User:Lord Cornwallis/Planned Spanish invasion of Britain (1719)

A Spanish Invasion of Britain was planned in 1719 as part of Spain's war effort against Great Britain during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. It intended to knock Britain out of the alliance by overthrowing the recently-established Hanoverian dynasty and restoring the exiled Jacobite claimant James to the throne. Command was given to the Irish Jacobite James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde.

After leaving Cadiz the invasion fleet was dispersed by bad weather, but a small diversionary expedition managed to reach Scotland. It sparked the 1719 Jacobite rising which ended with defeat at the Battle of Glenshiel. The British responded with a raid on Vigo in northern Spain, which led to Spain making terms at the Treaty of the Hague in 1720.

War in Italy
The terms of the Peace of Utrecht ending the War of the Spanish Succession had allowed Philip V of Spain to keep his throne in Madrid in exchange for giving up several overseas possessions. Under the influence of his Chief Minister Cardinal Alberoni, Philip sought over the next few years to overturn the settlement by recovering lost Italian territories. After taking over the island of Sardinia in 1717, the policy culminated in July 1718 when a Spanish Army of 30,000 invaded Sicily. Sicily was quickly overrun by the Spanish forces prompting a response by Charles VI of Austria

Alberoni and Philip had not expected either Britain or France to intervene in the war, particularly as both had been recently been at war with each other. However, in August 1718 the British Royal Navy under George Byng fought and defeated a Spanish fleet the Battle of Cape Passaro off the coast of Sicily. Although a formal declaration of war did not follow until later, Spain immediately began to find ways to neutralise Britain's ability to intervene in the Mediterranean.

Jacobite claim
In 1688 James II was driven off the throne in the Glorious Revolution and forced to take exile in France, shortly after the birth of a Catholic heir James, Prince of Wales. Attempts to restore him to power in London failed and on his death in 1701 the Jacobite claim passed to his son who was proclaimed James III by English and Irish and James VIII by Scottish Jacobite supporters. With French support, James made an unsuccessful attempt to to invade Scotland in 1708. The terms of the Treaty of Utrecht compelled James to leave France, and he moved to the Papal territory of Urbino where he remained alert to opportunities to retake the throne.

The Act of Settlement established the Hanoverian Succession which brought James's distant cousin George I to the throne in 1714. A series of riots following his coronation encouraged Jacobite hopes of overthrowing him. However the 1715 Jacobite rebellion ultimately ended in failure. Nonetheless Jacobites continued to hold out hopes of strong support from various groups in England, Ireland and Scotland, even after the Swedish Plot of 1717 was exposed.

Invasion plan
a small British fleet gathered outside Portsmouth prepared to intercept the invasion fleet whichever way it approached.

Aftermath
By 1719 the Whig Oligarchy had consolidated its hold over Britain, increasing after the 1722 exposure of the Atterbury Plot led to further arrests and expulsions of Jacobites. It was only in 1744 when Britain was again at war with France that a fresh Jacobite invasion of Britain was attempted with foreign support. The following year Charles Edward Stuart led the 1745 rebellion which despite initial success was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Culloden.