The Franco-Spanish army led by the
Duke of Berwick defeated decisively
the Alliance forces of Portugal,
England, and the Dutch Republic at
the Battle of Almansa.
The Battle of Ramillies where the
French fought the Dutch and British,
23 May 1706
Louis XIV depicted on a Louis d'or in
1709
Map of France after the death of
Louis XIV
impact of this victory won the support of Portugal and Savoy. Later, the Battle of Ramillies
delivered the Low Countries to the Allies, and the Battle of Turin forced Louis to evacuate
Italy, leaving it open to Allied forces. Marlborough and Eugene met again at the Battle of
Oudenarde, which enabled them to invade France.
France established contact with Francis II Rákóczi and promised support if he took up the
cause of Hungarian independence.
Defeats, famine, and mounting debt greatly weakened France. Between 1693 and 1710,
over two million people died in two famines, made worse as foraging armies seized food
supplies from the villages.[98] In desperation, Louis ordered a disastrous invasion of theEnglish island of Guernsey in the autumn of 1704 with the aim of raiding their successful
harvest. By the winter of 1708–09, he was willing to accept peace at nearly any cost. He
agreed that the entire Spanish empire should be surrendered to Archduke Charles, and also
consented to return to the frontiers of the Peace of Westphalia, giving up all the territories
he had acquired over 60 years. But he could not promise that Philip V would accept these
terms, so the Allies demanded that Louis single-handedly attack his grandson to force
these terms on him. If he could not achieve this within the year, the war would resume.
Louis would not accept these terms.[99]
The final phases of the War of the Spanish Succession demonstrated that the Allies could
not maintain Archduke Charles in Spain just as surely as France could not retain the entire
Spanish inheritance for Philip V. The Allies were definitively expelled from central Spain
by the Franco-Spanish victories at the Battles of Villaviciosa and Brihuega in 1710.
French forces elsewhere remained obdurate despite their defeats. The Allies suffered a
Pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Malplaquet with 21,000 casualties, twice that of the
French.[100] Eventually, France recovered its military pride with the decisive victory at
Denain in 1712.
French military successes near the end of the war took place against the background of a
changed political situation in Austria. In 1705, Emperor Leopold I died. His elder son and
successor, Joseph I, followed him in 1711. His heir was none other than Archduke Charles,
who secured control of all of his brother's Austrian landholdings. If the Spanish empire
then fell to him, it would have resurrected a domain as vast as Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V's in the 16th century. To the maritime powers of Great Britain and the Dutch
Republic, this would have been as undesirable as a Franco-Spanish union.[101]
As a result of the fresh British perspective on the European balance of power, Anglo-
French talks began, culminating in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht between Louis, Philip V of
Spain, Anne of Great Britain, and the Dutch Republic. In 1714, after losing Landau and
Freiburg, the Holy Roman Emperor also made peace with France in the Treaties of Rastatt
and Baden.
In the general settlement, Philip V retained Spain and its colonies, while Austria received
the Spanish Netherlands and divided Spanish Italy with Savoy. Britain kept Gibraltar and
Menorca. Louis agreed to withdraw his support for James Stuart, son of James II and
pretender to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, and ceded Newfoundland, Rupert's
Land, and Acadia in the Americas to Anne. Britain gained the most from the treaty, but the
final terms were much more favourable to France than those being discussed in peace
Turning point
Conclusion of peace