War of the Spanish Succession

The death of Charles II of Spain without an heir brought France and a Grand Alliance led by Austria, England, the Dutch Republic and other powers into conflict over the European balance of power.

Campaigns ranged from the Low Countries and Germany to Spain, Italy, the Mediterranean and overseas colonies. The victories of Marlborough and Eugene at Blenheim and later battles became central to British military memory.

This context supports fiction about early eighteenth-century armies, camp followers, dynastic politics, forced labour and the changing relationship between soldiers and the state.