The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of Spain, and had involved much of Europe for over a decade. Essentially, the treaties allowed Philip V (grandson of King Louis XIV of France) to keep the Spanish throne in return for permanently renouncing his claim to the French throne, along with other necessary guarantees that would ensure that France and Spain should not merge, thus preserving the balance of power in Europe.
The treaties between several European states, including Spain, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Savoy and the Dutch Republic, helped end the war. The treaties were concluded between the representatives of Louis XIV of France and of his grandson Philip on one hand, and representatives of Queen Anne of Great Britain, King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, King John V of Portugal and the United Provinces of the Netherlands on the other. Though the king of France ensured the Spanish crown for his dynasty, the treaties marked the end of French ambitions of hegemony in Europe expressed in the continuous wars of Louis XIV, and paved the way to the European system based on the balance of power.R.R. Palmer, A History of the Modern World 2nd ed. 1961, p. 234.
Negotiations
On 2 January 1710, King Louis XIV of France agreed to commence peace negotiations in the city of Geertruidenberg in the Netherlands. France and Great Britain came to terms in October 1711, when the preliminaries of peace had been signed in London. The preliminaries were based on a tacit acceptance of the partition of Spain's European possessions. Following this, the Congress of Utrecht opened on 29 January 1712, with the British representatives being John Robinson, Bishop of Bristol, and Thomas Wentworth, Lord Strafford.The staunch Tory Strafford was hauled before a committee of Parliament for his part in the treaty, which the Whigs considered not advantageous enough. Reluctantly the United Provinces accepted the preliminaries and sent representatives, but Emperor Charles VI refused to do so until he was assured that the 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 the Kingdom of Portugal was represented by Luís da Cunha. 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 little progress was made until 10 July 1712, when Philip signed a renunciation.
With Great Britain, France and Spain having agreed to a "suspension of arms" (that is, an armistice) covering Spain on 19 August in Paris, the pace of negotiation quickened. The first treaty signed at Utrecht was the truce between France and Portugal on 7 November, followed by the truce between France and Savoy on 14 March 1713. That same day, Spain, Great Britain, France and the Empire agreed to the evacuation of Catalonia and an armistice in Italy. The main treaties of peace followed on 11 April 1713. These were five separate treaties between France and Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Savoy, Prussia and Portugal. Spain under Philip V signed separate peace treaties with Savoy and Great Britain at Utrecht on 13 July. Negotiations at Utrecht dragged on into the next year, for the peace treaty between Spain and the Netherlands was only signed on 26 June 1714 and that between Spain and Portugal on 6 February 1715.Randall Lesaffer, "The Peace of Utrecht and the Balance of Power", Oxford Public International Law.
Several other treaties came out of the congress of Utrecht. France signed treaties of commerce and navigation with Great Britain and the Dutch Republic (11 April 1713). Great Britain signed a like treaty with Spain (9 December 1713).
Treaties
Peace and friendship treaties of Utrecht and elsewhere Date (New Style / (Old Style)) Treaty name Anti-French side French side Texts 14 March 1713 Convention for the Evacuation of Cataloniaand the Armistice in Italy (Utrecht)Oxford Public International Law Holy Roman EmpireGreat Britain FranceBourbon Spain Spanish, French/German 11 April 1713 (31 March 1713) Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Great Britain France English, French/German 11 April 1713 Peace Treaty of Utrecht Dutch Republic France Dutch, French, French/German 11 April 1713 Peace Treaty of Utrecht Portugal France French/German, French (Art. 8) 11 April 1713 Peace Treaty of Utrecht Prussia France French/German 11 April 1713 Peace Treaty of Utrecht Savoy France French/German 13 July 1713 (2 July 1713) Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Great Britain Bourbon Spain English, Spanish, Spanish/Latin/English, French/German 13 July 1713 Peace, Alliance and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Savoy Bourbon Spain Spanish, Spanish/German 6 March 1714 Peace Treaty of Rastatt Habsburg Austria France French/German 26 June 1714 Adjusted Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Dutch Republic Bourbon Spain Spanish 7 September 1714 Peace Treaty of Baden Holy Roman Empire France Latin/German 6 February 1715 Adjusted Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Portugal Bourbon Spain Portuguese, Spanish
Navigation, commerce and other treaties of Utrecht and elsewhere Date (New Style / (Old Style)) Treaty name Side Side Texts 30 January 1713 (19 January 1713) Second Barrier Treaty (Utrecht) Dutch Republic Great Britain Latin 2 April 1713 Guelders Treaty of Utrecht Holy Roman Empire Prussia German (p. 91–96) 11 April 1713 Navigation and Commerce Treaty of Utrecht Dutch Republic France French/German 11 April 1713 (31 March 1713) Navigation and Commerce Treaty of Utrecht France Great Britain French/German 13 July 1713 Preliminary Commerce Treaty of Madrid Bourbon Spain Great Britain Spanish 9 December 1713 (28 November 1713) Adjusted Commerce and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht Bourbon Spain Great Britain Spanish, Latin/German 15 November 1715 Third Barrier Treaty (Antwerp) Dutch RepublicGreat Britain Holy Roman Empire French/German 14 December 1715 Explanatory Peace and Commerce Treaty of Madrid Bourbon Spain Great Britain Spanish
Principal provisions
The Peace confirmed the Bourbon candidate as Philip V of Spain to remain as king. In return, Philip renounced the French throne, both for himself and his descendants, with reciprocal renunciations by French Bourbons of the Spanish throne, including Louis XIV's nephew Philippe of Orléans. These became increasingly important after a series of deaths between 1712 and 1714 left the five year old Louis XV as his great-grandfather's heir.
Great Britain was the main beneficiary; Utrecht marked the point at which it became the primary European commercial power. In Article X, Spain ceded the strategic ports of Gibraltar and Menorca.
The British emerged from the treaty with the Asiento de Negros, which referred to the monopoly contract granted by the Spanish government to other European nations to supply slaves to Spain's colonies in the Americas. The Asiento de Negros had come about because the Spanish Empire rarely participated in the transatlantic slave trade itself, preferring to outsource this to foreign merchants. Bourbon France had previously held the Asiento de Negros, allowing French slave traders to supply 5,000 slaves to the Spanish Empire each year; France had gained control over this contract after Philip V had become King of Spain. After the British government gained access to the Asiento de Negros, the economic prominence held by Dutch Sephardic Jewish slaveowners began to fade, while the South Sea Company was established in hopes of gaining exclusive access to the contract. The British government sought to reduce its debt by increasing the volume of trade it had with Spain, which required gaining access to the Asiento de Negros; as historian G.M. Trevelyan noted: "The finances of the country were based in May 1711 on the assumption that the Asiento, or monopoly of the slave trade with Spanish America, would be wrested from France as an integral part of the terms of peace". Following the passage of the treaty, the British government gained access for thirty years to the Asiento de Negros.Drescher: JANCAST (p. 451): "Jewish mercantile influence in the politics of the Atlantic slave trade probably reached its peak in the opening years of the eighteenth century ... the political and the economic prospects of Dutch Sephardic [Jewish] capitalists rapidly faded, however, when the British emerged with the asiento [permission to sell slaves in Spanish possessions] at the Peace of Utrecht in 1713".England Under Queen Anne Vol III, by G. M. Trevelyan, p. 123Africa, Its Geography, People, and Products, by W. E. B. Du Bois Slavery and Augustan Literature Capitalism and Slavery, p. 40A History of Colonial America by Oliver Perry Chitwood, p. 345
The importance placed by British negotiators on commercial interests was demonstrated by their demand for France to "level the fortifications of Dunkirk, block up the port and demolish the sluices that scour the harbour, [which] shall never be reconstructed". This was because Dunkirk was the primary base for French privateers, as it was possible to reach the North Sea in a single tide and escape British patrols in the English Channel.
Under Article XIII and, despite the British demands to preserve Catalan constitutions and rights in return for Catalonia's support for the Allies during the war, Spain only agreed to grant an amnesty to Habsburg supporters, thus implying the imposition of the laws and institutions of Castile to the Principality of Catalonia, as it already happened in 1707 to the other occupied kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon. This lack of guarantees led to the prolongation of the war between the Principality of Catalonia and the Bourbon Crown, in a separate conflict known as the War of the Catalans (1713–1714). Spanish territories in Italy and Flanders were divided, with Savoy receiving Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan. The former Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan went to Emperor Charles VI.
In South America, Spain returned Colónia do Sacramento in modern Uruguay to Portugal and recognised Portuguese sovereignty over the lands between the Amazon and Oyapock rivers, now in Brazil. The British agreed to prevent their citizens from visiting Spanish colonies in America without prior approval from colonial officials.
In North America, France recognised British suzerainty over the Iroquois, and ceded Nova Scotia and its claims to Newfoundland and territories in Rupert's Land. The French portion of Saint Kitts in the West Indies was also ceded in its entirety to Britain. France retained its other pre-war North American possessions, including Cape Breton Island, where it built the Fortress of Louisbourg, then the most expensive military installation in North America.
The successful French Rhineland campaign of 1713 finally induced Charles to sign the 1714 treaties of Rastatt and Baden, although terms were not agreed with Spain until the 1720 Treaty of The Hague.
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 of England and of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. The Whigs were now a minority in the house, but still pushing their anti-peace agenda. The Whigs opposed peace every step of the way. The Whigs even called the treaty a sellout for letting the duke of Anjou stay on the Spanish throne.