The War of the Spanish Succession (1701A 1714), which included Queen Anne's War in North America, was a major European conflict over the succession to the Spanish throne, and the resulting shift in the European balance of power. The war lasted over a decade, and was marked by the military leadership of notable generals such as the duc de Villars and the Duke of Berwick, the Duke of Marlborough, and Prince Eugene of Savoy.
In 1700, Charles II died and had bequeathed all of his possessions to Philip, duc d'Anjou A a grandson of the French King Louis XIV A who thereby became Philip V of Spain. The war began slowly, as the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg fought to protect his own dynasty's claim to the Spanish inheritance. As Louis XIV began to expand his territories more aggressively, however, other European nations (chiefly England, Portugal and the Dutch Republic) entered on the Holy Roman Empire's side to check French expansion. Other states joined the coalition opposing France and Spain in an attempt to acquire new territories, or to protect existing dominions. The war was fought not only in Europe, but also in North America, where the conflict became known to the English colonists as Queen Anne's War, and by corsairs and privateers along the Spanish Main. Over the course of the fighting, some 400,000 people were killed.
The war was concluded by the treaties of Utrecht (1713) and Rastatt (1714). As a result, Philip V remained King of Spain but was removed from the French line of succession, thereby averting a union of the two kingdoms. The Austrians gained most of the Spanish territories in Italy and the Netherlands. As a consequence, France's hegemony over continental Europe was ended, and the idea of a balance of power became a part of the international order due to its mention in the Treaty of Utrecht.