to let him come home for years afterwards.
 * This wasn't entirely baseless, as Marlborough was known for being hugely ambitious and years before, he had been The Starscream for James II. Then his wife fell out of favor with the Queen...
 * Balance of Power: This was another war where Britain attempts to keep France and Spain from unifying and becoming a threat to England.
 * And when Emperor Joseph I died, Archduke Charles became his successor and it looked as if Austria and Spain might become unified, causing the new British government to rethink its alliance with the Habsburgs.
 * Bash Brothers: The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. When they teamed up, asses were most assuredly kicked.
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: France and Spain hated each other before the war (and probably still did during the war for all we knew). When Charles II learned that people were fighting for the Spanish throne before he died, he secretly made a will giving his grandnephew the Spanish throne.
 * The will is considered by most historians to be either spurious or fake, since Charles was blind, insane, and senile at the time of his death. He's considered to be the most inbred human in recorded history - while most of us have 32 ancestors in the sixth generations back, he had seven. Worse, the one ancestor found most often on his family tree was Juana la Loca of Spain.
 * Subsequently during the war, Louis also managed to run the war despite being late in his life, yet still managed a stalemate, only after the first attempt of peace would have removed Philip in contention for the Spanish throne.
 * The Duke of Marlborough had one in Germany, not so much for winning the Battle of Blenheim (for which he is remembered) but for managing to keep his army's logistics together in an epic march across the Holy Roman Empire. It would be a couple of centuries later before his family had a scion to eclipse him: Winston Churchill.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The war led to several British patriotic tunes, including the sea shanty Spanish Ladies and the marching songs Over the Hills and Far Away (today made famous again by Sharpe), and 'The British Grenadiers'.
 * Also the Dessauer Marsch, a Prussian march named after their field commander, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau ("the Old Dessauer") and based on a tune he and his troops picked up while serving in northern Italy. And for the French Marlbrough s'en va-t en guerre (same tune as For He's a Jolly Good Fellow), a song written in response to a false report that the Duke of Marlborough had been killed in action. Later a favourite tune of Napoleon.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Blenheim, Elixheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde...Marlborough and Prince Eugene were good at dishing these out. On the Bourbon side, Denain for Marshal Villars.
 * Field Promotion: Kinda. The Electorate of Brandenburg having supported Austria in previous wars against the French, Frederick III was allowed to crown himself King in Prussia on the understanding that his army would support tha Habsburg cause in this war as well. He thus became King Frederick I and the army was now called Royal Prussian.
 * Historical Domain Character: King Louis XIV of France and before the war (as well as to a lesser extent), King Charles II of Spain.
 * Irony: During the Battle of Almanza, the French/Burbon forces were commanded by an Englishman whilst the Anglo-Portugese forces were commanded by a Frenchman.
 * La Résistance: In Austrian-occupied Bavaria. Snuffed out in the "Sendlinger Mordweihnacht" (Sendling Murder-Christmas), when an attempt by armed peasants to storm Munich was mercilessly smashed by Austrian regulars.
 * Modern Major-General: France was plagued by generals like Villeroi and Tallard, whose appointments were based more on their loyalty than their talent. Marlborough didn't have much trouble with them.
 * Name's the Same: The Duke of Marlborough (John Churchill) was the son of Winston Churchill. No, not that one, but the English Civil War veteran he would be named for.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By 1708, France and Spain were on the verge of collapse. Louis initiated peace talks and offered major concessions, including taking Phillip off the Spanish throne. In a brilliant display of foresight, the Allies decided not to accept the offer and demanded that Louis use his own army to depose Phillip. Louis was outraged at this demand and resumed the battle, stating that if he was going to have to fight someone it might as well be his enemies, rather than his own family. The Spaniards also rallied behind Phillip, and the war ended with the Allies being kicked out of Spain and Phillip keeping his throne and his empire. In the end, the Allies gained major territorial and commercial concessions, but if they'd accepted Louis's initial offer they potentially could have had the vast Spanish empire, which encompassed all of Latin America. Bummer.
 * Royally Screwed-Up: Charles II of Spain, the Trope Codifier.
 * Series Finale: For the Habsburgs in Spain.
 * Took a Level in Badass: England became Great Britain during the course of this war and started to become a great power. Also the British Army, whose standard of arms was raised to a level not seen since The Middle Ages.
 * War Is Hell: Especially the Allies' Pyrrhic Victory in the battle of Malplaquet.
 * Villars, the French commander of the battle, put it best in a letter to Louis XIV: Si Dieu nous fait la grâce de perdre encore une pareille bataille, Votre Majesté peut compter que tous ses ennemis seront détruits. (Translation: If by God's favor we lose another such battle, Your Majesty's enemies are ruined.)
 * We ARE Struggling Together!: In Britain the Whig and Tory parties were constantly trying to use the course of the war to jockey for political power (in the end the Whigs won, and dominated politics for generations afterwards).

Video Games

 * The main campaign in Empire Total War starts during this time period. The British start with the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Galway as generals.