![]() 18th century Italy; note Kingdom of Sardinia; main Spanish possessions Kingdom of Sicily and Parma; main Austrian possessions Tuscany and Milan | |
Context | Austria, Spain and Sardinia |
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Signed | 14 June 1752 |
Location | Aranjuez |
Negotiators |
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Parties |
The Treaty of Aranjuez (1752) was signed on 14 June, 1752, between Austria, Spain and the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Under the agreement, the signatories guaranteed their respective boundaries in Italy, as set out in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The treaty was brokered by Britain, which saw it as a way of separating Spain from France.
Although this objective was superseded by the 1756 Diplomatic Revolution, in which Austria replaced its alliance with Britain in favour of one with France, it successfully ended conflict in Italy for over 40 years.
During the War of the Austrian Succession, Austria and Sardinia contested control of Northern Italy with Spain; in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Austria made minor concessions to Sardinia and Spain, although both considered their gains inadequate. [1]
In July 1746, French-born Philip V of Spain was succeeded by Ferdinand VI, who was more pro-British than his predecessor. [2] Under the Duke of Newcastle, British foreign policy was to isolate France by bringing Spain into the Pragmatic Alliance that fought the war; he ordered his diplomats in Madrid and Vienna to do all they could to support a rapprochement between the two countries. [3]
He was helped by the fact Ferdinand's wife, Barbara of Portugal, was a cousin of Empress Maria Theresa and also supported a closer relationship with Austria. In April 1751, Esterhazy, the new Austrian ambassador in Madrid, presented a proposal under which Spain and Austria would guarantee the Italian boundaries agreed at Aix-la-Chapelle. The influential British Ambassador to Spain, Sir Benjamin Keene, suggested this could only be achieved by including Sardinia and Britain, but Spanish foreign minister José de Carvajal y Lancáster felt it was too great an expansion. [4]
While Maria Theresa detested Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, her primary objective was the recovery of Silesia, ceded to Prussia in 1745; peace in Italy would allow her to concentrate on that objective. As a result, she agreed to bring Sardinia into the agreement, but as Carvajal pointed out, since Britain had no direct interest in Italy, there was no obvious reason to include it. In addition, Maria Theresa deeply resented the territorial concessions made at Aix-la-Chapelle under pressure from Britain. [5]
Since Charles Emmanuel was also unhappy with these gains, he was unwilling to join a treaty that guaranteed them. While he eventually agreed to send Count St Marsan to Madrid, he refused to hold direct talks with Austria, which meant much of the negotiating was done by Carvajal, supported by Keene. [5]
While in principle the terms were relatively straightforward, negotiations were delayed by arguments over protocol; to demonstrate equality between the parties, St Marsan insisted he be allowed to sign one of the three copies first, which was rejected by both Spain and Austria. The Kingdom of Sardinia included the mainland territory of Piedmont, as well as the island of Sardinia (see Map); Maria Theresa argued since Austria had no navy, it was impossible for her to guarantee its boundaries, but St Marsan refused to sign if she did not. [6]
A further delay occurred when Esterhazy fell ill and had to be replaced by Count Migazzi; on 10 April, Austria and Spain signed a draft treaty and only Keene's determination ensured discussions on adding Sardinia continued. Finally, Carvajal included a secret clause under which Spain agreed to transport Austrian troops to defend Sardinia if needed, and the treaty was finally signed on 14 June 1752. [7]
The provisions included a mutual defence pact, under which the signatories guaranteed to support the current boundaries against interference from any other power. Another guaranteed all three states would accord Most favoured nation commercial status to the others citizens. [7]
Under the treaty, Spain was making a commitment on behalf of the Kingdom of Naples, ruled by Ferdinand's half-brother Charles; he refused to accede to it, effectively nullifying it from the very beginning. However, what was far more significant was the failure of Newcastle's anti-French policy; in the so-called 1756 Diplomatic Revolution, Austria and France ended their centuries long hostility by becoming allies. Ferdinand died in 1759, and was replaced by Charles, who appointed his son Ferdinand I as King of Naples; the combination meant Italy became a diplomatic backwater for the next forty years. [8]
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First and Second Silesian Wars.
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Charles VI was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain following the death of his relative, Charles II. In 1708, he married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, by whom he had his four children: Leopold Johann, Maria Theresa, Maria Anna, and Maria Amalia.
The Pragmatic Sanction was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg monarchy, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter undivided.
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The Treaty of Worms was a political alliance formed between Great Britain, Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia, signed on 13 September 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession.
The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, sometimes called the Treaty of Aachen, ended the War of the Austrian Succession, following a congress assembled on 24 April 1748 at the Free Imperial City of Aachen.
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Philip was a Spanish infante who reigned as Duke of Parma from 18 October 1748 until his death in 1765. He was born in Madrid as the second son of King Philip V and Queen Elisabeth. He became Duke of Parma as a result of the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The duchy had earlier been ruled by Philip's elder brother, the future Charles III of Spain, and by their maternal ancestors. Philip founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet line of the House of Bourbon. He was a first cousin and son-in-law of the French king Louis XV.
The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 was the reversal of longstanding alliances in Europe between the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. Austria went from an ally of Britain to an ally of France, the Dutch Republic, a long-standing British ally, became more anti-British and took a neutral stance, while Prussia became an ally of Britain. The most influential diplomat involved was an Austrian statesman, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz.
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Sir Benjamin Keene (1697–1757) was a British diplomat, who was British Ambassador to Spain from 1729 to 1739, then again from 1748 until his death in Madrid in December 1757. He has been described as "by far the most prominent British agent in Anglo-Spanish relations of the 18th century".
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Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for about four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichfürst).
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