Accession of Anne

England certainly needed all her wealth in the struggle before her. William died on February 20, 1702, with his great work only in part completed. But his plans had been carefully matured, and he died in the full assurance that England would continue the war with France. The Whigs were in control, and the war fever was rapidly rising. Anne, Mary's sister, succeeded to the throne, according to the Act of Settlement, and entered on a reign of twelve years. She was a good woman, of quiet habits and simple tastes, loyal to her friends and to the church. Her husband, Prince George of Denmark, was of little consequence, either as a man or as an adviser of the queen. Accordingly, Anne, whose devotion to the church and its prerogatives made her a Tory, and whose royalty to her friends made her submissive to stronger wills than her own, fell under the influence of the Marlboroughs, the duke and his wife, the latter of whom was an old and intimate friend of the queen.

On her accession, Anne at once dismissed the Whigs from office, and placed in power Marlborough, who now found it convenient to become a Tory. She did not by any means give up all control, for she appointed her own ministers, and to some extent controlled their actions. She also received foreign ambassadors, and dictated despatches, and for the last time in English history she used the royal veto (1706). But Marlborough dictated the policy of the government, and for nine years was the real ruler of England. Though as a private person he was greedy and unscrupulous, he was the first general of his age, and saw with unmistakable clearness the necessity of continuing the war policy. With all his moral defects and they were many—Marlborough was the true successor of William III, and was destined to complete what William had begun, the discomfiture of Louis XIV and the humiliation of France.

War of the Spanish Succession: The Causes

The general cause of the war was the attempt of France to place the Bourbons in control of the throne of Spain. A century after the death of Philip II (1598), Spain had fallen from her high estate and had become an object of strife among the great powers of Europe. She had no army, no money, and no credit. Some of her possessions were in the hands of England, others belonged to Holland and France ; but the remaining territories still left her one of the largest kingdoms in Europe. The childlessness of her king, Charles II (1665-1700), made the question of succession to her throne one of the most intricate and difficult of the problems that Europe was ever called upon to solve. Claims to the throne, based on marriages with Spanish infantas, were put forward by the king of France, the elector of Bavaria, and the archduke of Austria. Should France make good her claim, the peace of Europe would be threatened; and should she obtain possession of Spain's territory in the New World, England's commercial supremacy and her control over her colonies would be imperilled.

Louis XIV had realized that the powers of Europe would not allow him to annex Spain, and as far back as 1668 had sought to arrange a partition of the territory with the emperor. At that time England and Holland were unable to interfere, for they had their own difficulties to contend with; but after thirty years, with the revolution of 1688 completed and William of Orange king of England, their interest in the question became very keen. When, therefore, in 1698, the policy of partition was revived, it was with England and Holland, and not with the emperor, that Louis XIV treated. Two partition treaties were signed ; the first in 1698, settling the Spanish succession upon Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, a child five years old; the second, after the death of Joseph in 1699, settling the succession upon the archduke Charles. All seemed to be happily arranged, when suddenly Charles II died (1700). To the surprise of every one, his will named the grandson of Louis XIV, Philip of Anjou, as his heir. Louis, throwing the partition treaties to the winds, accepted the legacy, and allowed Philip to enter on the inheritance.

At first the English people were unwilling to interfere, for they were tired of war, and in 1698 had turned out the warlike Whigs and placed the Tories in power. But the continued arrogance of Louis changed their temper. With blind infatuation the French king touched the sensitive spot in the English nature. He issued decrees plainly designed to curtail England's trade in Spanish-American waters ; and in September, 1701, at the death-bed of the exiled James II, he recognized the latter's son as the rightful heir to the English throne, thus violating the terms of the treaty of Ryswick. In an instant the English people were filled with a desire to punish the autocrat of France.

Marlborough's Victories

Louis's insult to England had accomplished more than had all William's diplomacy. Supported by an enraged people, William organized the Grand Alliance of European States, and war began, with nearly all the powers ranged against France. From the beginning, however, it was England's war; for she furnished the greatest general, Marlborough, and from it she was to win the greatest glory.

War was formally declared in May, 1701, and, though William died in 1702, the struggle continued altogether for twelve years. It was fought out in Italy, Bavaria, Spain, the Netherlands, America (as Queen Anne's war), and on the sea. Marlborough began his campaign in Flanders, while his chief ally, Eugene of Savoy, fought in upper Italy, and the English navy watched for opportunities in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. At first little was accomplished on either side. Then Louis XIV sent his army to cooperate with the Bavarians in an attack on Vienna. Marlborough, to ward off the attack, hurried by forced marches from the Dutch frontier, and having been joined by Eugene in Bavaria, faced the French and Bavarians at Blenheim, in 1704. There he won a famous victory, which saved the empire from invasion. In the same year Sir George Rooke captured Gibraltar and held it against every attempt of the French to recover it. The capture of Gibraltar and the occupation of Barcelona the next year by the earl of Peterborough showed the superiority of the English fleet. In 1706 Marlborough won the great battle of Ramillies, which saved the Spanish Netherlands, just as the victory of Blenheim had saved Vienna.

DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.

From the original in the possession of the duke of Marlborough.

In 1706 Louis was willing to treat for peace; but the allies rejected his overtures and continued the war. In 1708 they won the battle of Oudenarde in Flanders and captured the powerful fortress of Lille. Only the fortress of Mons lay between Marlborough and Paris, and Louis was almost in despair. Again he sued for peace (1709), and again the allies made the terms humiliating in their harshness. Then the old king turned to the French people and called for one mighty effort. The response was heroic. The last army that France could raise was sent to the front, only to be beaten, honorably beaten after a brave fight, in the bloody battle of Malplaquet (1709). Louis might well seem to be at the end of his resources.