Wars Between Spain And France Essay, Research Paper
The wars between England and Spain was a shifting of
power in Europe. A cause of the wars was the
imprisonment and execution of Mary Stuart Queen of
Scots. The Netherlands wanting to break away from Spain
was a cause of the war. Elizabeth sending aid and troops to
the Netherlands was another cause of the war. Mary Stuart
was the direct heir of Scotland. She was a Catholic. Many
people in England wanted to see Mary the Queen and
make England a Catholic nation. This worried Queen
Elizabeth and had Mary put under house arrest for nineteen
years. There were many plots made trying to assassinate
Queen Elizabeth involving Mary. The final plot called the
Babington plot had enough proof to convict Mary and
execute her. Queen Elizabeth knew the consequences this
would create throughout the Catholic world. And this was
the last straw between Spain and England. The
Netherlands wanted to abolish the control Spain had over
their nation. They wanted to get rid of the Spanish
Inquisition. Two-hundred nobles, in the Netherlands,
formed a league, and they petitioned King Philip II not to
use the Spanish Inquisition. He refused and a revolt broke
out. William of Orange led the united seventeen provinces
of the Netherlands against Spanish authority. Queen
Elizabeth lent aid to the Netherlands in their war with
Spain. She sent over 6000 troops in 1585. Don Juan
became the general of the Netherlands and planned an
invasion. After Don Juan’s death the Union of Utrecht was
formed breaking the solid front of the 17 provinces of the
Netherlands. When Spain tried to invade England they
were defeated. The great Spanish Armada was beat by
small, quick fleet of English and Dutch ships. English and
Dutch pirates raid the Spanish ships also. The weather
played a role in the war. A bad storm wiped out many
ships of the Armada. England gained a great deal from this
battle with Spain. They proved that they would be a
military power in Europe during that time. England became
solidly Protestant. They would dominate the sea, both in
trade and naval forces, even though Spain remained the
most powerful military force in Europe for 50 years. The
Netherlands became two separate countries, the Spanish
Netherlands, which is now Belgium, and the Dutch
Republic. After the war the power of the sea and the
power of religion was shifted from Spain to England.