Читать книгу Marlborough and the War of the Spanish Succession - G. W. L. Nicholson - Страница 6

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By 1697 it had become apparent that "Charles the Sufferer", the feeble invalid on the Spanish throne, would die childless, and probably before very long. His nearest male relatives were his two powerful cousins, the Bourbon Louis XIV, King of France, and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and head of the Austrian Hapsburgs. Both had married sisters of Charles II, although Louis had solemnly renounced any French claim which might arise from his marriage. The question of who would inherit the Spanish empire could not wait for solution until the throne became vacant; for the balance of power in Europe would be seriously upset if the crown of Spain with its control of half the world became joined with either the French or the Austrian crown. With the rival houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg each ready to resist to the utmost the other's claim, partition of the Spanish empire appeared the only solution if a general war were to be averted. In September 1698 William III and Louis XIV met secretly (the former without the knowledge of the English Parliament) to frame what became known as the First Partition Treaty. There were three major claimants to be considered: the Bourbon candidate, Philip, Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV (the French renunciation was assumed to have been nullified by Spain's failure to pay their princess's dowry at the time of Louis' marriage); Leopold's nominee, his son (by his second wife), the Archduke Charles; and the Elector of Bavaria, Joseph Ferdinand, grandson of the Emperor and his former Spanish wife (see Appendix "A"). The choice of the two royal planners fell on the young Bavarian prince, who being the least powerful of the three candidates was the least likely by his acquisitions to disturb the balance of Europe. Consolation prizes would be provided by pruning the Spanish inheritance of its Italian possessions—the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Sicily and Naples) going to the French Dauphin, and Milan to the Archduke Charles.

This settlement, whose guarantee by England, Holland and France seemed sufficient to ensure its fulfilment, was unfortunately brought to nought by the unexpected death, early in 1699, of the young Joseph Ferdinand. Again Louis and William tackled the knotty problem of succession, and in June 1699 agreed on a Second Partition Treaty. They selected as the chief heir the Archduke Charles, who was to be King of Spain and the Indies and ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, on condition that these territories should never be joined to the Empire. Naples, Sicily and Milan would go to the French Dauphin. The division seemed to favour Austria; yet Leopold, wanting all for his son, refused to accept the terms of the treaty. From this point war was inevitable.

The long-awaited death of Charles II of Spain occurred in November 1700. Barely a month earlier, however, the moribund King had signed a will leaving all his domains to Philip of Anjou. This unlooked for action came less as a result of persuasive French diplomacy than of pressure by the Spanish grandees, who were determined that their empire should not be partitioned and who preferred by this means to buy French support for their cause rather than face a hostile neighbour against whom neither England nor Austria would be able to protect them. By the terms of the fateful will Louis XIV must sanction Philip's acceptance of the whole Spanish empire, or it would pass intact to Charles of Austria. This proviso placed the Grand Monarch in an extremely awkward position. If he refused the legacy, Austria could rightfully claim the Italian territories which William and Louis had previously reserved for France. In the words of one of the French Ministers:

The King, by rejecting the Will had no other course left than entirely to resign the Spanish Succession, or to wage war in order to conquer that part which the Treaty of Partition had assigned to France.

And Louis realized that the English, who were anxious about the safety of their Mediterranean trade with Turkey and the Levant, would not support him in any war to win Naples and Sicily to France.

Louis soon reached a decision. Since he was faced with an Austrian war whichever course he took, it was naturally to his advantage to have Spain on his side and her ports and fortresses open to his forces. He accepted the will and sent his grandson to rule in Madrid as King Philip V. And now the moderation which had heretofore characterized his attitude on the question of the Spanish Succession gave way to arrogance, and he soon antagonised England and Holland, uniting them with Austria against him. In 1701 he marched his armies into the Spanish Netherlands, occupied the Spanish fortresses there, and went on to seize the Dutch Barrier—a chain of seven fortresses[4] stretching from Luxembourg to the sea which the Dutch had been given right by treaty to maintain in Spanish territory.

France's entry into Belgium and her newly acquired influence in Italy had a damaging effect on English trade, and other blows followed. Louis forced the Spaniards to hand over to a French company the contract for supplying African slaves to Spanish America, thereby not only blighting English hopes in that direction but opening the door to French smuggling between the New World and European ports. In June 1701 Portugal allied herself with France and Spain, with the result that there was now "not a port between London and Leghorn" where British ships could find shelter in case of war. Before the end of the year the authorities in Spanish ports were compelling English and Dutch merchants to sell their goods at half price. There was a strong reaction in England, where King William found public opinion veering rapidly towards the support of his United Provinces. In May a petition had urged the House of Commons to turn its "loyal addresses" into "bills of supply" in order "that his most sacred Majesty may be enabled powerfully to assist his allies before it is too late." A treaty signed in 1677 had pledged England to aid the Netherlands with 10,000 men if attacked, and before the end of June twelve battalions reached Holland from service in Ireland. Louis XIV was taken completely unawares by this action, which his ambassador at Madrid attempted to explain on the grounds that "the English are the most unsteady people, easy to be blown to violent resolutions."