Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

Franco–Spanish War
	Part of French–Habsburg rivalry
	; The war was driven by long standing French attempts to strengthen their borders with Habsburg Spain (red) and Habsburg Austria (yellow)
Date	19 May 1635 – 7 November 1659; (24 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days)
Location	Northern France, Catalonia, Spanish Netherlands, Northern Italy, the Rhineland, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Result	Treaty of the Pyrenees
Territorial; changes	Artois, Thionville, and Roussillon annexed by France
Belligerents
Phase I: 1635–1648; France ; Dutch Republic ; Savoy; Mantua; Modena and Reggio ; Parma ; Phase II: 1648–1659 ; France ; Savoy; Modena and Reggio ; Commonwealth of England	Phase I: 1635–1648 ; Spanish Empire ; Holy Roman Empire ; Parma; Modena and Reggio; Phase II: 1648–1659 ; Spanish Empire;
Commanders and leaders
Louis XIII; Louis XIV; Cardinal Richelieu; Cardinal Mazarin; Turenne; Condé ; Choiseul; Coligny; de la Porte; de Gassion (DOW); La Ferté-Senneterre; Bernard of Saxe-Weimar; Frederick Henry	Philip IV; Olivares; de Haro; Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand; Francisco de Melo; John of Austria; Caracena; Pedro de Vélez; Archduke Leopold; Ottavio Piccolomini
Strength
France:; c. 100,000–125,000	Spain:; c. 200,000 (1640)
Casualties and losses
France:; c. 200,000 to 300,000 killed or wounded	Spain:; Unknown
	200,000 dead (both sides)

The Franco-Spanish War, May 1635 to November 1659, was fought between France and Spain, each supported by various allies at different points. The first phase, from May 1635 to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, is a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War, while the second continued until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.

Major areas of conflict included northern Italy, the Spanish Netherlands and the Rhineland. France supported revolts against Spanish rule in Portugal (1640–1668), Catalonia (1640–1653) and Naples (1647), while Spain backed French rebels in the 1647 to 1653 "Fronde". Both also backed opposing sides in the 1639 to 1642 Piedmontese Civil War.

France was a long-time supporter of the Dutch Republic and Sweden, but had avoided direct conflict with Spain or Austria. In May 1635, France declared war on Spain, then shortly afterwards separately entered the 30 Years War against Austria. After the latter ended in 1648, fighting continued between Spain and France, with neither able to achieve decisive victory. France made some gains in Flanders and the Pyrenees, but by 1658 both sides were financially exhausted and made peace in November 1659.

While relatively minor in extent, French territorial gains significantly strengthened their borders, while Louis XIV married Maria Theresa of Spain, eldest daughter of Philip IV. Although Spain retained its vast global empire, some commentators argue the Treaty of the Pyrenees marks the end of its position as the predominant power in Europe.