War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) - events

1 November 1700	Spain	After a long period of failing health, King Charles II of Spain dies. His death brings to a head the developing crisis over the Spanish succession.
2 February 1701	Spain, France, Spanish Netherlands	The French prince Philippe d'Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV and the nominated heir of the late king Charles II of Spain, enters the Spanish capital, Madrid, as King Philip V of Spain, while French troops also occupy the southern part of the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium); this may be said to mark the effective outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, although hostilities in the first year are largely confined to Italy.
27 August 1701	UK, United Netherlands, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire	The Treaty of The Hague is signed between Britain, the United Netherlands, and Austria, creating the ‘Grand Alliance’ of the three chief partners in the anti-French coalition in the War of the Spanish Succession.
23 April–4 May 1702	UK, United Netherlands, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, France	Britain, the United Netherlands, and Austria declare war on France, marking the formal opening of the War of the Spanish Succession.
26 September 1702	UK, France, United Netherlands, Spanish Netherlands	Allied forces under the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, take the town of Roermond in the Spanish Netherlands from the occupying French forces.
21 April 1703	Portugal, UK, United Netherlands, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire	Portugal concludes a treaty with Britain and joins the Grand Alliance (Britain, the United Netherlands, and Austria) against France.
7 May 1703	UK, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, Germany, United Netherlands, France	Allied forces under the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, occupy the territory of France's ally the Imperial electorate of Cologne, and subsequently take Bonn, Limburg, Huy, and Guelders, clearing French forces from the lower Rhine. The Austrian general Prince Eugène of Savoy conducts a vigorous simultaneous campaign against French forces in the Rhineland and southern Germany.
13 August 1704	UK, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, France, Bavaria, Germany	The allied army commanded by the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the Austrian general Prince Eugène of Savoy defeats the Franco-Bavarian army of the French marshal Camille, comte de Tallart, at Blenheim (Blindheim), Bavaria, on the River Danube. The first major French military defeat for 50 years, the allied victory ends the danger of a Franco-Bavarian advance on Vienna, the Austrian capital, and removes Bavaria, France's last German ally, from the War of the Spanish Succession.
27 June 1706	UK, Portugal, Spain	British and Portuguese forces enter the Spanish capital, Madrid, marking a high point of success for the Grand Alliance (Britain, the United Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Savoy) in the War of the Spanish Succession in the Iberian Peninsula, but the occupation is to be short-lived.
31 August–11 September 1709	UK, Austria, Habsburg Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, France, Spanish Netherlands	An allied (British, Dutch, and Austrian) army under the English general John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the Austrian general Prince Eugène of Savoy defeat the French army of marshals Claude-Louis-Hector, duc de Villars, and Louis-François, duc de Boufflers, at Malplaquet in the Spanish Netherlands. The battle causes very heavy casualties (22,000 allied and 12,000 French), causing the Tories in Britain to nickname Marlborough ‘the Butcher’.
1710	Spain	French forces defeat Austrian troops under Count Guido von Starhemberg at Villaviciosa in Spain, forcing Charles, Archduke of Austria (Charles III, King of Spain) to abandon Madrid and making Philip, Duke of Anjou (Philip V, King of Spain) Spain's first Bourbon king.
11 April 1713	France, UK, United Netherlands, Prussia, Portugal, Savoy	The Peace of Utrecht, the treaty ending the War of the Spanish Succession, is agreed and signed by France, Britain, the United Netherlands, Prussia, Portugal, and Savoy. Philip V, a Bourbon, is recognized as king of Spain, but Spain and France are never to be united under one king. France agrees to dismantle the naval base at Dunkirk, to recognize the Protestant succession in Britain, and to cede Newfoundland, Acadia, and Hudson Bay to Britain, but gains fortresses on the Canadian frontier. Spain cedes San Sacramento north of the River Plate to Portugal and cedes the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) to the United Netherlands, to be given to the Holy Roman Emperor once the United Netherlands has established a fortified barrier against French expansion. Sicily is to be united under Savoy as a kingdom. The elector of Brandenburg, in his new capacity as king of Prussia, receives recognition of the royal title and gains Neuchâtel (a canton in Swiss Confederation) and the upper quarter of Gelderland (Guelders), Austrian Netherlands. Prussia's claim upon the principality of Orange, on the River Rhône, is transferred to France.