Build-up and Previous Events
After the Treaty of Utrecht, Philip V was accepted as King of Spain in exchange for several concessions. Great Britain received control over Spanish possessions, such as Menorca and Gibraltar, which it could defend, as Britain possessed by far the largest navy in the world at that time.
Philip's plans to restore Spanish power would lead to a violent clash with Britain. Philip and his Italian counsellor, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, carried out a campaign in the western Mediterranean. In 1717, 8500 infantry men and 500 cavalry men sailed from Barcelona and occupied Sardinia without difficulty. The next year, 38,000 troops did the same with Sicily.
The British government responded on 11 August; declaring a violation of Utrecht, the Royal Navy intercepted and destroyed the fleet of José Antonio de Gaztañeta in the region of Cape Passaro, (near Syracuse). Spain then declared war, with Alberoni deciding to take the initiative and stir up trouble in Britain to forestall an attack on the Iberian Peninsula.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Glen Shiel
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