4. The War of the Spanish Succession A EUROPEAN WAR -Carlos II, THE LAST Spanish monarch of the House of Habsburg died in 1700 without an heir. - There were two pretenders supported by different European powers. - The War of the Spanish Successsion broke out in 1701. 1. Philip, Duke of Anjou - Carlos II name Philip, Duke of Anjou, of the House of Bourbon, as his successor. - Philip was the grandson of Louis XIV, the French king. - He was crowned king as Felipe V, marking the beginning of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. 2. Charles, Archduke of Austria - Great Britain, the Dutch Republic andbthe Holy Roman Empire were afraid of the Bourbons ruling both France and Spain. - To prevent this, they supported Charles,Archduke of Austria, in his claim to the Spanish throne
4. The War of the Spanish Succession -
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The Peace of Utrecht The war ended with the Peace of Utrecht . A set of treaties in which Spain ceded territory to Austria, Great Britain and Savoy. Felipe V was recognised as the king of Spain, but he had to renounce to his claim to the French throne and all the European possessions of the Spanish crown, which therefore lost its hegemony. Great Britain received Gribaltar and Menorca. It got a monopoly on the slave trade with the Spanish colonies in America. Archduke Charles, who was now Holy Roman Emperor, received the Spanish Netherlands, the Duchy of Milan, the kingdom of Naples and Sardinia.
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A CIVIL WAR The succession problem led to a civil war. Supporters of Felipe V were based in the kingdomsof Castilla. Archduke Charles had many backers in the Crown of Aragón. They were afraid that the Bourbons would impose the French model of centralised state and absolutism
The Nueva Planta decrees -
One of the first things Felipe V did was take action against the territories of the Crown of Aragón. Nueva Planta decrees abolished all the fueros and privileges of Aragón, Cataluña, Valencia and Mallorca. Their Cortes were eliminated. They would be governed by the same laws as Castilla. This process is known as centralisation.
4. The War of the Spanish Succession A new dynasty: the House of Bourbon - The domestic policyof the Bourbons in Spain was characerised by: 1. Strong absolute rule. - They weakened the hereditary power of the nobility. - They tried to increase the power of the monarch all the expense of the church, a policy known as regalismo. 2.New institutions. - These had to meet the needs of the new centralised state, such as the state secretariats, predecessors of today’s ministries, and the division of the territory into provinces.
-The Foreign policy was determined by the Pacte de Famille. These were alliances with the Bourbon monarchy in France, whose greatest rival was Great Britain. - These domestic and foreign policies were consolidated during the lengthy reign of Felipe V and his two sons, Fernando VI and Carlos III.