Editing War of the Spanish Succession (section)

===Britain===
[[File:War of the Spanish Succession alliances (1703).png|thumb|right|Participants in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1703: Pro-Habsburg (orange) and Pro-Bourbon (lavender)]]

British foreign policy was based on three general principles, which remained largely consistent from the 16th through the 20th centuries. The first, overriding all others, was to preserve a balance of power in Europe, an objective threatened by French expansion under Louis XIV. The second was to prevent the [[Low Countries]] from being controlled by a hostile power or one stronger than Britain; this included both the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, whose deep harbours and prevailing winds made her a natural embarkation point for an attack on England, as [[Glorious Revolution#Crossing and landing|demonstrated in 1688]]. The third was to maintain a navy strong enough to protect British trade, control her waters and launch attacks on her enemies' commercial routes and coastal areas.{{Sfn|Burke}}

Alignment on reducing the power of France and securing the Protestant succession for the British throne masked differences on how to achieve them. In general, the [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]] favoured a mercantilist strategy of using the [[Royal Navy]] to attack French and Spanish trade while protecting and expanding their own; land commitments were viewed as expensive and primarily of benefit to others.{{sfn|Shinsuke|2013|pp=37–40}} The [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] argued France could not be defeated by seapower alone, making a Continental strategy essential, while Britain's financial strength made it the only member of the Alliance able to operate on all fronts against France.{{sfn|Ostwald|2014|pp=100–129}}