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The Ascendancy of France in Europe 1660–1714

The Partition Treaties and the Spanish succession problem

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2

Overview

The claimants to the Spanish inheritance, the terms of the two treaties and the reasons they failed.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why was the Spanish succession a European problem?

Key term

On what did the French claim to the Spanish inheritance rest?

Who and when

Who was Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why was the Spanish succession a European problem?

    Model answer

    Carlos II was childless and dying, and his inheritance included Spain, the Indies, the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples and Sicily, so whoever took it would dominate Europe.

  2. 2

    On what did the French claim to the Spanish inheritance rest?

    Model answer

    The French claim came through Louis XIV's wife Maria Theresa, the elder daughter of Philip IV, and passed to the Dauphin and then to his sons.

  3. 3

    On what did the Austrian claim rest?

    Model answer

    The Austrian claim came through Leopold I's mother and his first wife, the younger daughter of Philip IV, and was assigned to his second son, the Archduke Charles.

  4. 4

    Who was Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria?

    Model answer

    Joseph Ferdinand was the young electoral prince of Bavaria, a great-grandson of Philip IV, and the compromise candidate acceptable to the maritime powers because he threatened nobody.

  5. 5

    What did the First Partition Treaty of 1698 propose?

    Model answer

    The First Partition Treaty gave Spain, the Netherlands and the colonies to Joseph Ferdinand, Naples, Sicily and Guipúzcoa to the Dauphin, and Milan to the Archduke Charles.

  6. 6

    How did the Spanish court react to the First Partition Treaty?

    Model answer

    Spain was outraged that its empire had been divided without consultation and Carlos II made a will leaving the whole inheritance to Joseph Ferdinand.

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