The Capture of Minorca saw the island of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

captured from Spain by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Dutch forces acting on behalf of

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (; ; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully War of ...

the Austrian claimant to the Spanish throne in September 1708 during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. The British would later annex the island as their own possession at the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

(1713).

Background

Since 1702 a war had been fought over who would inherit the Spanish throne with Britain and the Dutch supporting the Austrian candidate while France and her allies supported a French candidate. In 1704 the Anglo-Dutch fleet had captured

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

and defeated a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Málaga. Allied forces had also landed in Catalunya where they captured Barcelona in 1705. The Catalans largely supported the Austrian claimant and many joined the Allied armies.

Landing

On 14 September 1708 an Anglo-Dutch naval force under the command of General James Stanhope landed on the island of Menorca and laid siege to the town of Mahón. Sir Edward Whitaker, with his Admiral's flag in , went to join Sir John Leake in the Mediterranean where he assisted in the capture of Menorca taking Fornells and Ciutadella de Menorca. The island's inhabitants were—like most Catalans—pro-Austria, and greeted the British and Dutch soldiers as liberators. A week later the Franco-Spanish garrison surrendered.

Aftermath

Realising the potential of Menorca as a British naval base, the British moved to fully take control of it — and received acknowledgement of this at the

. In the aftermath of the island's capture trade boomed, and the British increased prosperity on the island by spending large amounts rebuilding the island's fortifications. The British occupied the island on and off until 1802 when it was finally handed back to Spain as part of the Amiens Treaty. During that time Menorca became an important part of Britain's security architecture in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

with a major naval base.Chartrand p.13-14

References

Bibliography

* Chartrand, Rene. ''Gibraltar 1779-83: The Great Siege.'' Osprey, 2006. * Rodger NAM. ''Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815''. Penguin Books, 2006. * Simms, Brendan. ''Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire.'' Penguin Books (2008) {{coord, 39, 53, N, 4, 03, E, type:event_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Minorca History of Menorca 1708 in Spain 1708 in military history Amphibious operations involving the Great Britain Sieges involving Great Britain Sieges involving the Dutch Republic Sieges involving France Sieges involving Spain Military history of the Balearic Islands

Background

Landing

Aftermath

See also

References

Bibliography