Conflicto armado con Francia y guerrilla austracista en Cataluña (1719-1720)

Abstract

The revisionist policies of the Treaty of Utrecht, put into practice by Julio Alberoni in 1717, gave rise in January 1719 to the Quadruple Alliance (France, Great Britain, Austria and the United Provinces). This fact forced Felipe V to accept the pact of1713 by force of arms. The attack by the French army against the Catalonian border, and under the command of the duke of Berwick, endangered the newly established Nueva Planta regime, because it revitalised a widespread guerrilla movement that had to be confronted by regular troops and civilian militias. After French successes in the winter of 1719, the Capitán General, the Marquess of Castelrodrigo, was able to recover the initiative. This was due to the fall of Alberoni and the French ministers' lack of interest in supporting the guerrilla movement, once Felipe V had accepted the conditions imposed by the Quadruple Alliance.