Wars of Succession and the Seven Years' War

I. War of Spanish Succession 1701-1714

A. Charles II
i. son of Philip IV, the king of Spain at the end of the Thirty Years' War
ii. known to be sickly, in both body and mind
a) likely due to many generations of inbreeding by the Habsburgs to keep their line
pure
iii. died as the last Habsburg king of Spain
iv. he named his grand-nephew Philip as his successor
a) Philip was the grandson of Louis XIV of France (his mom was Louis' first wife)
• this meant the Bourbon family would become the 'new Habsburgs'
B. many saw the Bourbons as too powerful if they controlled France and Spain
i. Louis pushed for his grandson to take the throne, and even tried to strengthen France's
position in Europe
a) moved troops into the Spanish Netherlands (the area south of the Dutch Republic
left to Spain after the Thirty Years' War)
b) began to dominate trade across the Atlantic at the expense of Dutch and British
merchants
ii. England, the Dutch Republic, and the Austrians came together with the Holy Roman
Empire to oppose this Louis' growing power
a) they supported Emperor Leopold I's claim for his son to the Spanish throne
b) officially declared war in 1702
• despite initial successes, soon each kingdom began looking for ways to come out
on top and stopped working together
• a new political party came to power in Britain and fought to end the war
• the Dutch, Austrians, and Germans suffered a major defeat by France, and
were forced to make peace
C. Treaty of Utrecht
i. primary treaty (of two) that ended hostilities
ii. divided some of the lands Spain still held in Europe to Austria, the Dutch, and the HRE
a) Spain retained the Iberian peninsula (minus Portugal) and their holdings in the
Americas
iii. Philip took over as king after agreeing to never combine his kingdom with France (King
Philip V now)
II. War of Polish Succession (1733-1738)
A. king of Poland, Augustus II died
i. the Bourbon powers in Spain and France didn't want another Habsburg to take over, and
went to war to keep Augustus III from succeeding his father
a) Spain also used this as an excuse to retake territories (Naples and Sicily) they lost in
the War of Spanish Succession
ii. Russia stepped in to support Poland, who eventually won
iii. Augustus III took Poland, and other people gained territories in East Europe (borders
were redrawn basically)
a) Spain kept Naples and Sicily
B. the war resulted in a shift in power away from the Austrian Habsburgs and towards the
Bourbons
i. also Great Britain stayed out of the war, which broke an agreement between them and
 Austria
III. War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
A. when Charles VI, the last male Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, died without a male heir to
take his place, people disagreed about who should take over
i. he had passed a decree saying his daughter Maria Theresa would take over, but many
rebelled because the original law said women couldn't rule
ii. Prussia and France fought against Austria (Spain was busy against Great Britain in the
Americas, but would later enter against Austria)
a) many think it was simply to end Habsburg rule
iii. Britain and the Netherlands (Dutch Republic) supported Austria
B. after 8 years of fighting, Maria Theresa became the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of
Hungary
i. lost some territory to Prussia, which would lead to another war later
IV.Seven Years' War (1755-1764; mostly 1756-1763)
A. in US called the French and Indian War
B. affected every major European power except the Ottoman Empire, which controlled the
south eastern portion
i. spread from Europe to the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines
C. split between two controlling powers, France vs. Great Britain
i. started when Great Britain attacked and took hold of hundreds of French ships in
contested land in Canada
ii. most of the other countries that joined did so to regain lost territory and power from the
many wars over the last 60 years
a) France was joined by Spain (Bourbon families remember), Austria, Sweden, and
Russia (who would later switch sides)
b) Great Britain was supported by Prussia and some small Germanic states, but later
would be joined by Russia
c) many smaller kingdoms (as opposed to previous wars) tried their best to stay out
D. fought all across the world, but after many years all agreed that Britain won
i. high death toll, mostly fought as sieges and great armies rather than smaller groups and
clever tactics
ii. officially ended by the Treaty of Paris
a) France was stuck with a massive new debt, Prussia gained massive power in the east,
and Native Americans were left out of the deal, which they would later go to war
over (and lose)
b) Great Britain gained much of New France (basically Canada and all lands from the
13 colonies to the Mississippi R.)
c) also gained Spanish Florida and many smaller islands in the Caribbean
d) Spain gained control of Louisiana, Cuba, and the Philippines
e) many of these would be re-addressed in the American and French Revolutions