died on the 15th February 1G37, and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand III. The war was carried on for eleven years longer ; and the success which at first was with the imperialists, after a time came round to their adversaries, till at length the emperor, pressed on all sides and deserted by his allies, was glad to agree to terms of peace. By the peace of Westphalia, signed 24th October 1648, France acquired Alsace ; Sweden got Upper Pomerauia, the Isle of Kugen, and some other territory ; the sovereignty and independence of the different states was recognised ; the Calvinists were placed on the same footing as the Lutherans ; and the independence of the United Provinces and the Swiss Confederation was acknowledged. Ferdinand III. died in 1657, and was succeeded by his son Leopold I. This prince, by his harsh treatment of the Hungarians, drove that people into revolt ; and they, being unable to cope with the power of the empire single- handed, called in the aid of the Turks, who, under Kara Mustapha in 1683, besieged Vienna, which was only saved by an army of Poles and Germans under John Sobieski. The imperial army then reduced the whole of Hungary into subjection, and united to it Transylvania, which had been hitherto governed by its own princes ; and the whole was declared to be a hereditary kingdom. In 1699 Turkey, after being defeated in several sanguinary engagements by the celebrated general Prince Eugene, was compelled by the peace of Carlowitz to cede to Hungary the country lying between the Danube and the Theiss. Previous to his troubles with Hungary and Turkey, Leopold had lent hia aid in 1672 to the Dutch in their struggle against the ambitious designs of France. This was brought to a close by the peace of Nirneguen in 1678; but the conflict broke out afresh the following year, when the English also came forward and contributed largely both in troops and money. The chief scenes of warfare were the Nether lands and the banks of the Rhine. At last in 1697 came the peace of Ryswick, which left the contending parties in nearly the same relative positions as at the beginning of the contest The allies had, however, the satisfaction of having compelled the French king to stop short in his Bchemes of aggrandisement.
War of the The death of Charles II. of Spain in 1700, without leav- Succession. ing issue, led to what is known as the War of the Succes sion. Louis XIV. had married the eldest sister of the late king, but she had by solemn covenant renounced her right to the Spanish crown. The second sister had married the Emperor Leopold, and she had made no such renunciation, but her daughter had, who was married to the elector of Bavaria. Leopold had two sons by a second marriage, and now claimed the crown for the younger of these, on the ground of his mother being an aunt of the deceased king. Intrigues had been carried on by the several parties concerned for some time before the king s death, and he had been induced to make a secret will, in which he named Philip, duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., as his successor. Leopold, however, was by no means inclined to depart from what he con sidered his rights, and the other states of Europe looked with jealousy on the prospect of a union of France and Spain under a Bourbon dynasty. An alliance was accord ingly formed by Austria with England and Holland against France, with which power on the other hand Bavaria allied herself. The emperor despatched an army into Italy under Prince Eugene, to take possession of the Spanish territories in that country ; while the English and Dutch united their forces under Marlborough. The former ex perienced a good deal of hard fighting, but effected little of consequence, while the latter busied himself in taking one after another of the French strongholds in the Nether lands, At length the two generals combined their forces and met the united army of their enemies at Blenheim. The latter numbered about 56,000 men and occupied a strong position, while the number of the former was about 52,000. The fight commenced by Marlborough leading the right wing against the French, while Eugene with the left wing advanced against the Bavarians. The battle was long and fierce, the assailants being repeatedly driven back by a most terrible fire from the enemy s artillery. At length victory declared for the allied English and Austrian armies (13th August 1704). About 10,000 of the French and Bavarians fell on the field, and nearly 13,000 were made prisoners, among whom was the commander of the French army, Marshal Tallard. The elector of Bavaria was compelled to cross the Rhine with the French, and his territoiy was occupied by the imperialists. The follow ing year the emperor died, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph. The war was continued with vigour, but for a time nothing of importance was anywhere effected. France now directed her chief attentien to the conquest of the Netherlands, and sent into that country a magnificent army under the command of Marshal Villeroi. But this general was no match for Marlborough ; and in the battle of Ramillies (23d May 1706) he was totally defeated with a loss of about 13,000 men. Prince Eugene s efforts in Italy were also this year crowned with much success. After a memorable march of more than 200 miles, he suddenly appeared before Turin, which was then closely besieged by the enemy. Having effected a junction with the duke of Savoy, he attacked the French lines (7th September), and though repeatedly driven back, at length succeeded in totally routing . the enemy. The French general, Count Marsin, was wounded, taken prisoner, and died the following day. The French power in Northern Italy was thus shattered, and soon after both French and Spaniards were driven out of the country. The like suc cess attended the efforts of Marlborough in the Nether lands, where he took possession of every place of note. After Eugene had settled affairs in Italy, he again formed a junction with Marlborough in the Netherlands, and on llth June 1708 they attacked and routed the French under Vendome at Oudenarde. France now made over tures for peace ; but these being rejected, she sent a new army into the field, under the command of Marshal Villars. He was attacked by the two victorious generals in his entrenchments at Malplaquet (llth September 1709) and totally defeated. France again made proposals for peace, but these meeting with no better success, the war was continued. The emperor died on 17th April 1711, and his successor being his brother, the Archduke Charles, who laid claim to the Spanish crown, this event contributed not a little to restore peace. The prospect of the union on one head of the crowns of Austria and Spain did not accord with the views of those who had been hitherto supporting the claims of Austria, and the transfer of Spain to a grandson of Louis XIV. appeared to them the less dangerous alternative of the two. This, joined to the change of ministry in England, and the removal of Marlborough from the command, together with the im patience of the Dutch under so long and so burdensome a war, led to the peace of Utrecht, which was signed llth April 1713. Austria continued the war for some time longer, but the next year agreed to substantially the same terms at Baden. By this treaty France engaged that the crowns of France and Spain should never be united, and that no part of the Spanish Netherlands should ever be transferred to her ; she also ceded to England Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Hudson s Bay, and St Kitt s, and agreed to destroy the fortifications of Dunkirk; Spain gave up her possessions in the Netherlands and in Italy to Austria (who, on her part, renounced her claim to the Spanish
