Everything about The War Of The Quadruple Alliance totally explained
The
War of the Quadruple Alliance (
1718–
1720) saw the defeat of
Spain by an alliance of
Britain,
France,
Austria, and the
Dutch Republic. The war was a result of the ambitions of King
Philip V of Spain, his wife,
Isabella Farnese, and his chief minister
Giulio Alberoni in Italy, where the Spanish had traditional claims and Isabella several dynastic claims to advance; and for the crown of France, where Philip's infant nephew
Louis XV was King, and his cousin the
Duc d'Orléans was Regent.
Opposition to Philip's ambitions led France, Britain, and The Seven United Netherlands, to join together in the Triple Alliance on
January 4,
1717, and later in the year, to strengthen the
Treaty of Utrecht, Britain, France and Austria contemplated ceding
Sicily to the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI. This arrangement displeased Spain, who wanted to recover the island and in November Philip began hostilities against the Holy Roman Empire by invading the island of
Sardinia, given to Austria by the
Treaty of Utrecht ending the
War of the Spanish Succession. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish advanced, invading Sicily, which had been awarded to the
Duke of Savoy.
This led, on
August 2,
1718, to the formation of the Quadruple Alliance, with the Emperor now joining the Triple Alliance. The French, Austrians, and British now demanded Spanish withdrawal from Sicily and Sardinia, and a British fleet landed a small Austrian army near
Messina, which was besieged by the Austrian forces. On
August 11, at the
Battle of Cape Passaro, a British fleet, led by
Sir George Byng, captured much of a decrepit Spanish fleet, and on
17 December 1718, the French, British, and Austrians declared war on Spain. The Dutch joined them later in August
1719.
It was during this time that the Irish exile, the
Duke of Ormonde, organized an expedition with extensive Spanish support to invade England and replace the British king with
James Stuart, the "Old Pretender." However, his fleet was disbanded by a storm near
Galicia in 1719, and never reached England.
Spain fared poorly in the war. A French army under the
Duke of Berwick invaded the
Basque provinces of Spain almost without resistance in April
1719, before being forced back by disease. Meanwhile, British fleets captured
Vigo and
Pontevedra in October, and that same month, Messina surrendered to the Austrians. Displeased with his kingdom's military performance, Philip dismissed Alberoni in December 1719, and made peace with the allies at the
Treaty of The Hague on
February 17,
1720. Included in the terms of this treaty, the Duke of Savoy was forced to exchange his throne in Sicily for that of the less important Kingdom of Sardinia - which would have an important bearing on the course which the
Unification of Italy would take a century and half later.
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