Spanish Succession Peace
Britain began to get cold feet, too, as an over-decisive victory for Austria would be almost as bad for their interests as one for the French and Spanish. Marlborough fell out of grace with the English (or rather, now, British) crown and with the new Tory government and was recalled. Peace negotiations with France led to the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, in which England, Holland, and France ceased fighting with one another, and Great Britain left the Catalans alone to fight for themselves.
In 1714, September 11, Barcelona surrendered to the Borbonic army after a long siege. The Franco-Austrian hostilities lumbered on until September 1714, before the signing of the Treaty of Baden. With the Peace of Utrecht, the wars to prevent French hegemony that had dominated the 17th century were over for the time being. Philip became the Spanish king, but was removed from the French succession. Louis XIV also agreed to stop supporting the Stuart claim to the throne of England.
The Spanish Netherlands, Naples, and Milan were ceded to Austria; Sicily (replaced by Sardinia in 1720) was ceded to Savoy; Britain was given the exclusive right to slave trading in Spanish America; Gibraltar and Minorca were transferred from Spain to the UK; and a variety of French colonial possessions were given to Britain. In 1715 the Bourbon king Philip V of Spain abolished the constitutions of Kingdom of Valencia and Principality of Catalonia with the Decreto de Nueva Planta.
