280 Ch. 7 • The Age of Absolutism, 1650-1720
clear that he favored the interests of his imposing grandfather. The Austrian
Habsburg ruler Leopold I refused to accept Charles II’s will as valid and
invaded the Italian territories of the Spanish Habsbiirgs.
Louis XIV refused to rule Philip V out of the line of succession to the
French throne, so that if Philip’s elder brother, the duke of Bourgogne, died
without male issue, Philip would then inherit the throne of France, and the
kingdoms of France and Spain would be joined. The matter became pressing
in 1712, when smallpox struck the French royal family, leaving only Bour
gogne’s youngest son as heir to the French throne. If the future Louis XV
had died then, Philip would have become heir to both kingdoms.
The French king’s obvious interest in the possibility of the two thrones
being brought together drew Great Britain into the war. The Dutch Republic
again had reason to fear French occupation of the Spanish Netherlands. If
the French opened up the Scheldt River to trade, Antwerp would reemerge
as a commercial rival to Amsterdam. This vital link to the English Channel
had been closed since the Dutch formally received independence from Spain
in 1648, thus preventing ships from reaching Antwerp. The alliance against
France also included Austria, Prussia, and Portugal. The War of the Spanish
Succession reflected the fact that European wars were taking on a global
dimension (see Chapter 6), as the powers fought for markets as well as pres
tige. As in the War of the League of Augsburg, British and French forces also
battled in North America.