1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,560 In the late 17th century, the Habsburg King of Spain, Charles II, was both mentally and 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:12,960 physically disabled after centuries of inbreeding, and he was without an heir. 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,480 Although Spain wasn't necessarily the superpower it once was, it did control a large amount 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:18,480 of land. 5 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,600 So two claimants emerged for the throne, the Bourbon King of France and the Austrian Habsburg 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:27,640 Emperor, both of whom were the sons of, and husbands too, Spanish Habsburg princesses, 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:29,719 and they claimed the throne for their descendants. 8 00:00:29,719 --> 00:00:33,619 There was another claimant that entered into the mix, Joseph Ferdinand of Fittelsbach in 9 00:00:33,619 --> 00:00:37,399 Bavaria, however he died just before the death of the King of Spain. 10 00:00:37,399 --> 00:00:42,879 The King of Spain died in 1700, and in his will he left everything to Philip, the grandson 11 00:00:42,879 --> 00:00:44,840 of King Louis of France. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,519 So the Austrians, seeing that their claimant, Charles, the second son of the Emperor, would 13 00:00:49,519 --> 00:00:51,899 get nothing prepared for war. 14 00:00:51,899 --> 00:00:55,560 The English and the Dutch too felt that the French were taking too much, so joined in 15 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:57,659 the fight alongside the Austrians. 16 00:00:57,660 --> 00:01:01,840 Savoy and Portugal joined France, however they quickly switched sides once the war broke 17 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:02,840 out. 18 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,500 Within Germany, the Bavarians sided with the French while the rest of the Holy Roman Empire, 19 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:09,780 notably Prussia, joined the Austrians. 20 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:14,620 However, to get Prussian help, they needed to give their prince the title of King, making 21 00:01:14,620 --> 00:01:17,659 it the only other kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire. 22 00:01:17,659 --> 00:01:23,659 War broke out in 1701 and Prince Eugene of Savoy seized Spanish possessions in Italy 23 00:01:23,659 --> 00:01:26,840 and England's Duke of Marlborough moved into Spanish Netherlands. 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:31,640 The French and Bavarians then launched a bold counterattack in 1704 and started moving in 25 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,520 on Vienna, hoping to knock the Austrians out of the war. 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,600 However, the Duke of Marlborough noticed their movements and moved troops south to link up 27 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,180 with Prince Eugene and meet them in battle. 28 00:01:41,180 --> 00:01:47,159 In August 1704, the two sides met at Blenheim and the French and Bavarian forces were crushed 29 00:01:47,159 --> 00:01:50,159 and the Bavarians were knocked out of the war shortly afterwards. 30 00:01:50,159 --> 00:01:54,480 August also saw French and Spanish fleets defeated off the coast of Spain and the English 31 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:55,719 seized Gibraltar. 32 00:01:55,719 --> 00:02:00,179 Then, King Philip of Spain saw the support for his rule diminish. 33 00:02:00,179 --> 00:02:04,400 People loyal to the Habsburgs rose up across the country, primarily in Catalonia and the 34 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:05,879 old lands of Aragon. 35 00:02:05,879 --> 00:02:08,539 They were joined shortly afterwards by an allied army. 36 00:02:08,539 --> 00:02:11,680 They took Barcelona and marched west, and took Madrid. 37 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,120 However, because most of Spain was still loyal to Philip, they could not maintain their position 38 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,599 in the capital, and King Philip was able to take the city back. 39 00:02:19,599 --> 00:02:25,240 Meanwhile, in 1706, the French had withdrawn from Italy and the Spanish Netherlands completely. 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,600 Louis then tried to make peace. Numerous offers and counter-offers were made, but the Allies 41 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,659 were unwilling to see the Bourbons gain anything, so the fighting continued. 42 00:02:33,659 --> 00:02:37,820 In the Americas, the English and their native allies had been fighting the Spanish and French 43 00:02:37,820 --> 00:02:42,320 colonists and their native allies in the Queen Anne's War. This theatre of war saw some 44 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:48,219 brutality. For instance, in 1704, the Appalachian tribe was massacred by English colonists, 45 00:02:48,219 --> 00:02:53,900 but it saw very little territorial gains. Finally, in 1710, Acadia did change hands, 46 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:56,140 but overall it was a bit of a stalemate. 47 00:02:56,140 --> 00:03:00,460 In the following years, a series of events upset the balance of war. In the newly formed 48 00:03:00,460 --> 00:03:05,540 nation of Britain, the Tory party, who wanted to make peace, defeated the Whigs in the election 49 00:03:05,540 --> 00:03:11,040 of 1710. Then, a series of royal deaths dramatically undermined the Allies' cause for war. Philip 50 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:16,719 of Spain was initially fifth in line to the throne to France, but between 1710 and 1712, 51 00:03:16,719 --> 00:03:22,580 Louis XIV's son, elder grandson and great grandson all died. This put Philip second 52 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:27,900 in line to the French throne behind his two-year-old nephew. But more importantly, in the same 53 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:34,160 period, the new Emperor of Austria, Joseph I, Charles' older brother, died childless. 54 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,880 This made Charles Emperor of Austria and nobody wanted to see the Emperor of Austria inherit 55 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,880 the vast Spanish Empire, so the warring parties made two separate peace treaties that were 56 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:49,780 signed between 1713 and 1714. Philip, who was still holding Spain, would agree to renounce 57 00:03:49,780 --> 00:03:54,159 his claims on the French throne and he would be allowed to keep Spain and its colonies. 58 00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:58,300 However Britain took Gibraltar and Menorca from Spain and they gained a monopoly over 59 00:03:58,300 --> 00:04:02,539 the slave trade in the Spanish Americas. In the Americas Britain also secured a little 60 00:04:02,539 --> 00:04:06,960 territory from the French. Austria was able to secure the rest of the Spanish Empire in 61 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:12,280 the Low Countries and in Italy and Savoy took Sicily although a few years later Austria 62 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,420 traded Sicily for Sardinia. But most importantly the war introduced Europe to the balance of 63 00:04:17,420 --> 00:04:22,480 power. Austria, Britain, France, the new kingdom of Prussia and even Russia would fight numerous 64 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,240 wars over the next centuries including the war of the Austrian succession which was fought 65 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,819 to try and keep the enlarged Austrian empire together.