The death of Charles II of Spain had long been anticipated in view of his poor health. Charles had no children and all Europe was concerned as to who would succeed him.
 

[Not all marriages and offspring are shown].

Louis XIV's wife, Maria Theresa (sister of Charles II and daughter of Philip IV) died in 1683, but left a son. She had formally renounced her claims to the throne on marriage. The rest of Europe was horrified at the idea of France (already too powerful) controlling Spain and its dominions.

Louis XIV did not think that France could afford to fight all Europe, so in October 1698 he agreed to the First Partition Treaty, which gave Spain and its colonies, along with the Spanish Netherlands, to Joseph Ferdinand (son of Maximilian Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and Maria Antonia Hapsburg, who had died giving Joseph Ferdinand birth). In the event that the male line died out, Philip IV of Spain had left a will bequeathing the realm to his younger daughter, Margaret Theresa (who had renounced her claims to inheritance on marriage - just like Marie Theresa) mother of Maria Antonia, grandmother of Joseph Ferdinand. Unfortunately Joseph Ferdinand died in 1699.

A second Partition Treaty was then signed granting Spain, its colonies and the Spanish Netherlands to Leopold I's younger son, the Archduke Charles, but giving Naples and Sicily to France. The Spanish, however, did not want the Spanish Empire broken up in this way.

Louis XIV had an army of almost a quarter of a million men, and he maneuvered it as though about to start a new offensive war. In June 1700, the normally fractious English House of Commons voted support for William II against the French. In December 1700, Leopold I began to raise an army on the Rhine.

In 1701, France allied with Bavaria, Cologne and Portugal, while Britain, Prussia, the United Provinces and the Holy Roman Empire formed a rival alliance.
September 1701 - on the death of James II, Louis recognized James Francis Edward Stuart (the "Old Pretender") as James III.

15 May 1702, Queen Anne and the Emperor Leopold declared war on France.

October 1702, the British seized the Spanish million-pound treasure fleet in the Battle of Vigo Bay.

1703 - Savoy and Portugal joined the Allies against France.

July 1704, Admiral Sir George Rooke captured Gibraltar. Of key strategic importance because of its commanding position on the Straits of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean joins the Atlantic, it remains under British control to this day.

August 1704 - Marlborough left the dull Dutch deputies who wanted to stand on the defensive, marched with his British troops to Bavaria to join Prince Eugene, and defeated the French under Marshal Tallard at Blenheim. This was the first significant defeat suffered by Louis XIV's armies.
 

23 May 1706 - Marlborough defeated a French army under François de Neufville, Duke de Villeroi at Ramillies.

25 April 1707 Allied troops in Spain were defeated by the French at the Battle of Almanza, establishing Bourbon control of Spain.

July 11, 1708 - Allied victory at the Battle of Oudenaarde lost the French their control of Ghent and Bruges.

11 September 1709, Battle of Malplaquet. Marlborough and Eugene held the field against Claude-Louis-Hector, Duke of Villars, and Marshal Louis-François, Duke of Boufflers, but only at the cost of very heavy casualties (22,000 killed or wounded, against French casualties of about 12,000). Boufflers told Louis XIV - " Si Dieu nous fait la grâce de perdre encore une pareille bataille, Votre Majesté peut compter que ses ennemis sont détruits" ("If God grants us the grace to lose another such battle, Your Majesty can be assured that your enemies are ruined”).
 

From 1708, Louis XIV had been trying to negotiate peace, but the Allies insisted on the removal of Philip V from the throne of Spain and his replacement by the Archduke Charles. However, in April 1711, Joseph I (Holy Roman Emperor from 1705) died suddenly from smallpox. Charles succeeded his brother as Emperor, and Britain and the United Provinces did not want Spain and the Hapsburg territories combined any more than they wanted France and Spain amalgamated.

April 1713 - the Peace of Utrecht was agreed.

Philip V retained Spain and its American colonies, but the Spanish Netherlands, Milan and the Kingdom of Naples became Austrian Hapsburg possessions. The Dutch were allowed to retain fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands to discourage French aggression. France ceded Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Hudson Bay territory, and the island of St. Kitts (in the Caribbean) to Britain, recognized Queen Anne (i.e. stopped supporting James Edward), and made certain trading concessions. The Duke of Savoy became King of Sicily.

France did retain much of the territory it had seized in Flanders and along the Rhine (although Alsace and Lorraine remained a bone of contention between France and Germany long after).