In 1700, Louis XIV accepted the throne of Spain on behalf of his grandson, Philip V of Spain. Most of the countries of Europe recognized Philip as king of Spain with the notable exceptions of Emperor Leopold I, Savoy, England, and the United Netherlands. Eventually in 1701, the English and Dutch gave their recognition of Philip as king of Spain. For a period in 1701, Philip held Spain and its numerous possessions against only the opposition of Leopold I. It is not a stretch to say that Leopold I would have never been able to win a war against an alliance of Spain and France without the help of the United Netherlands. But Louis XIV bungled his foreign policy and provided a reason for the maritime powers to form the Grand Alliance with Leopold I.
Louis’s first mistake was to register in the Parlement of Paris a document recognizing Philip V’s place in the line of succession to the French throne. This document caused a flood of anger in the maritime powers, but in both England and the Netherlands there were strong parties determined to maintain the peace. The years following the peace of Ryswick in 1697 were prosperous for the maritime powers and many merchants did not wish to put an end to that prosperity. Many people felt that the will of Charles II of Spain leaving the whole Spanish empire to Philip V was preferable to any partition treaty, since France did not increase in territory with Philip as king of Spain, while any partition treaty would have greatly increased the size of France. William III (king of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Stadtholder of five of the provinces in the United Netherlands) at that point was hard pressed to convince either maritime power to oppose France.
Louis’s second mistake was to occupy the barrier fortifications along the border of France and the Spanish Netherlands. Since the peace of Ryswick, Dutch soldiers had occupied the barrier fornications. The soldiers were under the command of the governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria, but were paid by the Dutch. Within six days of Philip V crossing the Spanish frontier, French troops appeared before each of the barrier fortifications. The Dutch soldiers were disarmed and put in prison. The French and Maximilian (who was in negations with Louis XIV) had managed the takeover without any mistakes. The Dutch soldiers were sent home and French diplomats throughout Europe insisted that France would withdraw its troops as soon as Spain could raise troops to replace them. Naturally this action alarmed the peace party in the Netherlands but they still wanted to negotiate with France. Louis’s third mistake was negotiating special privileges with Spain for French traders to the prejudice of the maritime powers. This action angered the commercial classes in both of the maritime powers.
But what if Louis XIV had avoided these mistakes? It was natural to want to aggrandize France at the expense of Spain but what if Louis had let such acquisitions wait until the reign of his son (and Philip’s father) the Grand Dauphin? Why even issue a document that could scare other nations in Europe with the possibility of a personal union between France and Spain? What if France and Spain had to defend Philip’s succession to the entire Spanish empire against only Leopold I?