"Charles II, the last Spanish Habsburg king, died on November 1, 1700, without a biological heir. His will designated Phillip of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV of France, as his chosen heir to the throne of Spain and its entire empire, uniting the royal families of Spain and France. William III of England had foreseen this alliance as a major threat to England's hopes in the New World, as well as to peace in Europe, and so had reached out to Austria, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Netherlands, most of the German states, and Portugal to form his own alliance. When William III died, his sister-in-law became Queen Anne of England. In May of 1702, Queen Anne and her Grand Alliance declared war on France and Spain. The War of Spanish Succession, also known as Queen Anne's War, had begun.
Their opening movement was an attack on the Spanish Netherlands. At first look, the Grand Alliance would seem quite the match for Spain and France, but this was only the case in appearance. The majority of the alliance's members were small nations with no true power unless they banded together with larger nations. Spain had been a global empire for two hundred years by the start of the war, while France, under Louis XIV, had been moving toward becoming the dominant power on the European continent. With Spain, France, and England all having colonial holdings overseas, it would only be a matter of time before war broke out among the people in those colonies in the name of their home countries and kings.
To any intelligent Englishman in North America, it must have seemed obvious where the primary threat to Charles Towne, Carolina, was. Only a week's sail to the south, the strong Spanish fortress of Castillo de San Marcos and the garrison at St. Augustine were like a loaded gun aimed at the heart of the Carolina Colony. Something had to be done. In late August of 1702, on hearing of the outbreak of Queen Anne's War, the Carolina Commons started entertaining the idea of an attack against the Spanish in La Florida…"
link
Armand
explores the Master & Commander starter set for Black Seas.