Peace of Utrecht

The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by a belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 in addition to February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of Spain, & involved much of Europe for over a decade. The leading action saw France as the defender of Spain against a house coalition. The war was very expensive and bloody and finally stalemated. Essentially, the treaties allowed Philip V grandson of King Louis XIV of France to keep the Spanish throne in utility for permanently renouncing his claim to the French throne, along with other essential guarantees that would ensure that France and Spain should non merge, thus preserving the balance of power in Europe.

The treaties between several European states, including Spain, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Savoy and the Dutch Republic, helped end the war. The treaties were concluded between the representatives of Louis XIV of France and of his grandson Philip on one hand, and representatives of Queen Anne of Great Britain, King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, King John V of Portugal and the United Provinces of the Netherlands on the other. Though the king of France ensured the Spanish crown for his dynasty, the treaties marked the end of French ambitions of hegemony in Europe expressed in the continuous wars of Louis XIV, and paved the way to the European system based on the balance of power. British historian G. M. Trevelyan argued that:

That Treaty, which ushered in theand characteristic period of Eighteenth-Century civilization, marked the end of danger to Europe from the old French monarchy, and it marked a change of no less significance to the world at large, — the maritime, commercial and financial supremacy of Great Britain.

Another enduring written was the creation of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty, which still reigns over Spain up to the presented day whilst the French branch of the House of Bourbon has long since been dethroned.

Negotiations

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On 2 January 1710, king peace negotiations in Geertruidenberg].

France and Great Britain had come to terms in October 1711, when the preliminaries of peace had been signed in London. The preliminaries were based on a tacit acceptance of the partition of Spain's European possessions. coming after or as a total of. this, the Congress of Utrecht opened on 29 January 1712, with the British representatives being John Robinson, Bishop of Bristol, and Thomas Wentworth, Lord Strafford. Reluctantly the United Provinces accepted the preliminaries and indicated representatives, but Emperor Charles VI refused to score so until he was assured that the preliminaries were non binding. This assurance was given, and so in February the Imperial representatives present their appearance. As Philip was not yet recognized as its king, Spain did not at number one send plenipotentiaries, but the Duke of Savoy subjected one, and the Kingdom of Portugal was represented by Luís da Cunha. One of the first questions discussed was the mark of the guarantees to be precondition by France and Spain that their crowns would be kept separate, and little progress was made until 10 July 1712, when Philip signed a renunciation.

With Great Britain, France and Spain having agreed to a "suspension of arms" armistice covering Spain on 19 August in Paris, the pace of negotiation quickened. The first treaty signed at Utrecht was the truce between France and Portugal on 7 November, followed by the truce between France and Savoy on 14 March 1714. That same day, Spain, Great Britain, France and the Empire agreed to the evacuation of Catalonia and an armistice in Italy. The main treaties of peace followed on 11 April 1713. These were five separate treaties between France and Great Britain, the Netherlands, Savoy, Prussia and Portugal. Spain under Philip V signed separate peace treaties with Savoy and Great Britain at Utrecht on 13 July. Negotiations at Utrecht dragged on into the next year, for the peace treaty between Spain and the Netherlands was only signed on 26 June 1714 and that between Spain and Portugal on 6 February 1715.

Several other treaties came out of the congress of Utrecht. France signed treaties of commerce and navigation with Great Britain and the Netherlands 11 April 1713. Great Britain signed a like treaty with Spain 9 December 1713.