War Of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession lasted from 1701 to 1714.  It arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. The war was primarily a struggle to determine whether the vast possessions of the Spanish Empire should pass to the House of Bourbon or to the House of Habsburg, both of which had dynastic claims, or whether they should be partitioned to preserve the balance of power in Europe.  Philip of Anjou, he grandson of Louis XIV, the king of France, was the Bourbon claimant. England, Holland, the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia decided to support Archduke Charles, the younger son of the Habsburg Emperor Leopold I.