O Treaty of Utrecht (1713-1715) were actually two agreements that ended the War of Spanish Succession and changed the map of Europe and the Americas.
In the first Treaty, in 1713, Great Britain recognized the Frenchman Felipe de Anjou as king of Spain. For its part, Spain ceded Menorca and Gibraltar to Great Britain.
The agreement also had repercussions in America, as it established the borders between Brazil and French Guiana and defined the limits of Amapá.
The second Treaty of Utrecht, signed on February 6, 1715, this time between Portugal and Spain, reestablished possession of the Colony of Sacramento to Portugal.
Origin and Causes of the Treaty of Utrecht
In 1700, King Charles II (1661-1700) died in Spain, leaving no heirs.
In his will, he had indicated that the French Infante Felipe de Anjou would inherit the throne, as he was the grandson of a Spanish Infanta and the French King Louis XIV.
However, countries like England imagined that Felipe de Anjou could be crowned, in the future, king of France and Spain. Added to the territories that Spain had in Europe and the Americas, this future kingdom would be a real power.
Likewise, Emperor Joseph I, of the Holy Roman Empire and Archduke of Austria, was also afraid that this would happen. Thus, this emperor defended the candidacy of his brother Carlos for the Spanish throne.
That is why the “Haya Alliance” was formed with England and the Holy Empire. Later, in 1703, Portugal joined this association through the Methuen's Treaty.
On the other hand was France, ruled by Louis XIV and part of Spain. It should be noted that Spain was divided between supporters of France and the Holy Empire.
However, in 1711, the Haya Alliance was dissolved. This happened because Emperor Joseph I died without heirs and Charles is elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
For the British, in particular, it was not convenient for so much power concentrated in the hands of an Austrian monarch. Negotiations then begin between France and Great Britain in order to resolve the issue of the Spanish succession.
The diplomatic discussions, which began in 1712, allowed the signing of the peace agreements between England, France and Spain the following year: the Treaty of Utrecht.
Utrecht Treaty Resolutions
To be recognized as King of Spain by England, Felipe de Anjou renounced the throne of France and ascended to the Spanish throne as Felipe V. With that, he also conserved the Spanish possessions in America.
However, it had to get rid of its territories in Europe and England received the maritime base of Gibraltar and the island of Menorca.
Great Britain won the right to exploit for 30 years the trade in enslaved blacks to the Spanish colonies. Ironically, later, several British associations would protest against the slave trade practiced by the British, starting the campaign for the abolition of slavery.
France and England
France managed to see its candidate for the Spanish throne confirmed and thus, maintained the integrity of French territory.
In America, France managed to conserve the regions of Newfoundland and Acadia, both in Canada, which were contested by the British.
However, the British won from France the Hudson Bay, in Canada, and the island of Saint Kitts (Saint Kitts), in the Caribbean.
Consequences of the Utrecht Treaty
The main consequence of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht was the remodeling of the map of Europe and America.
Always with the objective of guaranteeing the throne to King Felipe V, Spain had to cede its European territories to several countries.
Through the agreements signed in Utrecht, the regions comprising the south of present-day Holland, Milanesado (Milan) and Naples were incorporated by Austria.
The duchy of Savoy, on the Italian Peninsula, received Sicily, to the south of the same peninsula.
These diplomatic points were signed in 1714, in the so-called treaties of Rastatt, Barden and Amberes.
France also loses its hegemony on the European continent, which will only be recovered with Napoleon Bonaparte.
As for Great Britain, its territorial and commercial gains placed it as a preponderant nation in the fields of naval, commercial and colonial exploitation.
For Spain, the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht did not mean peace, as some regions, such as the Kingdom of Aragon, did not recognize Felipe V as sovereign. Only in 1714, with the military defeat in Catalonia, this kingdom was definitively incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile and in this way, form the Kingdom of Spain.
The division and the balance of European power established in Utrecht would last for almost a century and would be replaced again by the treaties signed in the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815).
Second Treaty of Utrecht (1715)
The second Treaty of Utrecht was signed between the king of Spain, Felipe V and the king of Portugal, Dom João V, in 1715, in the same Dutch locality.
Spain returned to Portugal the Colonia do Sacramento, on the Rio de la Plata. Portugal, in turn, ceded the municipalities of Albuquerque and Puebla de Sanabria to Spain.
Consequences of the Utrecht Treaty for Brazil
The Treaty of Utrecht had repercussions for the territory of Portuguese America, Brazil.
In 1713, the borders between French Guiana and Brazil were established. In addition, it was recognized that the territory, where today is the state of amapá, belonged to the Portuguese Crown.
In the south, the Colony of Sacramento was returned to the Portuguese Crown. Later, still in the 18th century, Portugal and Spain would again renegotiate the borders through the Madrid Treaty (1750) and the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777).
See too: Formation of the Brazilian territory
