Spanish Succession

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A European war – 1701 to1715 (aprox.)
This war involves the Austrian Empire, the United Provinces and England fighting against France and Spain to settle who would become King of Spain and how the Spanish empire would be divided (several of the Germanic states were involved and usually fought with whatever side they felt could maintain their security).
Spain was weak and had no obvious line of succession while France and the Austrian empire were both strong and both had strong claimants to the throne. Most of the Spanish nobles were just looking for some way of holding the empire together and England and the United Provinces (the maritime powers) were trying to ensure no single European power became so strong as to threaten their security or trade routes.

The war involves several notable names such as Leopold I of Austria, Prince Eugene, general of the Imperial forces, the Duke of Marlborough leading the allied forces, Heinsius, manipulating the Dutch politics and,of course, the Sun King himself, Louis XIV.

To find out more of this fascinating period of conflict then check out this bunch of links: