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• War of the Spanish Succession, 1700-14


  International war to achieve hegemony over Europe, triggered by the death of Carlos II of Spain (the last of the Austrias Menores)
• Candidates to succeed Carlos II

  Felipe d'Anjou (Felipe V), grandson of King Louis XIV of France and the Archduke Carlos, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopoldo I
• Treaty of Utrecht (1713)


  Settled the war, new Bourbon dynasty implemented a new model of government inspired by the French absolutist system, Bourbon monarchs followed the model of enlightenment despotism
• Reforms by Bourbon monarchs


  Reorganizing the state to make it more efficient, major political, economic and cultural reforms undertaken
• Reforms by Bourbon monarchs


  • King was the only political decision-maker, magnificent palaces built to reinforce his image among the people
• Decretos de Nueva Planta

  Imposed the laws of Castilla in all Spanish territories, finishing once and for all with all the laws and institutions of Aragón
• Old figure of validos and councils

  Replaced by cabinets formed by ministers or secretarios de despacho, responsible for the main matters of government: the state, navy and treasury
• Spain made alliances with France

  Both countries belonged to the same dynasty: The Bourbon, Great Britain's Atlantic expansion made it Spain's greatest rival for control of America
• Pactos de Familia


  Main consequences: Spain's participation in the Seven Years' War, 1756-1763, in which France and Spain fought England for the control of North América, Treaty of Paris -1763- confirmed England's global hegemony by making Canada a British colony and France losing its territories in America
• example of palaces built to reinforce the king's image


  palaces in Madrid, Aranjuez, La Granja and Riofrío