Philip V remained king. In practice his wife Elisabeth Farnese ruled Spain from 1714 until 1746, and was more interested in Italy than Spain. Spain was not even invited to the peace treaties (Peace of Utrecht); they forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns. Britain was the main winner; it blocked France from becoming too powerful. Britain acquired Minorca and Gibraltar from Spain, as well as the right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies. Britain also gained Newfoundland and Nova Scotia from France. Spain kept its American colonies but lost its European holdings in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium), mostly to Austria. Spain briefly regained some Italian holdings until the British sank its fleet in 1718. Elisabeth Farnese succeeded in recapturing Naples and Sicily. She put her son on the throne there. He abdicated in 1759 to return to Madrid as King Charles III of Spain. American Revolutionary War: 1775–1783 Eager to gain revenge on the British for its defeat during the Seven Years' War, France offered support to rebel American colonists seeking independence from Britain during the American War of Independence and in 1778 entered the war on their side. They then urged Spain to do the same, hoping the combined force would be strong enough to overcome the British Royal Navy and be able to invade England. In 1779 Spain joined the war, hoping to take advantage of a substantially weakened Britain. Distrustful of republics, Spain did not officially recognize the new United States of America. A well-organised force under Bernardo de Galvez operating out of Spanish Louisiana launched repeated attacks on British colonies in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. They were easy winners against weak British garrisons, and were planning an expedition against Jamaica when peace was declared in 1783. Spain's highest priority was to recapture Gibraltar from Britain using the Great Siege of Gibraltar. Despite a prolonged besiegement, the British garrison there was able to hold out until relieved and it remained in British hands following the Treaty of Paris. Unlike their French allies (for whom the war proved largely to be a disaster, financially and militarily) the Spanish made a number of territorial gains, recovering Florida and Menorca. 20th century A neutral country during World War I, Spain was not invited to take part in the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, owing to the country's relative low profile