The Peace of Utrecht

The Peace of Utrecht was a series of treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession. It put an end to French expansion and signaled the rise of the British Empire. By the treaty between England and France on April 11, 1713, Louis XIV recognized the English succession as established in the house of Hanover and confirmed the renunciation of the claims to the French throne of Louis's grandson, Philip V of Spain. The French fortifications of Dunkirk were to be razed and the harbor filled up, and the Hudson Bay territory, Acadia, St. Kitts, and Newfoundland were ceded to England. By a commercial treaty England and France granted each other most-favored-nation treatment. By a treaty with the Netherlands also on April 11, 1713, France agreed to surrender to Austria the Spanish Netherlands still in French hands; these were to be held in trust by the Netherlands until the conclusion of a treaty between the Netherlands and the Holy Roman emperor. A commercial treaty between France and...