History UsefulNotes / WarOfTheSpanishSuccession

This conflict started over the line of succession that ended when the last Habsburg King of Spain, Charles II, died without an heir in 1700. As his health had always been poor throughout his life [[note]] He was the latest in what was, [[RoyalInbreeding if we're being honest,]] a rather ''un''diluted gene pool[[/note]], the different factions saw this coming for decades, and to their credit they did at least try to take steps to prevent a military conflict stemming from an issue they knew was inevitable.

A series of treaties would end the war between the multiple combatants: the treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden. By the Peace of Utrecht it was agreed that Philip V would keep the throne of Spain, but would renounce for himself and his heirs any claim to the throne of France, and his relatives in France would likewise renounce any claim to the throne of Spain. In what should by now be fairly familiar, British and France decided other parties' territorial dispositions between them without the other parties' input. The French negotiator taunted the Dutch with the scathing remark, "De vous, chez vous, sans vous." Meaning negotiations would be held, "About you, around you, ''without'' you."

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.

By far the biggest winner out of the conflict was the Kingdom of Great Britain. It had prevented the rise of an empire that could threaten its interests by both France and Austria. It had established maritime dominance over its neighbors (though it would not become outright supremacy until later). It had acquired territory in the New World and the Mediterranean, including Gibraltar, which the United Kingdom controls to this day (to the great irritation of Spain). It had extracted commercial concessions from the Spanish Empire, and French recognition of the Protestant succession of Queen Anne. Its economy emerged from the war largely intact. In effect, England got basically everything it wanted--including Scotland.

Yes, Scotland. You will also notice that until 1707 it had been the Kingdom of ''England''. This is because it was only during the War of the Spanish Succession that the parliaments of England and Scotland, until that time separate states ruled by the same monarch, officially united to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. Prior to this it was by far England which was the senior partner in the relationship, and which made all the serious decisions. One of the reasons for the Acts of Union was the Scots being tired of being treated like chopped liver in a war they were just as committed to as the English.

This was a step too far. Supporting in principle the candidacy of the Austrian Archduke was one thing, but making war upon his own grandson was another. This demand enraged the French, reigniting their will to continue the war. Nor were the French as beaten as the allies had convinced themselves. Despite being driven out of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, the territory of France itself remained largely untouched. The Archduke Charles was unpopular with the Spanish court, and had no control in Spain outside of coastal regions where the English Royal Navy could supply him. It also came to light that the Archduke Charles, in exchange for English support, had promised commercial concessions once he became King of Spain. This not only furthered angered the Spanish, but also the Dutch, who viewed the concessions as being made at their expense.

How you view Louis XIV's actions here depends on whether you believe that war was still inevitable at this point. It was still theoretically possible to avoid war (or, at least, a large one), but it was Louis XIV's arrogance that pushed everyone into an alliance against him and declaring war. On the other hand, it may have been that Louis XIV believed that a general war against him was inevitable no matter what he did, so the steps he took that so antagonized his neighbors were merely preemptive, rather than provocative. However, whether he simply didn't care to try to assuage his neighbors, or whether he thought it was pointless to try, the truth is that he ''didn't'' try, and the result was war.

With the death of Joseph Ferdinand, succession passed back up the line to his mother, Maria Antonia. By this point, Maria Antonia was several years dead (1692), but before she died, and before she had had her own son, she had passed her claim to the Spanish throne off to her half-brothers - the sons of Emperor Leopold by his third wife and Maria Antonia's step-mother, Eleonore of Neuburg. This meant one of Emperor Leopold's two sons: the Archduke Joseph and the Archduke Charles. You will notice, at this point, that they were only tangentially related to the Spanish line of succession, not being directly related (nor married) to either a sister or niece of Charles II. They had claims on the Spanish throne only because their father's former (now deceased) wife, Margaret Theresa, had passed her claim on to her daughter, Maria Antonia, who then passed ''her'' claim on to her half-brothers before she had had her own son.

The causes of the war were the result of rather convoluted intermarriages between the Spanish, French, and Austrian royal families. This being Early Modern European nobility, names tend to repeat so, for the purposes of clarity, regnal numbers and royal titles will be included as much as possible. Even so, it can get confusing, so try to keep up.

In the 17th century, Spain was one of the few major powers that allowed the throne to pass through the female line (and indeed to a woman if need be).[[note]]Spain's predecessor kingdom of Castile had a tradition of queens regnant going back to the 12th century, when Urraca the Bold succeeded her father Alfonso VI in 1108. Note that this was 30 years ''before'' England fought [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy an inconclusive civil war]] over whether the throne could even pass ''through'' a woman, let alone ''to'' a woman.[[/note]] Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

In the 17th century, Spain was one of the few major powers that allowed the throne to pass through the female line (and indeed to a woman if need be).[[note]]Spain's predecessor kingdom of Castile had a tradition of queens regnant going back to the 12th century, when Urraca the Bold succeeded her father Alfonso VI in 1108. Note that this was 30 years ''before'' England fought [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy an inconclusive civil war]] over whether the throne could pass through a woman, let alone ''to'' a woman.[[/note]] Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

In the 17th century, Spain was (with England-Scotland[[note]]Not yet united into Great Britain--that happened a few years into this war[[/note]]) one of the few major powers that allowed the throne to pass through the female line (and indeed to a woman if need be).[[note]]Spain's predecessor kingdom of Castile had a tradition of queens regnant going back to the 12th century, when Urraca the Bold succeeded her father Alfonso VI in 1108. Note that this was 30 years ''before'' England fought [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy an inconclusive civil war]] over whether the throne could pass through a woman, let alone ''to'' a woman.[[/note]] Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

This was a step too far. Supporting in principle the candidacy of the Austrian Archduke was one thing, but making war upon his own grandson was another. This demand enraged the French, reigniting their will to continue the war. Nor were the French as beaten as the allies had convinced themselves. Despite being driven out of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, the territory of France itself remained largely untouched. The Archduke Charles was unpopular with the Spanish court, and had no control in Spain outside of coastal regions where the British Royal Navy could supply him. It also came to light that the Archduke Charles, in exchange for English/British support, had promised commercial concessions once he became King of Spain. This not only furthered angered the Spanish, but also the Dutch, who viewed the concessions as being made at their expense.

With the death of Joseph Ferdinand, succession passed back up the line to his mother, Maria Antonia. By this point, Maria Antonia was several years dead (1692), but before she died, and before she had had her own son, she had passed her claim to the Spanish throne off to her half-brothers - the sons of Emperor Leopold by his third wife, Eleonore of Neuburg (Maria Antonia's step-mother). This meant one of Emperor Leopold's two sons: the Archduke Joseph and the Archduke Charles. You will notice, at this point, that they were only tangentially related to the Spanish line of succession, not being directly related (nor married) to either a sister or niece of Charles II. They had claims on the Spanish throne only because their father's former (now deceased) wife, Margaret Theresa, had passed her claim on to her daughter, Maria Antonia, who then passed ''her'' claim on to her half-brothers before she had had her own son.

In the 17th century, Spain was (with England-Scotland[[note]]Not yet united into Great Britain[[/note]]) one of the few major powers that allowed the throne to pass through the female line (and indeed to a woman if need be).[[note]]Spain's predecessor kingdom of Castile had a tradition of queens regnant going back to the 12th century, when Urraca the Bold succeeded her father Alfonso VI in 1108. Note that this was 30 years ''before'' England fought [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy an inconclusive civil war]] over whether the throne could pass through a woman, let alone ''to'' a woman.[[/note]] Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

The alliance bloc against France and Spain was comprised mainly of England, the Netherlands, and Austria. Among the allies, England was by far the most powerful and capable of making moves against France, yet none of the allies had much hope of making serious headway against France on their own. They hoped a "Grand Alliance" would allow them to secure their interests.

At first the war went well for Louis XIV, but the tide swiftly turned against him. After six years of war, by the end of 1708, the French had been driven out of Italy and the Netherlands, and Austria had occupied Bavaria. These victories convinced Savoy and Portugal to join the Grand Alliance. England also captured the strategically important peninsula of Gibraltar and island of Menorca from Spain, giving them control of the western Mediterranean. A French-sponsored Hungarian uprising against the Austrians was also crushed. The winter of 1709 - "the Great Frost" - was the coldest Europe experienced in centuries, and hundreds of thousands died of starvation in France and Spain.

This was a step too far. Supporting in principle the candidacy of the Austrian Archduke was one thing, but making war upon his own grandson was another. This demand enraged the French, reigniting their will to continue the war. Nor were the French as beaten as the allies had convinced themselves. Despite being driven out of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, the territory of France itself remained largely untouched. The Archduke Charles was unpopular with the Spanish court, and had no control in Spain outside of coastal regions where the English Royal Navy could supply him. It also came to light that the Archduke Charles, in exchange for English support, had promised commercial concessions once he became King of Spain. This not only furthered angered the Spanish, but also the Dutch, who viewed the concessions as being made at their expense.

The war continued and, now fighting on their own territory, the French and Spanish proved resilient, inflicting multiple defeats on the allies. By the end of 1710 Louis XIV remained solidly in control of France, and his grandson Philip V remained solidly in control of Spain. The political situation had also changed. In 1705, the Emperor Leopold I died, leaving the empire to his eldest son, Joseph I. In 1711, Joseph I ''also'' died without a male heir. This made his brother the Archduke Charles the heir to both Austria and the Spanish Empire, putting everyone back in the same position they were in 15 years ago. A united Austro-Spanish Empire was nearly as undesirable to England as a united Franco-Spanish one, and continuing the war in support of the Archduke Charles's candidacy no longer made sense.

In 1711, the English reopened secret negotiations with the French, leading to the signing of preliminary articles, the main takeaway of which was the agreement in principle that the monarchies of Spain and France would remain separate. Then, ''once again'', a series of deaths threatened to throw everything back into chaos. In 1711, three days before Joseph I of Austria's own death, Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'' died of smallpox, putting his first son Louis, Duke of Burgundy (grandson of Louis XIV) in line for the French throne. The next year in 1712, Louis, Duke of Burgundy ''also'' died (of measles). Both ''his'' sons ''also'' became infected, ''both'' of whom were also named Louis (yes, we know). His eldest son, the five-year-old Louis, Duke of Brittany, died a few weeks after his father, leaving the two-year-old Louis, Duke of Anjou, the ''great''-grandson of Louis XIV, as heir to the French throne, but he was not expected to survive. This meant the potential scenario that originally freaked everyone out so much was now within arm's reach: Philip of Anjou, former prince of France, now ruler of the Kingdom of Spain, was separated from becoming the direct heir to the Kingdom of France by a single toddler on the verge of death. This made his prompt abdication from the French line of succession a matter of immediate urgency.

By this point the English were pretty much done fighting and working on a separate peace with France. The Dutch and the Austrians, however, continued to fight, trying to improve their negotiating position. Without the support of the English, however, they were doomed to fail, and suffered multiple defeats at French hands.

A series of treaties would end the war between the multiple combatants: the treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden. By the Peace of Utrecht it was agreed that Philip V would keep the throne of Spain, but would renounce for himself and his heirs any claim to the throne of France, and his relatives in France would likewise renounce any claim to the throne of Spain. In what should by now be fairly familiar, England and France decided other parties' territorial dispositions between them without the other parties' input. The French negotiator taunted the Dutch with the scathing remark, "De vous, chez vous, sans vous." Meaning negotiations would be held, "About you, around you, ''without'' you."

Despite making the second largest contribution to the allied cause after England, the Dutch ended the war essentially bankrupt with little to show for it, and out of all the participants were probably the biggest losers despite being on the "winning" side. By the Treaty of Rastatt, Spain's territories in the Netherlands were ceded to the Austrians, with Austrian troops to be stationed in the southern Netherlands as a bulwark against France. As previously mentioned, this was largely at the insistence of the English and Dutch rather than the Austrians themselves, who were not particularly interested in the Netherlands, and their commitment to defend them was implemented half-heartedly at best. Ultimately the defensive measures stipulated by the treaty would prove illusory, and even England's commitment to defend the Netherlands from external aggression proved ineffective. Dutch commercial and maritime power was permanently weakened by the conflict, and the Netherlands fell solidly into the ranks of second-rate powers in Europe.

The outcome for France was more ambiguous. While a direct union of crowns between France and Spain was not to be achieved, nevertheless a Bourbon king now sat upon the throne of Spain, supplanting the Habsburgs. France itself made some minor colonial concessions to the English in the New World, but otherwise largely retained its territorial integrity. Louis XIV also revoked his recognition of the claim of the exiled Catholic James Stuart to the throne of England and returned his recognition to the Protestant monarch Queen Anne. The real question is whether France achieved anything after over a decade of war that it had not already achieved (or could have achieved) in 1701 by negotiation. Again, it depends on how you view the actions of Louis XIV. If you believe it was his arrogance that caused the war in the first place in 1701, then the outcome for France could largely be considered a failure, with Louis XIV taking an unjustifiable gamble which pushed France to the edge of ruin in 1709, with France only coming back from the brink of disaster due to the overconfidence of the allies and the return of French fortunes in 1710. If, however, you believe war was inevitable no matter what Louis XIV did, then the war could largely be considered a success, with Louis XIV managing to hold on to gains that he would have had to fight for anyway.

By far the biggest winner out of the conflict was the Kingdom of England. It had prevented the rise of an empire that could threaten its interests by both France and Austria. It had established maritime dominance over its neighbors (though it would not become outright supremacy until later). It had acquired territory in the New World and the Mediterranean, including Gibraltar, which the United Kingdom controls to this day (to the great irritation of Spain). It had extracted commercial concessions from the Spanish Empire, and French recognition of the Protestant succession of Queen Anne. Its economy emerged from the war largely intact. In effect, England got basically everything it wanted.

You will also notice, this whole time, it has been the Kingdom of ''England''. This is because it was only during the War of the Spanish Succession that the parliaments of England and Scotland, until that time separate states ruled by the same monarch, officially united to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Prior to this it was by far England which was the senior partner in the relationship, and which made all the serious decisions.

Unlike other European royal families, inheritance of the Spanish Crown was permitted through the female line. Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

So there are two potential candidates to the Spanish throne. One is Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'', the son of the King of France. The other is Joseph Ferdinand, the grandson of the Emperor Leopold of Austria. The most obvious and direct line of succession was through Charles II's eldest sister, Maria Theresa, making Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'' heir to the Spanish Empire. However, this would make him direct heir to both the Kingdom of France and the Empire of Spain. This was deeply alarming to many in Europe, in particular the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic, who feared the formation of an unstoppable Catholic juggernaut.

The causes of the war were the result of rather convoluted intermarriages between the Spanish, French, and Austrian royal families. This being Early Modern European nobility, names tend to repeat, so for the purposes of clarity regnal numbers and royal titles will be included as much as possible. Even so, it can get confusing, so try to keep up.

It is easy to look back on the War of the Spanish Succession as the absurd egotistical squabbling of a couple of inbred European royal families which led directly to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. To a certain extent and from a certain point of view, that is absolutely correct. However, it was also the point at which national interests were really starting to take precedence over personal ones. The centuries-long process of Europe's transformation from a continent dominated by ''families'' to one dominated by ''nations'' was still ongoing, and the War of the Spanish Succession was an important milestone on the road to a transformation that arguably would not be complete until after the First World War. That Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'' had a right to inherit the throne of Spain was something nobody denied. Nevertheless, even from the earliest days of the conflict, it was judged that, "Because of the great danger which threatened the liberty and safety of all Europe, from the too-close conjunction of the kingdoms of Spain and France, the same person should never become King of both kingdoms." While this was a principle that Louis XIV did not necessarily accept, even he did not dare to flout it too blatantly. It was an important marker on the road to the development of the nation state, as well as the principle of collective security.

Emperor Charles VI would soon have a daughter, Maria Theresa, and he would spend the rest of his life working to ensure that his daughter would be accepted by the other European powers as ruler of the Habsburg realms (even to the detriment and neglect of everything else). She would go on to become ''the'' [[UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa Maria Theresa of Austria]], one of the most extraordinary Habsburg monarchs in history. It would turn out to be a mighty struggle for her though, because all those monarchs who promised her father they would recognize her [[ILied immediately turned on her]]. Maria Theresa herself would go on to have another famous daughter, [[UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette Marie Antoinette]], though famous for quite a different reason.

The causes of the war were the result of rather convoluted intermarriages between the Spanish, French, and Austrian royal families, and this being Early Modern European nobility, names tend to repeat, so for the purposes of clarity, regnal numbers and royal titles will be included as much as possible. Even so it can get confusing, so try to keep up.

Unlike other European royal families, inheritance in the Spanish Crown was permitted through the female line. Charles II of Spain would die childless, so this left potential heirs in the marriages of his two sisters. His eldest half-sister, Maria Theresa, had married Louis XIV, the King of France, also known as the Sun King. Her son, also named Louis, was ''le Grand Dauphin'' - heir to the French throne and nephew of King Charles II.

It is tempting to try to see the War of the Spanish Succession as either the beginning or end of something, when really it was anything but. Europe had just gotten off the Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the Thirty Years' War before that (1618-1648). The War of the Spanish Succession was Louis XIV the Sun King's last great war, but the 76-year-old had been fighting for his entire life. The Great Northern War (1700–1721), fought between Sweden and Russia, was concurrent with the War of the Spanish Succession. The United Kingdom almost immediately fought the Jacobite rising in 1715. A two-year war between Spain and an anti-Spanish coalition would soon follow (1718–1720), followed by the War of the ''Polish'' Succession (1733–1735) and the War of the ''Austrian'' Succession (1740-1748). The United Kingdom would fight ''another'' Jacobite rising in 1745 against Catholic pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie, shortly followed by the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between Britain and France. Then the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), then over two decades of constant war caused by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Though by no means inconsequential, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about the War of the Spanish Succession. For Europe, it was just another day at the office.

Austria did well out of the war, and by the Treaty of Rastatt secured its core interests by acquiring all of Spain's Italian territories, in particular the territory around Milan, and while Austria did not particularly care for them, the acquisition of the Spanish Netherlands also provided some additional revenue. Nevertheless the Archduke Charles (now Emperor Charles VI) considered the war a failure, as he had hoped to acquire the entirety of Charles II's realm and re-create the empire of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V from over a century previous, with an Austrian-Spanish-Italian-Dutch realm all united under a single Habsburg, and he continued to insist he was the rightful heir to the throne of Spain. Nobody else liked this idea though and ignored him, so he had to be content with the bulk of the Spanish Empire going to the Bourbons.

In 1711, the English reopened secret negotiations with the French, leading to the signing of preliminary articles, the main takeaway of which was the agreement in principle that the monarchies of Spain and France would remain separate. Then, ''once again'', a series of deaths threatened to throw everything back into chaos. In 1711, three days before Joseph I of Austria's own death, Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'' died of smallpox, putting his first son Louis, Duke of Burgundy (grandson of Louis XIV) in line for the French throne. The next year in 1712, Louis, Duke of Burgundy ''also'' died (of measles). Both ''his'' sons ''also'' became infected, ''both'' of whom were also named Louis (we know). His eldest son, the five-year-old Louis, Duke of Brittany, died a few weeks after his father, leaving the two-year-old Louis, Duke of Anjou, the ''great''-grandson of Louis XIV, as heir to the French throne, but he was not expected to survive. This meant the potential scenario that originally freaked everyone out so much was now within arm's reach: Philip of Anjou, former prince of France, now ruler of the Kingdom of Spain, was separated from becoming the direct heir to the Kingdom of France by a single toddler on the verge of death. This made his prompt abdication from the French line of succession a matter of immediate urgency.

Also: Louis, Duke of Anjou, the great-grandson of Louis XIV, managed to survive his measles (almost certainly being saved when his governess called a halt to his blood-letting, a "medical" procedure that undoubtedly contributed to the death of his older brother). He would become King Louis XV at five years old when his great-grandfather Louis XIV, called the Sun King, finally passed on in 1715, having survived every other monarch who originally started the conflict, as well as his own son and grandson.

The first attempt to prevent war was a negotiation between Louis XIV of France and William III of England (i.e. William of Orange, a Dutchman who became King of England after the overthrow of the last Catholic King of England, James II). Louis XIV initially proposed the simplest solution by supporting the candidacy of his son and direct heir, Louis ''le Grand Dauphin'', but this was rejected outright. Therefore the parties compromised and both agreed to support the candidacy of Joseph Ferdinand of Austria. He would inherit the bulk of the Spanish Empire, including the Spanish Netherlands, but Spain's Italian territories would be partitioned. Naples and Sicily would go to France, while Milan would go to Austria. This was the Treaty of The Hague.

The causes of the war were the result of a rather convoluted intermarriage between the Spanish, French, and Austrian royal families, and this being Early Modern European nobility, names tend to repeat, so for the purposes of clarity, regnal numbers and royal titles will be included as much as possible. Even so it can get confusing, so try to keep up.

It is tempting to try to see the War of the Spanish Succession as either the beginning or end of something, but really it was far from anything of the kind. Europe had just gotten off the Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the Thirty Years' War before that (1618-1648). The War of the Spanish Succession was Louis XIV the Sun King's last great war, but the 76-year-old had been fighting for his entire life. The Great Northern War (1700–1721), fought between Sweden and Russia, was concurrent with the War of the Spanish Succession. The United Kingdom almost immediately fought the Jacobite rising in 1715. A two-year war between Spain and an anti-Spanish coalition would soon follow (1718–1720), followed by the War of the ''Polish'' Succession (1733–1735) and the War of the ''Austrian'' Succession (1740-1748). The United Kingdom would fight ''another'' Jacobite rising in 1745 against Catholic pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie, shortly followed by the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between Britain and France. Then the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), then over two decades of constant war caused by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Though by no means inconsequential, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about the War of the Spanish Succession. For Europe, it was just another day at the office.

It is tempting to try to see the War of the Spanish Succession as either the beginning or end of something, but really it was far from anything of the kind. Europe had just gotten off the Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the Thirty Years' War before that (1618-1648). The War of the Spanish Succession was Louis XIV the Sun King's last great war, but the 76-year-old had been fighting for his entire life. The Great Northern War (1700–1721), fought between Sweden and Russia, was concurrent with the War of the Spanish Succession. The United Kingdom almost immediately fought the Jacobite rising in 1715. A two-year war between Spain and an anti-Spanish coalition would soon follow (1718–1720), followed by the War of the ''Polish'' Succession (1733–1735) and the War of the ''Austrian'' Succession (1740-1748). The United Kingdom would fight ''another'' Jacobite rising in 1745 against Catholic pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie, shortly followed by the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between Britain and France. Then the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), then 23 years of constant war caused by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. War, war, and endless war. Though by no means inconsequential, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about the War of the Spanish Succession. For Europe, it was just another day at the office.