In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of Spanish Secession (Queen Anne's War) and left the United Kingdom as masters of the Rock of Gibraltar.
Due to a fluke of geography, the vast Mediterranean Sea has only one outlet to the Atlantic Ocean and this is through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, squeezed between Spain and Morocco. Right near this passage a small peninsula juts out from the Iberian Peninsula and ends in a giant mound or rock. This rock is ‘The Rock’ or ‘The Rock of Gibraltar’.
In the time of the Ancient Greeks, The Rock was one of the Pillars of Hercules and marked the edge of the known world. Later, Gibraltar was the landing point of the great Moorish armies as they swept up into Spain. These armies were led by Tarik-ibn-Zeyad and the rock was named ‘Jebel-Tarik’ or ‘Tarik’s Hill’ in his honor. This name has been westernized and modified until it has reached the modern world as ‘Gibraltar’.
The Rock of Gibraltar was finally reclaimed by the Crown of Spain in 1462 when the Moorish kingdom of Grenada fell, the last chapter in the ‘Reconquista’. From then on, The Rock remained a Spanish possession until the outbreak of the War of Spanish Secession (known to most North American’s as Queen Anne’s War) in 1702. This war saw the forces of France and most of Spain battle against the British and Dutch for the prize of the crown of Spain.
In 1703 a combined British and Dutch Fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir George Rooke sailed into the Mediterranean. Recognizing that the rock with its position and natural harbour was the key to controlling the Strait of Gibraltar, Rooke launched an invasion of the small peninsula. Quickly overwhelming the small Spanish Garrison, Britain took control of the Rock. Although Britain ended up losing the Spanish Crown, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht which ended the war granted Britain control of Gibraltar in perpetuity, a fact that did not sit well with the Spanish then or now.
Since 1713, Spain has made many attempts to recover Gibraltar either through battle of negotiation. The closest she came was during ‘The Great Siege’ from 1779-1783. However, since Britain has always maintained naval dominance, Gibraltar could never truly be cut off from Britain.
Today, Gibraltar remains a British possession, though for the most part, the peninsula is free to govern its own affairs. Spain still occasionally pressed to regain sovereignty or to arrange some joint ownership, but most of the population of Gibraltar is against this.
Source:
Gibraltar 1779-83: The Great Siege by Rene Chartrand, Osprey Publishing, 2006.
