Editing War of the Spanish Succession (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:The Battle of Cape Passaro, 11 August 1718 RMG BHC0351.tiff|thumb|right|upright=1.3|The Royal Navy destroys a Spanish fleet off Sicily, [[Battle of Cape Passaro|Cape Passaro]], August 1718]]

Article II of the Peace of Utrecht included the stipulation "because of the great danger which threatened the liberty and safety of all Europe, from the too-close conjunction of the kingdoms of Spain and France, ... the same person should never become King of both kingdoms." Some historians view this as a key point in the evolution of the modern nation-state; [[Randall Lesaffer]] argues it marks a significant milestone in the concept of collective security.{{sfn|Lesaffer|2014}}

===Spain===
Philip was confirmed as king of Spain, which retained its independence and the majority of its empire, in return for ceding the Spanish Netherlands, most of its Italian possessions, as well as Gibraltar and Menorca. These losses were deeply felt; [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] and [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] were regained in 1735 and Menorca in 1782, although Gibraltar would still be held by Britain, despite numerous attempts to regain it. The 1707 [[Nueva Planta decrees]] centralised power in Madrid, and abolished regional political structures including the Crown of Aragon, although Catalonia and Majorca remained outside the system until 1767.{{sfn|Vives|1969|p=591}} Their economy recovered remarkably quickly, and the House of Bourbon (save for brief interruptions) has held the Spanish throne ever since.{{sfn|Fernández-Xesta y Vázquez|2012|p=244}}

===France===
Louis XIV died on 1 September 1715, and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson Louis XV; on his deathbed, he is alleged to have admitted, "I have loved war too well".{{sfn|Colville|1935|p=149}} True or not, while the final settlement was far more favourable than the Allied terms of 1709, it is hard to see what Louis gained that he had not already achieved through diplomacy by February 1701.{{sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=361–362}} From 1666 onward French policies assumed military and economic superiority over their rivals, but this was no longer the case by 1714 when Britain appeared to have overtaken France on both fronts. The continued widening of this gap as British trade expanded post-Utrecht was viewed by Louis's successors as a permanent threat to the European [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]]. Seeking to reduce this was a major factor in France entering the 1740–1748 [[War of the Austrian Succession]].{{sfn|McKay|Scott|1983|pages=138–140}}

===Austria and the Holy Roman Empire===
Despite failure in Spain, Austria secured its position in Italy and Hungary and acquired the bulk of the former Spanish Netherlands. Even after reimbursing the Dutch for their Barrier garrisons, increased revenues from the [[Austrian Netherlands]] funded a significant expansion of the [[Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor|Austrian army]].{{sfn|Falkner|2015|pp=4173–4181}} With the acquisition of Milan, Mantua, Naples and Sardinia, Austria gained a dominant position in Italy that largely continued until [[Second Italian War of Independence|1859]]. Victory in the [[Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718]] accentuated the shift of Habsburg focus into Southern Europe and away from Germany, where they were increasingly challenged by Bavaria, Hanover, Prussia, and Saxony. In 1742, [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles of Bavaria]] became the first non-Habsburg Emperor in over 300 years.{{sfn|Lindsay|1957|p=420}}

===Great Britain===
Britain is usually seen as the main beneficiary of Utrecht, which marked its rise to becoming the dominant European commercial power.{{sfn|Pincus|2012|pp=7–8}} It established naval superiority over its competitors, acquired the strategic Mediterranean ports of Gibraltar and Menorca and trading rights in Spanish America. France accepted the Protestant succession, ensuring a smooth inheritance by George I in August 1714, while agreeing to end support for the Stuarts in the [[Anglo-French Alliance (1716–1731)|1716 Anglo-French Treaty]].{{sfn|Szechi|1994|pp=93–95}} Although the war left all participants with unprecedented levels of government debt, only Britain was able to finance it efficiently, providing a relative advantage over its competitors.{{sfn|Carlos|Neal|Wandschneider|2006|p=2}}

===Dutch Republic===
{{Location map many|Belgium|caption = The Barrier fortresses as agreed in 1715, corresponding to the modern borders of Belgium|border = black| width = 250| relief = yes|float = right
|label = Veurne|pos=top |lat_deg=51|lat_min =4|lon_deg = 2|lon_min = 39
|label2 =Knokke|pos2=right|lat2_deg=50|lat2_min = 59|lon2_deg = 2|lon2_min = 48
|label3 =Ypres |pos3= left|lat3_deg=50|lat3_min = 51|lon3_deg = 2|lon3_min = 53
|label4 =Menen |pos4=right|lat4_deg=50|lat4_min = 48|lon4_deg = 3|lon4_min = 7
|label5=Tournai|pos5=right|lat5_deg=50|lat5_min = 36|lon5_deg = 3|lon5_min = 23
|label6 =Mons |pos6=right|lat6_deg=50|lat6_min = 27|lon6_deg = 3|lon6_min = 57
|label7=Dendermonde|pos7 = right|lat7_deg = 51 | lat7_min = 2 | lon7_deg = 4 | lon7_min = 6
|label8 = Namur|pos8 = right|lat8_deg = 50 | lat8_min = 28 | lon8_deg = 4 | lon8_min = 52
}}
The Dutch had recovered and expanded their positions in the Southern Netherlands, and their troops were central to the alliance which halted French territorial expansion in Europe until a new cycle began in [[French Revolutionary Wars|1792]].{{sfn|Nimwegen|2020|p=354}} The war left them bankrupt, and inflicted permanent damage on the Dutch merchant navy; while they remained the dominant economic power in the [[Far East]], Britain took over as the pre-eminent global commercial and maritime power.{{sfn|Elliott|2014|p=8}} The exhaustion of the [[Dutch admiralties]] had also allowed the [[Barbary pirates|pirates]] from [[Regency of Algiers|Algiers]] to capture numerous Dutch merchant vessels, which the Dutch were only able to stop after a [[Dutch-Algerian War (1715–1726)|long conflict]]. The Barrier Treaty fortresses became the central driver of Dutch foreign policy in the decades after 1713 and were put to the test during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]].{{efn|Although judged favourably by contemporaries,{{sfn|Nimwegen|2002|pp=31–35}} modern historians still argue about the true effectiveness of the barrier fortresses, since they were conquered by France during the War of the Austrian Succession.{{sfn|Ward|Leathes|2010|p=57}}{{sfn|Kubben|2011|p=148}} Advocates instead emphasise that it took 3 years of campaigning for the French to conquer all barrier fortresses and that the purpose of the barrier was to give the Dutch enough time to mobilize and fortify their borders. According to them, nobody in the Dutch Republic was under the illusion that the barrier would stop French armies.{{sfn|Wijn|1964|p=703}}{{sfn|Nimwegen|2002|pp=31–33}}}}

===Other===
Wider implications include the rise of Prussia and Savoy while many of the participants were involved in the 1700–1721 [[Great Northern War]], with Russia becoming a major European power for the first time as a result. Finally, while colonial conflicts were relatively minor and largely confined to the North American theatre, the so-called [[Queen Anne's War]], they were to become a key element in future wars.{{sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=361–362}} Meanwhile, maritime [[unemployment]] brought on by the war's end led to the third stage of the [[Golden Age of Piracy]], as many sailors formerly employed in the navies of the warring powers turned to [[piracy]] for survival.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Age of Piracy – Post Spanish Succession Period |url=https://goldenageofpiracy.org/history/post-spanish-succession-period.php |access-date=25 August 2020 |website=goldenageofpiracy.org}}</ref>