Part 205

"Alone among the Spaniards the Catalans had real reason to regret the peace. They had clung to the cause of Charles with a desperate fidelity, and the Peace of Utrecht rang the death-knell of provincial liberties to which they were passionately attached. From the beginning of 1705 they had been the steady and faithful allies of England; they had again and again done eminent service in her cause; they had again and again received from her ministers and generals the most solemn assurances that they would never be abandoned. When England first opened a separate negotiation for peace she might easily have secured the Catalonian liberties by making their recognition an indispensable preliminary of peace; but, instead of this, the English ministers began by recognising the title of Philip, and contented themselves with a simple prayer that a general amnesty might be granted. When the convention was signed for the evacuation of Catalonia by the Imperial troops, the question of the provincial liberties was referred to the definite peace, the Queen and the French King promising at that time to interpose their good offices to secure them. The Emperor, who was bound to the Catalans by the strongest ties of gratitude and honour, could have easily obtained a guarantee of their fueros at the price of an acknowledgment of the title of Philip; but he was too proud and too selfish for such a sacrifice. The English, it is true, repeatedly urged the Spanish King to guarantee these privileges, … but these were mere representations, supported by no action, and were therefore peremptorily refused. The English peace with Spain contained a clause granting the Catalans a general armistice, and also a promise that they should be placed in the same position as the Castilians, which gave them the right of holding employments and carrying on a direct trade with the West Indies, but it made no mention of their provincial privileges. The Peace of Rastadt was equally silent, for the dignity of the Emperor would not suffer him to enter into any negotiations with Philip. The unhappy people, abandoned by those whom they had so faithfully served, refused to accept the position offered them by treaty, and, much to the indignation of the English Government, they still continued in arms, struggling with a desperate courage against overwhelming odds. The King of Spam then called upon the Queen, as a guarantee of the treaty of evacuation, 'to order a squadron of her ships to reduce his subjects to their obedience, and thereby complete the tranquillity of Spain and of the Mediterranean commerce.' A fleet was actually despatched, which would probably have been employed against Barcelona, but for an urgent address of the House of Lords, and the whole moral weight of England was thrown into the scale against the insurgents. The conduct of the French was more decided. Though the French King had engaged himself with the Queen by the treaty of evacuation to use his good offices in the most effectual manner in favour of the Catalan liberties, he now sent an army to hasten the capture of Barcelona. The blockade of that noble city lasted for more than a year. The insurgents hung up over the high altar the Queen's solemn declaration to protect them. They continued the hopeless struggle till 14,000 bombs had been thrown into the city; till a great part of it had been reduced to ashes; till seven breaches had been made; till 10,000 of the besieging army had been killed or wounded; and till famine had been added to the horrors of war. At last, on September 11, 1714, Barcelona was taken by storm. A frightful massacre took place in the streets. Many of the inhabitants were afterwards imprisoned or transported, and the old privileges of Catalonia were finally abolished. Such was the last scene of this disastrous war."

_W. E. R. Lecky, History of England, 18th century, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN: _Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope), History of England, 1713-1783, chapter 3 (volume 1)._

_C. T. Wilson, The Duke of Berwick, chapter 21._

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SPAIN: A. D. 1713-1725. Continued war with the Emperor. The Triple Alliance. The Quadruple Alliance. The Peace of Vienna. The Alliance of Hanover.

"The treaty of Utrecht, although it had tranquilized a great part of Europe, was nevertheless defective, in as far as it had not reconciled the Emperor and the King of Spain, the two principal claimants to the Spanish succession. The Emperor Charles VI. did not recognize Philip V. in his quality of King of Spain; and Philip, in his turn [instigated by his queen, Elizabeth Farnese—see ITALY:' A. D. 1715-1735] refused to acquiesce in those partitions of the Spanish monarchy which the treaty of Utrecht had stipulated in favour of the Emperor. To defeat the projects and secret intrigues of the Spanish minister [Cardinal Alberoni], the Duke of Orleans [Regent of France], thought of courting an alliance with England, as being the power most particularly interested in maintaining the treaty of Utrecht, the fundamental articles of which had been dictated by herself. That alliance, into which the United Provinces also entered, was concluded at the Hague (January 4th, 1717). … Cardinal Alberoni, without being in the least disconcerted by the Triple Alliance, persisted in his design of recommencing the war. No sooner had he recruited the Spanish forces, and equipped an expedition, than he attacked Sardinia [1717], which he took from the Emperor. This conquest was followed by that of Sicily, which the Spaniards took from the Duke of Savoy (1718). France and England, indignant at the infraction of a treaty which they regarded as their own work, immediately concluded with the Emperor, at London (August 2nd, 1718) the famous Quadruple Alliance, which contained the plan of a treaty of peace, to be made between the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the Duke of Savoy. The allied powers engaged to obtain the consent of the parties interested in this proposal, and, in case of refusal, to compel them by force of arms. The Emperor was to renounce his right to the Spanish crown, and to acknowledge Philip V. as the legitimate King of Spain, in consideration of that prince renouncing the provinces of Italy and the Netherlands, which the treaty of Utrecht and the quadruple alliance adjudged to the Emperor. The Duke of Savoy was to cede Sicily to Austria, receiving Sardinia in exchange, which the King of Spam was to disclaim. The right of reversion to the crown of Spain was transferred from Sicily to Sardinia. That treaty likewise granted to Don Carlos, eldest son of Philip V., by his second marriage, the eventual reversion and investiture of the duchies of Parma and Placentia, as well as the grand duchy of Tuscany, on condition of holding them as fiefs-male of the Emperor and the Empire after the decease of the last male issue of the families of Farnese and Medici, who were then in possession. …. The Duke of Savoy did not hesitate to subscribe the conditions of the quadruple alliance; but it was otherwise with the King of Spain, who persisted in his refusal; when France and England declared war against him. The French invaded the provinces of Guipuscoa and Catalonia [under Berwick, A. D. 1710], while the English seized Gallicia and the port of Vigo. These vigorous proceedings shook the resolutions of the King of Spain. He signed the quadruple alliance, and banished the Cardinal Alberoni from his court, the adviser of those measures of which the allies complained. The Spanish troops then evacuated Sicily and Sardinia, when the Emperor took possession of the former and Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, of the latter. The war to all appearance was at an end." But fresh difficulties arose, one following another. The reversion of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, promised to the Infant of Spain, was stoutly opposed in Italy. The Emperor provoked commercial jealousies in England and Holland by chartering a Company of Ostend (1722) with exclusive privileges of trading to the East and West Indies and the coasts of Africa. An attempted congress at Cambrai was long retarded and finally broken up. Meantime the French court gave mortal offense to the King of Spain by sending home his daughter, who had been the intended bride of the young King Louis XV., and marrying the latter to a Polish princess. The final result was to draw the Emperor and the King of Spain— the two original enemies in the embroilment—together, and a treaty between them was concluded at Vienna, April 30, 1725. "This treaty renewed the renunciation of Philip V. to the provinces of Italy and the Netherlands, as well as that of the Emperor to Spain and the Indies. The eventual investiture of the duchies of Parma and Placentia, and that of the grand duchy of Tuscany, were also confirmed. The only new clause contained in the treaty was that by which the King of Spain undertook to guarantee the famous Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI., which secured to the daughter of that prince the succession of all his estates. It was chiefly on this account that Philip V. became reconciled to the court of Vienna. The peace of Vienna was accompanied by a defensive alliance between the Emperor and the King of Spain." The terms of the alliance were such as to alarm England for the security of her hold on Gibraltar and Minorca, and Holland for her commerce, besides giving uneasiness to France. By the action of the latter, a league was set on foot "capable of counteracting that of Vienna, which was concluded at Herrenhausen, near Hanover, (September 3, 1725) and is known by the name of the Alliance of Hanover. All Europe was divided between these two alliances."

_C. W. Koch, The Revolutions of Europe, period 8._

ALSO IN: _Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope), History of England, 1713-1783, volume 1, chapters 7-10._

_G. P. R. James, Eminent Foreign Statesmen, volume 4: Alberoni._

_W. Coxe, Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, chapters 22-30._

_E. Armstrong, Elisabeth Farnese. "The Termagant of Spain." chapters 2-10._

SPAIN: A. D. 1714. The Peace of Utrecht.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714; and SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1698-1776.

SPAIN: A. D. 1725-1740. The Austrian Succession. Guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1718-1738; and 1740.

SPAIN: A. D. 1726-1731. Fresh quarrels with England. Siege of Gibraltar. Treaty of Seville. Second Treaty of Vienna. Acquisition of the Italian Duchies.

"All Europe became divided between the alliances of Vienna and Hanover; and though both sides pretended that these treaties were only defensive, yet each made extensive preparations for war. George I. entered into a treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel for the supply of 12,000 men; manifests were published, ambassadors withdrawn, armies put on foot; the sea was covered with English fleets; an English squadron under Admiral Hosier annoyed the trade of Spain; and in February 1727, the Spaniards laid siege to Gibraltar, and seized at Vera Cruz a richly laden merchant vessel belonging to the English South Sea Company. But all these vast preparations led to no results of importance. Of all the European Powers, Spain alone had any real desire for war. … {2999} The preliminaries of a general pacification were signed at Paris, May 31st 1727, by the ministers of the Emperor, France, Great Britain, and Holland, and a Congress was appointed to assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle to arrange a definitive peace. But Spain still held aloof and sought every opportunity to temporise. The hopes of Philip being again awakened by the death of George I. in July 1727, he renewed his intrigues with the Jacobites, and instigated the Pretender to proceed to a port in the Low Countries, and to seize an opportunity to pass over into England. But these unfounded expectations were soon dispelled by the quiet accession of George II. to the throne and policy of his father. … The Spanish Queen [Elizabeth Farnese], however, still held out; till, alarmed by the dangerous state of Philip's health, whose death might frustrate her favourite scheme of obtaining the Italian duchies, and leave her a mere cypher without any political influence, she induced her husband to accept the preliminaries by the Act of the Pardo, March 6th 1728. A congress was now opened at Soissons, to which place it had been transferred for the convenience of Fleury [French minister], who was bishop of that diocese. But though little remained to be arranged except the satisfaction of Spain in the matter of the Italian duchies, the negociations were tedious and protracted." In the end they "became a mere farce, and the various plenipotentiaries gradually withdrew from the Congress. Meanwhile the birth of a Dauphin (September 4th 1729) having dissipated the hopes of Philip V. and his Queen as to the French succession, Elizabeth devoted herself all the more warmly to the prosecution of her Italian schemes; and finding all her efforts to separate France and England unavailing, she at length determined to accept what they offered. … She persuaded Philip to enter into a separate treaty with France and England, which was concluded at Seville, November 9th 1729. England and Spain arranged their commercial and other differences; the succession of Don Carlos to the Italian duchies was guaranteed; and it was agreed that Leghorn, Porto Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza should be garrisoned by 6,000 Spaniards, who, however, were not to interfere with the civil government. Nothing more was said about Gibraltar. Philip, indeed, seemed now to have abandoned all hope of recovering that fortress; for he soon afterwards caused to be constructed across the isthmus the strong lines of San Roque, and thus completely isolated Gibraltar from his Spanish dominions. The Dutch acceded to the Treaty of Seville shortly after its execution, on the understanding that they should receive entire satisfaction respecting the India Company established by the Emperor at Ostend. Charles VI. was indignant at being thus treated by Spain. … On the death of Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma, January 10th 1731, he took military possession of that state. … The versatility of the cabinets of that age, however, enabled the Emperor to attain his favourite object at a moment when he least expected it. The Queen of Spain, wearied with the slowness of Cardinal Fleury in carrying out the provisions of the Treaty of Seville, suddenly declared, in a fit of passion, that Spain was no longer bound by that treaty (January 1731). Great Britain and the Dutch States, in concert with the Spanish Court, without the concurrence of France, now entered into negociations with the Emperor, which were skilfully conducted by Lord Waldegrave, to induce him to accede to the Treaty of Seville; and, on March 16th 1731, was concluded what has been called the Second Treaty of Vienna. Great Britain and the States guaranteed the Pragmatic Sanction; and the Emperor, on his side, acceded to the provisions of Seville respecting the Italian duchies, and agreed to annihilate the commerce of the Austrian Netherlands with the Indies by abolishing the obnoxious Ostend Company. He also engaged not to bestow his daughter on a Bourbon prince, or in any other way that might endanger the balance of power in Europe. … In the following November an English squadron disembarked at Leghorn 6,000 Spaniards, who took possession of that place, as well as Porto Ferrajo, Parma, and Piacenza, in the name of Don Carlos, as Duke of Parma and presumptive heir of Tuscany."

_T. H. Dyer, History of Modern Europe, book 6, chapter 1 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN: _Lord Mahon (Earl Stanhope), History of England, 1713-1783, chapters 14-15 (volume 2)._

_W. Coxe, History of the House of Austria, chapter 88 (volume 3)._

_W. Coxe, Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, chapters 36-40 (volume 3)._

_E. Armstrong, Elisabeth Farnese, "The Termagant of Spain," chapters 11-14._

SPAIN: A. D. 1733. The First Bourbon Family Compact (France and Spain).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733.

SPAIN: A. D. 1734-1735. Acquisition of Naples and Sicily, as a kingdom for Don Carlos.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.

SPAIN: A. D. 1739. Outbreak of hostilities with England. The War of Jenkins' Ear.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1739-1741.

SPAIN: A. D. 1740. Unsuccessful attack of the English on Florida.

See GEORGIA: A. D. 1738-1743.

SPAIN: A. D. 1740-1741. Beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1740-1741.

SPAIN: A. D. 1741-1747. The War of the Austrian Succession: Operations in Italy.

See ITALY: A. D. 1741-1743, to 1746-1747.

SPAIN: A. D. 1743. The Second Family Compact of the Bourbon kings. Arrangements concerning Italy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1743 (OCTOBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1746. Accession of Ferdinand VI.

SPAIN: A. D. 1748. Termination and results of the War of the Austrian Succession.

See AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, THE CONGRESS.

SPAIN: A. D. 1759. Accession of Charles III.

SPAIN: A. D. 1761-1762. The Third Family Compact of the Bourbon kings. England declares War.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1761 (AUGUST).

SPAIN: A. D. 1762-1763. Havana lost and recovered.

See CUBA: A. D. 1514-1851.

SPAIN: A. D. 1763. End and results of the Seven Years War. Florida ceded to Great Britain. Louisiana acquired from France.

See SEVEN YEARS WAR: THE TREATIES.

SPAIN: A. D. 1766-1769. Occupation of Louisiana. The revolt of New Orleans and its suppression.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1766-1768; and 1769.

SPAIN: A. D. 1767. Suppression of the order of the Jesuits.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1761-1769.

SPAIN: A. D. 1779-1781. Reconquest of West Florida.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1779-1781.

SPAIN: A. D. 1779-1782. The unsuccessful siege of Gibraltar.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1780-1782.

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SPAIN: A. D. 1782. Aims and interests in the settlement of peace between Great Britain and the United States.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1782 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1783-1800. The question of Florida boundaries and of the navigation of the Mississippi, in dispute with the United States.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1783-1787; and LOUISIANA: A. D. 1785-1800.

SPAIN: A. D. 1788. Accession of Charles IV.

SPAIN: A. D. 1791-1793. The Coalition against revolutionary France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1790-1791; 1791 (JULY-SEPTEMBER); and 1793 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1793. Successes on the French frontier.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (JULY-DECEMBER) PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

SPAIN: A. D. 1794. French successes in the Pyrenees.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794-1795 (OCTOBER-MAY).

SPAIN: A. D. 1795. Peace and alliance with the French Republic. Cession of Spanish San Domingo.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1795 (JUNE-DECEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1797. Naval defeat by the English off Cape St. Vincent.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1797.

SPAIN: A. D. 1797. Cession of western part of Hayti, or San Domingo, to France.

See HAYTI: A. D. 1632-1803.

SPAIN: A. D. 1801. Re-cession of Louisiana to France.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.

SPAIN: A. D. 1802. The Peace of Amiens. Recovery of Minorca and Port Mahon.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1802.

SPAIN: A. D. 1805. The naval defeat at Trafalgar.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1805 (MARCH-DECEMBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1807-1808. Napoleon's plots for the theft of the Spanish crown. The popular rising. Accession of Ferdinand VII.

"For more than ten years Spain had been drawn in the wake of revolutionary France. To Napoleon from the beginning of his reign she had been as subservient as Holland or Switzerland; she had made war and peace at his bidding, had surrendered Trinidad to make the treaty of Amiens, had given her fleet to destruction at Trafalgar. In other states equally subservient, such as Holland and the Italian Republic, Napoleon had remodelled the government at his pleasure, and in the end had put his own family at the head of it. After Tilsit he thought himself strong enough to make a similar change in Spain, and the occupation of Portugal seemed to afford the opportunity of doing this. By two conventions signed at Fontainebleau on October 27, the partition of Portugal was arranged with Spain.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1807.