Course of the War
There were two main theaters of the war in Europe: Spain itself and West-Central Europe, especially the Low Countries (although there was also important fighting in Italy and Germany). The latter proved the more important, as Eugene and the English commander, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough distinguished themselves as military commanders. At first, France was successful in the Alsace, and threatened the Austrian capital, but the two generals managed to link up in Bavaria and won the Battle of Blenheim. France’s trans-Rhine ambitions were crushed, and the French were forced into a defensive posture. Bavaria was knocked out of the war, and Portugal and Savoy changed sides.
In Spain, Valencia and Catalonia switched side in favour of the Austrian pretender, Charles. A British fleet, sent to support Catalans, captured Gibraltar, a possession they held throughout the Siege of Gibraltar and hold to this day. Marlborough and Eugene split forces again, with the former going to the Netherlands, and the latter to Italy. Over the next two years, each drove the French back from those territories, with Marlborough winning the notable Battle of Ramillies.
In 1707, April 25, Batle of Almansa (Valencian country) Austriacist army was defeated by the Borbonic army. Then the war in Spain settled into indecisive skirmishing from which it would not emerge. The French fought back, and managed to stall Eugene’s invasion into the south of the country, and Marlborough got caught up in an endless succession of fortresses in and around Flanders. In 1708, Eugene and Marlborough once again managed to link up, and defeated the French again at the Battle of Oudenarde. An attempt to march on Paris resulted in the Battle of Malplaquet, which was won by the two generals but at such a cost to their forces that this final invasion had to be called off.