The treaties of Utrecht and Nystädt, like those of Carlovitz and Passarovitz, mark the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. The history of northern Europe in the seventeenth century is the history of the effort of Sweden to obtain mastery over the Baltic and a footing in Germany; of the successful assertion by Brandenburg of leadership in north Germany; of the birth of Russia as a serious political power. Those questions, fought over so strenuously during the seventeenth century, received their final answer in the great treaties which usher in the next epoch. Sweden, stricken from her place of vantage, deprived of nearly all her German possessions, relegated to her own side of the Baltic, is dismissed into the obscurity of a third-rate power, from which she had been originally raised only by the quarrels of her antagonists, and the unprecedented personal ability of her sovereigns. Prussia, acknowledged as an equal by the monarchies of Europe, stands forth without rival as the unquestioned leader of the northern Germany, and is biding her time until the hour shall strike, which will permit her to wrest from the House of Habsburg the leadership of the German people, and inherit from it the duty of defending the German Fatherland. In the far north Russia, under its savage but capable ruler, has made her voice heard among the councils of Europe. Seated firmly on the eastern shores of the Baltic, she is bent on making herself into a commercial and maritime power, while in the far south-east corner of her empire, policy has already pointed the way along which her destiny must move. After the conquest of Azof in 1696, after the campaign on the Pruth in 1711, Turkey and Russia stand face to face in south-eastern Europe, and the Eastern Question has begun. CHAPTER XIV THE PARTITION TREATIES AND THE GRAND ALLIANCE The question of the Spanish succession--The claims of the candidates--Legal and political difficulties of the problem--Importance of the interests involved--The Partition Treaty of 1668--Adoption by Louis of a policy of partition in 1698--Suspicions of William and Heinsius--Objects of Louis, William, and Heinsius--The first Partition Treaty--Death of the Electoral Prince--The negotiations continued--The second Partition Treaty--Advantages of the treaty to France and the maritime powers--Acceptance of the treaty in Europe--Attitude of the Emperor and Savoy--The struggle round the deathbed of Charles II.--The will in favour of France--Acceptance of the will by Louis--Political reasons for his conduct--His deliberate breach of faith--His policy purely opportunist--Its momentary success--Aggressive conduct of Louis--The formation of the Grand Alliance. [Sidenote: =Question of the Spanish Succession.=]