Britain, Spain and the Treaty of Utrecht 1713-2013


Book Description

"In July 1713 Great Britain and Spain signed a 'Treaty of Peace and Friendship' that brought to an end a conflict that had begun in 1701, following the death the year before of the Spanish King Charles II, who died without leaving a direct descendant or heir. The War of the Spanish Succession that ensued involved the major European powers who all had an interest in the question of who would occupy the Spanish throne. As a result of the various peace treaties that were signed between 1713 and 1714 between the warring countries - Spain, Britain, France, the Austrian Empire, the Dutch Republic -, the Bourbon candidate became king of Spain as Philip V, but Spain lost its last European possessions (the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia, among others) and ceded to Great Britain the island of Minorca and Gibraltar. Considered by many historians to be the first real world war, as it involved fighting in the Americas as well as in Europe, the War of the Spanish Succession changed the map of Europe and led to significant alterations in the balance of power. In this volume twelve eminent historians and legal experts from Spain and the United Kingdom consider the political and legal context and consequences of the War and the Treaty of Utrecht that brought it to an end, consequences that still resonate today. This volume is edited by Trevor J. Dadson with the assistance of the Office for Cultural and Scientific Affairs, Embassy of Spain, London."




The 1713 Peace of Utrecht and its Enduring Effects


Book Description

The 1713 Peace of Utrecht and its Enduring Effects, edited by Alfred H.A. Soons, presents an interdisciplinary collection of contributions marking the occasion of the tercentenary of the Peace of Utrecht. The chapters examine the enduring effects of the Peace Treaties concluded at Utrecht in 1713, from the perspectives of international law, history and international relations, with cross-cutting themes: the European Balance of Power; the Relationship to Colonial Regimes and Trade Monopolies; and Ideas and Ideals: the Development of the International Legal Order. With contributions by: Peter Beeuwkes, Stella Ghervas, Martti Koskenniemi, Randall Lesaffer, Paul Meerts, Isaac Nakhimovsky, Sundhya Pahuja, Koen Stapelbroek, Benno Teschke, Jaap de Wilde




Performances of Peace


Book Description

"Performances of Peace: Utrecht 1713" aims to rethink the significance of the Peace of Utrecht (1713) by exploring the nexus between culture and politics.







George II


Book Description

Despite a long and eventful reign, Britain's George II is a largely forgotten monarch, his achievements overlooked and his abilities misunderstood. This landmark biography uncovers extensive new evidence in British and German archives, making possible the most complete and accurate assessment of this thirty-three-year reign. Andrew C. Thompson paints a richly detailed portrait of the many-faceted monarch in his public as well as his private life. Born in Hanover in 1683, George Augustus first came to London in 1714 as the new Prince of Wales. He assumed the throne in 1727, held it until his death in 1760, and has the distinction of being Britain's last foreign-born king and the last king to lead an army in battle. With George's story at its heart, the book reconstructs his thoughts and actions through a careful reading of the letters and papers of those around him. Thompson explores the previously underappreciated roles George played in the political processes of Britain, especially in foreign policy, and also charts the intricacies of the king's complicated relationships and reassesses the lasting impact of his frequent return trips to Hanover. George II emerges from these pages as an independent and cosmopolitan figure of undeniable historical fascination.




Peace was Made Here


Book Description

The Treaty of Utrecht does not exist, at least not in the form of a single document bearing the signatures and seals of all parties. Instead it comprises a series of treaties, concluded in 1713 and in subsequent years, and not just in Utrecht but also in the South-German town of Rastatt, in Swiss Baden, and in Madrid. These treaties represent a turning point in world history. They not only put an end to a long series of wars that left much of Europe in ruins, but also to conflicts involving overseas colonies. A European exhibition is highlighting this historical event; first in Utrecht and then, in adapted form, in Madrid, Rastatt and Baden. In this book, scholars from the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Great Britain and the United States describe and explain well-known and especially less-known aspects of war and peace. The catalogue section provides explanatory notes to the main items displayed in the exhibitions.




Competing Visions of Empire


Book Description

This title explores the connections between the origins of the English empire and unfree labour by exploring how England's imperial designs influenced contemporary politics and debates about labour, population, political economy, and overseas trade. It pays particular attention to how and why slavery and England's participation in the transatlantic slave trade came to be widely accepted as central to the national and imperial interest by contributing to the idea that colonies with slaves were essential for the functioning of the empire.




Making the British empire, 1660–1800


Book Description

This collection offers a timely reappraisal of the origins and nature of the first British empire, in response to the ‘cultural turn’ in historical scholarship and the ‘new imperial history’. It addresses topics that have been neglected in recent literature, providing a series of political and institutional perspective; at the same time it recognises the importance of developments across the empire, not least in terms of how they affected imperial ‘policy’ and its implementation. It analyses a range of contemporary debates and ideas – political and intellectual as well as religious and administrative – relating to political economy, legal geography and sovereignty, as well as the messy realities of the imperial project, including the costs and losses of empire, collectively and individually.




"We Are Now the True Spaniards"


Book Description

This book is a radical reinterpretation of the process that led to Mexican independence in 1821—one that emphasizes Mexico's continuity with Spanish political culture. During its final decades under Spanish rule, New Spain was the most populous, richest, and most developed part of the worldwide Spanish Monarchy, and most novohispanos (people of New Spain) believed that their religious, social, economic, and political ties to the Monarchy made union preferable to separation. Neither the American nor the French Revolution convinced the novohispanos to sever ties with the Spanish Monarchy; nor did the Hidalgo Revolt of September 1810 and subsequent insurgencies cause Mexican independence. It was Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 that led to the Hispanic Constitution of 1812. When the government in Spain rejected those new constituted arrangements, Mexico declared independence. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 affirms both the new state's independence and its continuance of Spanish political culture.




Balance of Power and Norm Hierarchy: Franco-British Diplomacy after the Peace of Utrecht


Book Description

Balance of Power and Norm Hierarchy: Franco-British Diplomacy after the Peace of Utrecht offers a detailed study of French and British diplomacy in the age of ‘Walpole and Fleury’. After Louis XIV’s decease, European international relations were dominated by the collaboration between James Stanhope and Guillaume Dubois. Their alliance focused on the amendment and enlargement of the peace treaties of Utrecht, Rastatt and Baden. In-depth analysis of vast archival material uncovers the practical legal arguments used between Hampton Court and Versailles. ‘Balance of Power’ or ‘Tranquillity of Europe’ were in fact metaphors for the predominance of treaty law even over the most fundamental municipal norms. An implacable logic of norm hierarchy allowed to consolidate peace in Europe.