Anglo-Dutch Wars - Background

Background

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 the Spanish 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 Anglo-Spanish War the Dutch played only a secondary role as they were fully occupied in fighting Habsburg armies at home.

Around the turn of the century however, Anglo-Spanish relations began to improve, resulting in the peace of 1605, ending most privateering actions and leading to a neglect of the Royal Navy. The unsuccessful Anglo-Spanish War of 1625 was only a temporary change in policy. In the same period the Dutch, continuing their conflict with the Habsburgs, began to carry out long distance actions in addition to their great success in privateering. In 1628 Admiral Piet Heyn was the only one to successfully capture a large Spanish treasure fleet. Thus, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese as the main European traders in Asia.

The Dutch, taking over most of Portugal's trade posts in the East Indies, gained control over the hugely profitable trade in spices. This coincided with an enormous growth of the Dutch merchant fleet, made possible by the cheap mass production of fluyts. Soon the Dutch had the largest mercantile fleet of Europe, and a dominant position in European, especially Baltic, trade. Though less spectacularly so, gradually the Dutch navy also grew in power.

From January 1631 Charles I of England engaged in a number of secret agreements with Spain, directed against Dutch sea power. He also embarked on a major program of naval construction, enforcing ship money to build such prestige vessels as HMS Sovereign of the Seas. Charles's policy was not very successful however. Fearing to endanger his good relations with the powerful Dutch stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, his assistance to Spain limited itself to allowing Habsburg troops on their way to Dunkirk to employ neutral English shipping; in 1636 and 1637 he made some halfhearted attempts to extort North Sea herring rights from Dutch fishermen until intervention by the Dutch navy made an end to such practices. When in 1639 a large Spanish transport fleet sought refuge in the English Downs moorage, Charles did not dare to protect it against a Dutch attack; the resulting Battle of the Downs undermined both Spanish sea power and Charles's reputation.

The English Civil War, commencing soon hereafter, severely weakened England's naval position. Its navy was as internally divided as the country as a whole; the Dutch, as superior on land as they were at sea, even took over much of England's maritime trade with her North American colonies. Between 1648 and 1651 however the situation reversed completely. In 1648 the United Provinces concluded the Peace of Münster with Spain; most of the Dutch army and navy was decommissioned. This led to a conflict between the major Dutch cities and the new stadtholder William II of Orange, bringing the Republic to the brink of civil war; the stadtholder's unexpected death in 1650 only added to the political tensions. Meanwhile Oliver Cromwell united his country into the Commonwealth of England and in a few years created a powerful navy, expanding the number of ships and greatly improving organisation and discipline. England was ready to challenge Dutch trade dominance.

The mood in England was rather belligerent towards the Dutch. This partly stemmed from old perceived slights: the Dutch were considered to have shown themselves ungrateful for the aid they had received against the Spanish by growing stronger than their former British protectors; they caught most of the herring off the English east coast; they had driven the English out of the East Indies committing presumed atrocities such as the Amboyna Massacre while vociferously appealing to the principle of free trade to circumvent taxation in the English colonies. But there were also new points of conflict: the decline of Spanish power at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the colonial possessions of Portugal (already in the midst of Portuguese Restoration War), and perhaps even of a beleaguered Spain, were up for grabs. The Dutch had after 1648 quickly replaced the English in their traditional Iberian trade. Cromwell feared the influence of the Orangist faction and English exiles in the Republic because the stadtholders had always supported the Stuarts; the Dutch abhorred the decapitation of Charles I.

Early in 1651 Cromwell tried to ease tensions by sending a delegation to The Hague proposing that the Dutch Republic join the Commonwealth and the Dutch would assist the English in conquering most of Spanish America. This barely veiled attempt to end Dutch sovereignty ended in war. The ruling peace faction in the States of Holland was unable to formulate an answer to the unexpected and far-reaching offer. The pro-Stuart Orangists incited mobs to harass the envoys. When the delegation returned, the English Parliament, feeling deeply offended by the Dutch attitude, decided to pursue a policy of confrontation.