Editing Foreign relations of Spain (section)

===War of the Spanish Succession and after 1701–1759===
{{Main|War of the Spanish Succession|Philip V of Spain}}
The [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1714) saw Spain in a nearly helpless position as multiple European powers battled for control over which of three rivals would be king.  At first most of the warfare took place outside of Spain. However, in 1704 Spain was invaded by the Germans (officially by the [[Holy Roman Empire]] including [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Austria]] and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], as well as other minor German states), Great Britain, the [[Dutch Republic]], the [[Duchy of Savoy]] and Portugal. The invaders wanted to make the Habsburg candidate king instead of the incumbent [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]] who the grandson of France's powerful king [[Louis XIV]] and candidate of the [[House of Bourbon]]. Spain had no real army, but it defense was a high priority for Louis XIV who sent in his French armies and after a devastating civil war eventually drove out the invaders from Spain.<ref>John Lynch, ''Bourbon Spain 1700–1808'' (1989) pp 22–77.</ref><ref>J.S. Bromley, ed. ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 6: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688-1715/25'' (1979), pp 343–380, 410–445.</ref>

After years of warfare and changing coalitions, the final result was that Philip V remained king. In practice his wife [[Elisabeth Farnese]] ruled Spain from 1714 until 1746, and was more interested in Italy than Spain. Spain was not even invited to the peace treaties ([[Peace of Utrecht]]); they forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns. Britain was the main winner; it blocked France from becoming too powerful. Britain acquired Minorca and Gibraltar from Spain, as well as the right to sell slaves to Spanish colonies. Britain also gained Newfoundland and Nova Scotia from France. Spain kept its American colonies but lost its European holdings in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium), mostly to Austria. Spain briefly regained some Italian holdings until the British sank its fleet in 1718. Elisabeth Farnese succeeded in recapturing Naples and Sicily. She put her son on the throne there. He abdicated in 1759 to return to Madrid as King [[Charles III of Spain]].<ref>Lynch, ''Bourbon Spain 1700–1808'' (1989) pp 110–113, 125, 131–133, 193–195, 247.</ref><ref>Henry Kamen, ''Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492–1763'' (2004) pp. 442–454.</ref>