The Second Partition Treaty attempted to resolve Spanish succession by naming Archduke Charles heir, but failed to prevent the War of the Spanish Succession.
Key Facts
- Date agreed
- March 25, 1700
- Parties
- Louis XIV of France and William III of England
- Named heir
- Archduke Charles, younger son of Emperor Leopold I
- Preceded by
- First Partition Treaty (Treaty of The Hague, 1698)
- War it failed to prevent
- War of the Spanish Succession, began July 1701
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The First Partition Treaty of 1698 collapsed when its chosen heir, Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria, died of smallpox in February 1699. This left the question of who would inherit the Spanish Empire from the childless and ailing Charles II of Spain unresolved, requiring a new diplomatic agreement between France and England.
Louis XIV of France and William III of England negotiated the Treaty of London, agreed on March 25, 1700, designating Archduke Charles, the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, as heir to the Spanish Empire. The treaty was concluded without consulting Spain, whose government considered the division of the Empire unacceptable.
Spain rejected the partition terms as incompatible with its insistence on an undivided empire. The treaty ultimately failed to impose a diplomatic solution, and war broke out in July 1701, initiating the War of the Spanish Succession, which lasted until 1714 and reshaped the European balance of power.
Political Outcome
Treaty signed naming Archduke Charles heir to Spain, but repudiated by Spain and superseded by the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701.
Spanish succession unresolved after death of Joseph Ferdinand; risk of Habsburg or Bourbon dominance
Treaty failed; Charles II named Philip of Anjou heir by will, triggering general European war