Anglo-Dutch Wars

he Anglo-Dutch wars (Dutch: Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen or Engelse Zeeoorlogen) were wars between successiveEnglish/British states (the Commonwealth of England, the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) and successive Dutch states (the Dutch Republic and the Batavian Republic). They were fought in the periods 1652-1674 and 1781-1810, for the control of trade routes and colonies

In 1670, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France concluded the secret Treaty of Dover, intending to subjugate the Dutch state. England's Royal Navy joined France in its attack on the Republic in 1672, but was frustrated in its attempts to blockade the Dutch coast by four strategic victories of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. An attempt to make the province of Holland an English protectorate rump state likewise failed. The English Parliament, fearful that the alliance with France was part of a plot to make England Roman Catholic, forced the king to abandon the costly and fruitless war

During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, neither England nor the main maritime provinces of the Low Countries,Flanders and Holland, had been major European sea powers on par with Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Castile or Aragon. During the Wars of Religion in the 16th century between the Catholic Habsburg Dynasty and the newly Protestant states, England under Elizabeth I built up a strong naval force, designed to carry out long range privateering or piracy missions against theSpanish Empire, exemplified by the exploits of Francis Drake. These raids, financed by the Crown or high nobility, were initially immensely profitable, until the overhaul of Spain's naval and intelligence systems led to a series of costly failures. Partly to provide a pretext for such hostilities against Spain, Elizabeth assisted the Dutch Revolt by signing in 1585 the Treaty of Nonsuch with the new Dutch state of the United Provinces. In the resulting naval actions of the Anglo-Spanish War, the Dutch played only a secondary role as they were fully occupied in fighting Habsburg armies and defending their frontiers at home from troops coming up the Spanish Road, and their coast from invasion attempts. The eras naval battles did not yet involve large numbers of purpose builtwarships, but instead relied upon converted merchant vessels.


Around the turn of the 17th century however, Anglo-Spanish relations began to improve, resulting in the peace of 1605, ending most privateering actions and as was usual for the times due to paltry funding by Parliment, again leading to a neglect of the Royal Navy. England had not yet built the self-image as a sea power where commerce of seaborne trade fueled the economy, and a need to protect the trade. When action was taken to found Jamestown, it had the incentive of commerce from a joint-stock company, not the English crown or navy. The unsuccessful Anglo-Spanish War of 1625 was only a temporary change in policy influenced by maneuvers of international politics. Gradually, as the protest outcasts of England observed the accumulating wealth of the Dutch, covetous English men of influence focused on colonialism as a means of creating wealth. In the process, England found a need to develop and build naval capabilities of its own. These efforts also resulted in competition and frictions that often put the capitalistic energies of the two Protestant nations at odds.