SPANISH SUCCESSION, WAR OF THE, the name given to the general European war which began in 1701 and ended with the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713-14. Its monoto nous round of marches and sieges is often quickened by the genius of three great soldiers, Marlborough, Eugene and Villars, while Peterborough and Galway, Catinat and Vendome, though less highly gifted, were men of unusual and conspicuous ability. As usual in these wars, manoeuvres, threats and feints played the principal part in field warfare. The tangible assets, at the con clusion of peace, the effective seizure of fortresses and provinces was in most cases the principal object with which kings and princes made war. Nevertheless, the object of this war, at least in the case of England and Holland, was less to add a few cities and districts to their own domains than to cripple the power of Louis XIV. The ambition of the Grand Monarque by placing on the throne of Spain his grandson Philip, had brought into poli tics the fear not merely of a disturbance but of an entire over throw of the "Balance of Power." Thus the instrument of his ambition, his magnificent army, was (above all for England) an object in itself and not merely an obstacle to the attainment of other objects. Many of the allies, however, had good reason to fear for their own possessions, and others entered the alliance with at least the hope of acquiring a few material gains at small ex pense. On the side of the allies therefore, throughout the war, there was a perpetual struggle between offensive activity and defensive passivity.
The action of Louis XIV. in the matter of the Spanish succes sion had been foreseen, and William III. of England devoted his last years to providing against the emergency by the formation of a coalition to deal with it, and the production of a claimant for the Spanish throne, the archduke Charles. The coalition naturally grew out of the Grand Alliance (see GRAND ALLIANCE, WAR OF THE), and consisted of Austria, some of the German states, Great Britain, Holland, Denmark and Portugal. On the other side Louis XIV. was supported by Spain—where Philip, recognized as heir by the dying Charles II., had been promptly installed—Bavaria and Cologne. A doubtful ally was the duke of Savoy, whose policy was to secure and aggrandise himself by adhering at each moment to the stronger party.
Italy Chiari 1701.—The war began, to all intents and pur poses, with the handing over of the fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands to the French in March 1701. England and Holland
at once began their preparations, but neither state was able to put an army in the field in the year—England because her peace-time army was absolutely insignificant, and Holland because she dared not act alone. In Italy, however, the emperor took the initiative, and an Austrian army under Prince Eugene, intended to overrun the Spanish possessions in the Peninsula, assembled in Tirol in the early summer. The French army under Catinat blocked the defile of Rivoli, but Eugene reconnoitred passages over the moun tains between Roveredo and the Vicenza district in neutral Vene tian territory. On May 27, taking infinite precautions as to se crecy, and requesting the Venetian authorities to offer no oppo sition so long as his troops behaved well, Eugene began his march by paths that no army had used since Charles V.'s time, and on the 28th his army was on the plains. Catinat was surprised, for he had counted upon Venetian neutrality, and when, in the search for a passage over the lower Adige, Eugene's army spread to Legnago and beyond, he made the mistake of supposing that the Austrians intended to invade the Spanish possessions south of the Po. He thinned out his line to cover all the front as far as that river. But Eugene found an unguarded spot. With the usual precautions of secrecy (deceiving even his own army), he crossed the lower Adige in the night of July 8-9. Catinat at once concentrated his scat tered army backwards on the Mincio, while Eugene turned north ward and regained touch with his old line of supply, Roveredo Rivoli. For some time Eugene was in great difficulties for sup plies, as the Venetians would not allow his barges to descend the Adige. At last, however, he made his preparations to cross the Mincio close to Peschiera and well beyond Catinat's left. This was executed on July 28. It seems that the marshal was well content to find that his opponent had no intention of attacking the Spanish possessions in the Peninsula, at any rate he fell back quietly to the Oglio. But his army resented his retreat before the much smaller force of the Austrians and, early in August, his rival Tesse reported this to Paris, whereupon Marshal Villeroy, a favourite of Louis, was sent to take command. The new com mander was the least competent of all the French senior officers. Ere long he attacked Eugene in a well entrenched position at Chiari (Sept. i ), and was thoroughly defeated, with a loss, it is said, of 3,00o to the Austrians' i5o.