The peace conference at Utrecht, Netherlands, known as the "Congress of Utrecht", officially begins on January 29, 1712. Secret peace talks between Great Britain and France in 1711 paved the way for the formal conference. The major treaties, were signed on April 11, 1713, ending the War of the Spanish Succession, settling dynastic issues and reshaping European and colonial territories.
The Treaty of Utrecht refers to a series of peace treaties signed in Utrecht, Netherlands, between 1713 and 1715, that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) by settling the Spanish throne with Philip V, grandson of France's Louis XIV, renouncing his claim to the French throne, preventing a Bourbon superstate and establishing European balance of power. The treaties also granted Britain key territories like Gibraltar, Minorca and Nova Scotia plus the lucrative Asiento (slave trade monopoly) marking Britain rise as a world power The conflict officially ended with later treaties in 1714 and 1715.