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Quadruple Alliance

The term "Quadruple Alliance" refers to several historical military alliances; none of which remain in effect.

The Quadruple Alliance of 1718 was an alliance between Austria, France, the Netherlands and Britain -- aimed at revising (principally at Spain's expense) the treaties which ended the War of the Spanish Succession.

A second Quadruple Alliance was that of March 1814 (renewed on November 20, 1815); between Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia, aimed at upholding the settlement following the Napoleonic Wars: with France's admission in 1818, it became the Quintuple Alliance, though British government distaste for the other allies' reactionary policies meant that it lapsed into ineffectiveness after the mid-1820s.

The Quadruple Alliance of 1834 was formed by Britain, France, Spain and Portugal to support queen Isabella II of Spain against her uncle Don Carlos, Count of Molina, who claimed the Spanish throne under the succession law of 1714-1830.

See also: Sixth Coalition