The Treaty of Utrecht, also known as the Peace of Utrecht, were a series of agreements, signed between 1713 and 1715, that ended with the War of the Spanish Succession .

This war, in which the Spanish Crown was fought after the death of Carlos II of Spain , weakened the Spanish Empire until it finally delivered, through said treaty, most of its territories in Europe, in addition to certain trade routes. and benefits from their colonies.

In this way, the Treaty of Utrecht , signed between Spain, France, England, Austria, Savoy and Prussia, put an end to the War of Succession and led to a reordering, both political and territorial, in seventeenth-century Europe .

Enhance your reading: Characteristics of the English Revolution in detail

Main points of the Treaty of Utrecht

The main agreements established by the Treaty of Utrecht were the following:

• Great Britain got Gibraltar and Menorca, Nova Scotia, the Territory of Newfoundland and Hudson Bay in North America. Likewise, he obtained the right to trade black slaves to America, which was almost exclusive to Portugal and Spain.
• The House of Savoy recovered Nice and received the island of Sicily , their denomination being accepted as kings of Savoy and Sicily, who would later become kings of Italy.
• The name of the kingdom of Prussia , formerly Brandenburg, was born, to which several territories in northern Europe were added.
• Portugal recovered the colony of Sacramento in America .
• Austria obtained Naples, Flanders and Sardinia . The Archduke of Austria became emperor and signed that he would abandon any claim to the Spanish throne.
• France obtained the principality of Orange in Provence, and agreed to support the English Crown against the claims of the Stuarts, former French allies in Scotland.
• Felipe V was recognized as King of Spain and definitively renounced any claim on the French Crown and the unification of both reigns .

Enhance your reading: Role of the Jacobins in French Revolution detail

Causes and consequences of the Treaty of Utrecht

Causes

The main cause of the Treaty of Utrecht dates back to the origin of the War of the Spanish Succession, which pitted the main European empires in a struggle for Spanish power. This war originated from the death of King Carlos II of Spain , who died without issue but with a will that left Felipe de Anjou, grandson of French King Louis XIV, in charge of his throne.

However, Felipe de Anjou assuming the Spanish throne meant the unification of the kingdoms of Spain and France , which represented the formation of a great empire that could threaten the existence of other kingdoms with less influence in Europe , particularly the reign of Gran Brittany, long enemy of France and Spain.

In this way, a conflict was unleashed in which various countries throughout the continent were involved. Finally, peace was resorted to through a series of agreements, called the Utrecht Treaty, which established peace and boundaries between the opposing sides. 

Consequences

After the treaty, there was a noticeable change in the political and territorial map of the entire European continent.

Spain, which for two centuries had been one of the most powerful empires in the world, saw its power and influence limited, to the point that its weakness facilitated the advancement of the independence processes in the American colonies.

On the other hand, Great Britain emerged strengthened from all the treaties, both politically and economically, which helped consolidate its maritime and commercial dominance.