WARS OF SUCCESSION. - By the name of W. of S. are meant the three wars concerning Spain, Poland and Austria, which took place in the first half of the 18th century, concluding with the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.
Charles II, King of Spain, on the eve of his death, reacted against the partition plans formulated by the Powers by naming as heir Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV. The latter, who had seen his hegemonic designs thwarted by the Peace of Rijswijk and was watching for an opportunity of revenge, accepted the will, and since he assured England and Holland that the new sovereign would never unite the two crowns in himself, Philip V was able to ascend the throne without opposition (1701). But when, shortly afterwards, Louis XIV confirmed Philip's right to the French succession, and recognized James Stuart as Prince of Wales (heir to the English crown), William III renewed the League of Augsburg, and Charles, son of the Emperor, was set up against Philip and even succeeded for a short time in establishing himself in Madrid. Clement XI had offered his mediation and, taking up a plan of Innocent XII, had in vain proposed to constitute a league of the Italian States for the defence of their neutrality. These attempts having failed, he sought to temporize, but his position was among the most difficult, because the Kingdom of Naples, a Spanish dominion, was a fief of the Church. On the other hand Clement XI was at odds with the Emperor, also because the latter had granted the royal title to Frederick of Brandenburg. And the conflict became more acute when the Pope declared for France, while his recognition of the Stuart pretender aggravated the difficulties of English Catholics. The papal initiatives for a compromise, also with Joseph I, who succeeded Leopold in 1705, had a negative outcome. In 1706, after the defeats of the Franco-Spanish armies, and after the English fleet, having entered the Mediterranean, seized Gibraltar and Minorca, the Emperor took an even more hostile attitude toward the Holy See: his troops penetrated into papal territory and demanded free passage in order to move against Naples; in 1708 they occupied Comacchio and its salt-works. To the Pope's protests, Joseph responded with war; and since no help came to him from France, the Pope was forced to make peace, and undertook to disarm and to recognize, in a secret article, Charles III as King of Spain. The defeats that placed the fortunes of France in extreme danger induced him to publish this recognition. But a vigorous French recovery restored the military balance, and Philip V, victorious in Spain, consolidated himself on the throne. The situation underwent a decisive change with the death of Joseph I (1711). Charles (Charles VI) having been elected to succeed him, the Powers preferred to conclude peace, so as not to favour the union in the same person of the imperial and Spanish crowns. By the Peace of Utrecht and of Rastatt Philip V was recognized, but Austria received the Low Countries, Milan, Naples and Sardinia, while Sicily was given to Victor Amadeus II. England obtained Hudson Bay and Newfoundland, Gibraltar and Minorca. France had to recognize the English Protestant dynasty. The sovereign rights of the Holy See over Naples were entirely disregarded. The Pope succeeded only in obtaining the preservation of the Rijswijk clause, which protected the Catholics of the ceded territories. Even after Alberoni's failed attempt at revenge, the assignment of Parma to Charles of Bourbon and the cession of Sardinia to Piedmont, in exchange for Sicily given to Austria, took place without the Pope even being consulted. With the Spanish W. of S. the Habsburgs replaced France in continental supremacy, while France retained the acquisitions of Richelieu and Mazarin (Franche-Comté, Alsace and French Flanders) but emerged from the conflict exhausted and saw its hegemonic aspirations definitively fallen, while England expanded its colonial dominions and set foot in the Mediterranean.
The emergence of a Habsburg supremacy determined a reaction in the subsequent Polish W. of S. In 1733, Augustus II of Poland having died, Austria and Russia upheld the rights of Augustus III, while France and Sweden supported Stanisław Leszczyński, father-in-law of Louis XV. The Austro-Russians prevailed in Poland, but the French in the west: Charles Emmanuel III, their ally, occupied Lombardy, while Charles of Bourbon conquered Naples. England, absorbed by internal questions, did not intervene, but left full freedom of action to the French fleet in the Mediterranean. Clement XII had at first recommended Augustus III, then, yielding to French pressure, declared for Stanisław. In 1734 Vienna, in order to procure the support of the Protestants, allowed the Rijswijk clause to lapse. By the Peace of Vienna (1738) Augustus III was recognized. Stanisław received Lorraine, Francis Stephen of Lorraine Tuscany, Charles of Bourbon Naples and Sicily. Austria found compensation in the restitution of Lombardy, imposed on Charles Emmanuel III, and in the cession of Parma. The Pope granted Charles of Bourbon the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples.
To the weakening of Austria there naturally corresponded a resurgence of Bourbon power. And when in 1740, on the death of Charles VI, France, Spain and the Bourbon courts of Italy, contesting the succession of Maria Theresa, made war on Austria, flanked by Frederick II who aspired to Silesia, England entered the field in support of Austria, and with it Charles Emmanuel III, who did not forgive France for having abandoned him in the negotiations for the Peace of Vienna. Austria was invaded by Charles Albert of Bavaria, who was proclaimed emperor (Charles VII), but it resisted and, ceding Silesia to Frederick II, freed itself of an adversary. In Italy the Franco-Spanish forces were beaten. In 1744 Frederick II reopened hostilities, while in Italy Charles Emmanuel III was forced to withdraw into Piedmont to defend his invaded territory. But the coalition gradually crumbled. In 1745 Charles VII died and Francis Stephen was elected, whom Frederick II recognized. In 1746 Philip V died and his successor withdrew from the struggle. In 1747 the French were beaten by the Piedmontese at the Assietta. They nevertheless prevailed in the Low Countries, but when England succeeded in obtaining the intervention of Russia, the government of Paris was induced to make peace. Benedict XIV had maintained an attitude of rigid neutrality: when Austria was invaded he had proposed his mediation, but by refusing to become the head of an Italian federation against France and Spain, he had aroused the resentment of Vienna. When Charles VII was elected he recognized him, but the latter showed the Pope no consideration, and the Papal State was once again a battlefield between Spaniards and imperial forces. After the death of Charles VII, Benedict recognized Francis Stephen.
The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) sanctioned the succession of Maria Theresa and the election of Francis. Austria ceded Parma to Philip of Bourbon: this provoked an energetic protest from the Pope, who in vain asked that the right of investiture be recognized for him, and could only obtain that for the duchy recourse should not be had to imperial investiture.
From the wars of succession France and Spain derived no advantage. Austria asserted its predominance in Italy. England, having prevented the formation of a continental hegemony, consolidated its maritime power. These wars had grave consequences for the Holy See and for Catholics. Constrained by the lack of adequate forces to a neutrality that displeased both sides, the Pope found no support in the Catholic courts, concerned only with their dynastic interests. And while the Protestant dynasty was consolidating itself in England and Prussia, also Protestant, was growing stronger, the Church had to prepare to face jurisdictional disputes and the attacks of Enlightenment rationalism.
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Roberto Palmarocchi