War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought from 1701 to 1714 over who would be the next king of Spain after the death of King Charles II, was childless. France wanted the new king to be Philip of Anjou, a grandson of its own king, Louis XIV, as Charles had stated in his will. However, that was opposed by England (which joined with Scotland in 1707 to form Great Britain), the Dutch Republic and other states in Europe because they feared that France would become too powerful.

The war was fought mostly in Europe, but there were also battles in the West Indies, South America and North America. In North America, the war is called Queen Anne's War after Anne, Queen of Great Britain.

The war ended by Philip of Anjou winning and ruling Spain as Philip V. Britain and its allies finally accepted him as next king of Spain, but he had to give up his in the order of succession to the French throne, and the two countries had to keep their monarchies separate. Also, Austria got most of Spanish Italy, and Britain got Spanish Menorca and Gibraltar.