Peace of Utrecht

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The Peace of Utrecht consisted of twenty-three treaties and conventions that ended the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). Most, but not all, were signed in Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1713. France and Austria ended hostilities with the Treaty of Rastatt in March 1714; the Treaty of Baden (September 1714) ended war between France and the Holy Roman Empire; Portugal and Spain concluded negotiations in Madrid in February 1715. Austria and the empire did not sign treaties with Spain until 1725, despite the cessation of fighting a decade before, largely because of Habsburg unwillingness to concede the Bourbon succession in Spain.

The contested Spanish succession fed fears of French hegemony after a Bourbon prince, Philip d'Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, became Philip V of Spain in 1700. A Grand Alliance, comprising England, the Dutch Republic, Austria, and many smaller European powers, commenced war against France and Spain in 1702. Particularistic complaints underlying the allies' shared concerns made peace elusive. The French troops' occupation of towns in the southern Netherlands in 1701 threatened the security of the Dutch Republic. The English and Dutch feared French trade restrictions in Spanish America after France received an asiento ('contract') to supply slaves to Spanish colonies, in 1701. An Austrian Habsburg prince, Archduke Charles, second son of Emperor Leopold I (ruled 1658–1705), was Philip V's chief rival for the Spanish throne.

Attempts at peace commenced in 1706 but faltered repeatedly. Negotiators failed to craft terms acceptable to multiple parties, and the fickle fortunes of war frequently reconfigured bargaining positions. In 1710, a change of government in Britain broke the impasse. War-weary Britons voted out the Whigs, and a Tory ministry headed by Robert Harley assumed power. Henry St. John, a new secretary of state, abandoned multilateral negotiations for bilateral negotiations with the French, and soon Britain and France had cut deals that promised peace but compromised the interests of Britain's allies.

On 29 January 1712, an international congress convened in Utrecht to negotiate a general peace between France and some members of the Grand Alliance. St. John wanted the semblance of a general settlement, even if most negotiating was bilateral rather than in congressional sessions. One of Britain's war aims was a balance of power in Europe, a goal that St. John suspected the French did not heartily support. A general peace between France and the allies, he believed, would forward that goal more than would a separate peace between France and Britain. By early 1713, the plenipotentiaries of Britain, the Dutch Republic, Savoy, Portugal, and Prussia had agreed to terms with France, and on 11 April signed treaties ending their participation in the war.

Spanish involvement in the congress was delayed until the April treaties acknowledged Philip V and his delegates' rights to negotiate for Spain, but treaties with some allies soon followed. Representatives from Austria and the empire left Utrecht without treaties because of unresolved differences with France or Spain. The Spanish succession remained their primary stumbling block, but its context had changed dramatically between 1702 and 1713. During those years, two Austrian emperors had died, Leopold I in 1705 and Joseph I in 1711. Archduke Charles, the contender for the Spanish throne as Charles III, was crowned Emperor Charles VI. In the Bourbon line, deaths claimed the French dauphin in 1711, putting Philip V of Spain fourth in line for the French throne. Two Bourbon deaths in 1712 left only a sickly boy between Philip and the French throne. These untimely deaths left both Charles and Philip with multiple dynastic claims, which, as the primary Spanish claimants, made them unattractive to many powers unless they renounced some of them. In 1712, Philip V renounced his French claims, which five allies, but not Austria and the empire, recognized in 1713.

The Peace of Utrecht redefined numerous dynastic conflicts. In addition to Philip V of Spain's renunciation of his French claims, the dukes of Berry and Orléans and their heirs were excluded from claims to the Spanish throne, thus precluding a future royal union of France and Spain. International acknowledgment of Philip V effectively ended a possible Habsburg union of Austria and Spain. France recognized the Protestant succession in Britain and agreed that the Stuart Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, and his heirs could not live on French soil. Frederick William I was acknowledged as king of Prussia. The house of Savoy received Sicily from Spain (despite Austria's claim), and assurances that, if the Spanish Bourbon line failed, the Savoy line would succeed it. Emperor Charles VI received the other Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands. These arrangements curbed the hegemonic tendencies of dynastic unions, elevated state and national interests, and made a balance of power a shared European objective, if not a reality.

Colonial and commercial issues figured prominently in the Peace of Utrecht. France returned Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Portugal and agreed to clarify the border between Portugal's and France's American claims. Rather than cede Iberian border towns, Spain gave Sacramento in South America to Portugal and acknowledged its Brazilian claims. France ceded Newfoundland, Acadia, St. Christopher, and the Hudson Bay territory to Britain, but insisted on exclusive seasonal shore rights in Newfoundland to exploit the cod fishery. The Anglo-Spanish treaty protected Spain's interest in the Newfoundland fishery. Spain transferred the asiento from France to Britain for thirty years, and allowed British trading stations on the Río de la Plata in South America. Gibraltar and Minorca, former Spanish possessions, guaranteed British commercial access in the Mediterranean.

Despite the achievements of the Peace of Utrecht, British machinations by Henry St. John, backed by Robert Harley, haunted European affairs for decades. In Britain, vitriolic criticism of St. John and Harley's treatment of allies forced both men into exile. British disregard of Dutch interests probably sped the Dutch Republic's decline as a European power. British abandonment of the Catalans left them vulnerable to Philip V's revenge for their support of the Grand Alliance. Newfoundland fishing concessions incensed opposition critics in Britain, and created international tensions that continue to the present. A fortified barrier in the southern Netherlands failed to hold back French forces in 1745, and festering boundary disputes in the colonies fueled the conflicts leading to the Seven Years' War. All contributed to the contested legacy of the Peace of Utrecht.

Bibliography

Frey, Linda, and Marsha Frey, eds. The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: An Historical and Critical Dictionary. Westport, Conn., and London, 1995.

Hattendorf, John B. England in the War of the Spanish Succession: A Study of the English View and Conduct of Grand Strategy, 1702–1712. New York and London, 1987.

Kamen, Henry. The War of Succession in Spain 1700–1715. Bloomington, Ind., and London, 1969.

Pitt, H. G. "The Pacification of Utrecht." In The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 6: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688–1715/25, edited by J. S. Bromley, pp. 446–479. Cambridge, U.K., 1970.

—ELIZABETH MANCKE

Treaty of Utrecht
A first edition of the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, in Spanish (left), and a later edition in Latin and English.
Other names	Peace of Utrecht
Participants	Louis XIV of France, Philip V of Spain, Anne of Great Britain, Duke of Savoy, United Provinces
Location	Utrecht
Date	11 April 1713
Result	End the War of the Spanish Succession; Sovereignty of national states established.

The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713. The treaties among several European states, including France, Spain, Great Britain, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic, helped end the War of the Spanish Succession. The treaties were concluded between the representatives of Louis XIV of France and Philip V of Spain on the one hand, and representatives of Queen Anne of Great Britain, the Duke of Savoy, and the United Provinces on the other.

The treaty enregistred the defeat of French ambitions expressed in the wars of Louis XIV and preserved the European system based on the balance of power.^[1]

Contents 1 The negotiations 2 Principal provisions 3 Responses to the treaties 4 Balance of power 5 Notes 6 See also 7 External links

The negotiations

Western Europe's borders after the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt.

France and Great Britain had come to terms in October 1711, when the preliminaries of peace had been signed in London. This initial agreement was based on a tacit acceptance of the partition of Spain's European possessions. Following this, a congress opened at Utrecht on 29 January 1712, with the British representatives being John Robinson, Bishop of Bristol, and Thomas Wentworth, Lord Strafford.^[2] Reluctantly the United Provinces accepted the preliminaries and sent representatives, but the Emperor refused to do so until he was assured that these preliminaries were not binding. This assurance was given, and so in February the Imperial representatives made their appearance. As Philip was not yet recognized as its king, Spain did not at first send plenipotentiaries, but the Duke of Savoy sent one, and Portugal was also represented.

One of the first questions discussed was the nature of the guarantees to be given by France and Spain that their crowns would be kept separate, and matters did not make much progress until after 10 July 1712, when Philip signed a renunciation. With Great Britain and France having agreed a truce, the pace of negotiation now quickened, and the main treaties were finally signed on 11 April 1713.

Principal provisions

By the treaties' provisions, Louis XIV's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou was recognized as King of Spain (as Philip V), thus confirming the succession as stipulated in the will of the late King Charles II. However, Philip was compelled to renounce for himself and his descendants any right to the French throne, despite some doubts as to the lawfulness of such an act. In similar fashion various French princelings, including most notably the Duke of Berry (Louis XIV's youngest grandson) and the Duke of Orléans (Louis's nephew), renounced for themselves and their descendants any claim to the Spanish throne.

Spain's European empire was also divided: Savoy received Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan, while Charles VI (the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria), received the Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan. Portugal had its sovereignty recognised over the lands between the Amazon and Oyapock rivers, in Brazil. In 1715, the Portuguese also recovered Colonia del Sacramento, taken by Spain in Uruguay.

In addition, Spain ceded Gibraltar and Minorca to Great Britain and agreed to give to the British the Asiento, a valuable monopoly slave-trading contract. In North America, France ceded to Great Britain its claims to the Hudson's Bay Company territories in Rupert's Land, Newfoundland and Acadia. The formerly partitioned island of Saint Kitts was also ceded in its entirety to Britain. France was required to recognize British suzerainty over the Iroquois and commerce with the Far Indians was to be open to traders of all nations. France retained its other pre-war North American possessions, including Île-Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island) as well as Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island), on which it erected the Fortress of Louisbourg.

A series of commercial treaties were signed also.

After the signing of the Utrecht treaties, the French continued to be at war with Emperor Charles VI and with the Holy Roman Empire itself until 1714, when hostilities were ended with the Treaty of Rastatt and the Treaty of Baden. Spain and Portugal remained formally at war with each other until the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, while the Empire and the now-Bourbon Spain did not conclude peace until 1720.

Responses to the treaties

The treaty's territorial provisions did not go as far as the Whigs in Britain would have liked, considering that the French had made overtures for peace in 1706 and again in 1709. The Whigs considered themselves the heirs of the staunch anti-French policies of William III and the Duke of Marlborough. Indeed, later in the century the Whig John Wilkes contemptuously described it as like "[the] Peace of God, for it passeth all understanding". However, in the Parliament of 1710 the Tories had gained control of the House of Commons, and they wished for an end to Britain's participation in a European war; Queen Anne and her advisors had also come to the same position.

The party in the administration of Robert Harley (created Earl of Oxford and Mortimer on 23 May 1711) and the Viscount Bolingbroke proved more flexible at the bargaining table and were characterised by the Whigs as "pro-French"; Oxford and Bolingbroke persuaded the Queen to create twelve new "Tory peers"^[3] to ensure ratification of the treaty in the House of Lords.

Although the fate of the Spanish Netherlands in particular was of interest to the United Provinces, Dutch influence on the outcome of the negotiations was fairly insignificant, even though the talks were held on their territory. The French negotiator Melchior de Polignac taunted the Dutch with the bon mot De vous, chez vous, sans vous^[4], meaning that negotiations would be held "about you, in your country, but without you." The fact that Bolingbroke had secretly ordered the British commander, the Duke of Ormonde, to withdraw from the Allied forces before the Battle of Denain (informing the French, but not the Allies), and the fact that the secretly arrived at separate peace with France was a fait accompli, made the objections of the Allies pointless^[5]. In any case, the Dutch achieved their condominium in the Austrian Netherlands with the Austro-Dutch Barrier Treaty of 1715^[6].

Balance of power

Main article: Balance of power in international relations

The European concept of the balance of power, first mentioned in 1701 by Charles Davenant in Essays on the Balance of Power, became a common topic of debate during the war and the conferences that led to signing of the treaties. Boosted by the 19 April 1709 issue of Daniel Defoe's A Review of the Affairs of France, a periodical which supported the Harley ministry, the concept was a key factor in British negotiations, and was reflected in the final treaties. This theme would continue to be a significant factor in European politics until the time of the French Revolution (and was to resurface in the nineteenth century).

Notes

1. ^ R.R. Palmer, A History of the Modern World 2nd ed. 1961, p. 234.
2. ^ The staunch Tory Strafford was hauled before a committee of Parliament for his part in the treaty, which the Whigs considered not advantageous enough.
3. ^ The twelve peers consisted of two who were summoned in their father's baronies, Lords Compton (Northampton) and Bruce (Ailesbury), and ten recruits, namely Lords Hay (Kinnoull), Mountjoy, Burton (Paget), Mansell, Middleton, Trevor, Lansdowne, Masham, Foley, and Bathurst. David Backhouse, "Tory Tergiversation In The House of Lords, 1714-1760".
4. ^ Szabo, I. (1857) The State Policy of Modern Europe from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Present Time. Vol. I, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, p. 166
5. ^ Churchill, W. (2002) Marlborough: His Life and Times, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-10636-5, pp. 954-955
6. ^ Israel, J.I. (1995), The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477-1806, Oxford University Press,ISBN 0-19-873072-1 hardback, ISBN 0-19-820734-4 paperback, p. 978

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Treaty of Utrecht

• Disputed status of Gibraltar
• List of treaties

External links

• "The Treaties of Utrecht (1713)" - Brief discussion and extracts of the various treaties on François Velde's Heraldica website, with particular focus on the renunciations and their later reconfirmations.
• Article X of the treaty between Great Britain and Spain - Concerning the cession of Gibraltar (text in English, Spanish, and the original Latin).

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