Spain and Portugal had remained neutral when…
1761 CE
Their differences in South America had been settled by the Treaty of Madrid (1750).
King Ferdinand VI of Spain's prime minister Ricardo Wall had opposed the French party who wanted to enter the war on the side of France.
Britain had made an attempt to persuade Spain to join the war on their side, by offering Gibraltar in exchange for Spanish help in regaining Minorca, but this had been rejected by Madrid.
Everything changed when Ferdinand VI died in 1759 and was succeeded by his younger half-brother Charles III of Spain.
Charles is more ambitious than his melancholic brother.
One of the main objects of Charles's policy is the survival of Spain as a colonial power and, therefore, as a power to be reckoned with in Europe.
By 1761 France looked to be losing the war against Great Britain.
Furthermore, Spain has suffered from attacks by English privateers in Spanish waters, and claims compensation.
Charles is alarmed by the British conquest of the French Empire in North America, and fears his own empire will be Pitt's next target.
Fearing that a British victory over France in the Seven Years' War will upset the balance of colonial power, he signs the Family Compact with France (both countries are ruled by branches of the Bourbon family) in August 1761, offering them practical support.
This will bring war with Great Britain in January 1762.
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Austria, Archduchy of
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Saxony, Electorate of
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Río de la Plata, Governorate of the
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Brazil, Colonial
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France, (Bourbon) Kingdom of
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Portugal, Bragança Kingdom of
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Spain, Bourbon Kingdom of
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Prussia, Kingdom of
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Britain, Kingdom of Great
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Russian Empire
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Southwest Europe
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