First Anglo-Dutch War

The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-54) (called the First Dutch War in England, and the First English War in the Netherlands) was the first of the four Anglo-Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with attacks on merchant shipping, but expanded to vast fleet actions. The English navy gained control of the seas around England, and forced the Dutch to accept an English monopoly on trade with English colonies.

Background

(Dates in this article are given in the Gregorian calendar, then 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar in use in England.)

Related Topics:
Gregorian calendar - Julian calendar

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In the 16th century, England and the Netherlands had been close allies against the ambitions of the Habsburgs. They cooperated in defeating the Spanish Armada. England supported the Dutch in the Eighty Years' War by sending money and troops. There was a permanent English representative in the Dutch government to ensure coordination of the joint war effort. The collapse of Spanish power at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 meant that the colonial possessions of the Portuguese and Spanish Empires were effectively up for grabs. The ensuing rush for empire brought the former allies into conflict. Also the Dutch, now that they had made peace with Spain, quickly replaced the English as dominant traders with the Iberian peninsula.

Related Topics:
16th century - Habsburg - Spanish Armada - Eighty Years' War - Thirty Years' War - 1648 - Portuguese - Spanish Empire

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By the middle of the 17th century the Dutch had built by far the largest mercantile fleet of Europe, with more ships than all other nations combined, and their economy, based mainly on maritime commerce, gave them a dominant position in European, especially Baltic, trade. Furthermore they had annexed most of Portugal's territory in the East Indies giving them control over the enormously profitable trade in spices. They were even gaining significant influence over England's maritime trade with her North American colonies, profiting from the turmoil that resulted from the English Civil War. However, after their decisive victory over the Spanish invasion fleet at the Battle of the Downs in 1639, the war with Spain had been confined to land, and the Dutch navy had been left to deteriorate. The Dutch had many autonomous admiralties and these after 1648 sold off large parts of the fleet to economize. By 1652 fewer than fifty ships were seaworthy and the deficiency had to be made good by arming merchantmen. All of these were very inferior in firepower to the largest English first and second rates.

Related Topics:
17th century - Baltic - East Indies - Spice - English Civil War - Battle of the Downs - 1639 - 1652

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The navy of the Commonwealth of England was in better condition. It had emerged victorious from the English Civil War; supported and supplied Cromwell's army in the wars in Scotland and Ireland; blockaded the royalist fleet of Prince Rupert in Lisbon; and organized a system of convoys to protect the commerce of the Commonwealth against the swarms of privateers set upon it from every European port. On 24 September 1650 General-at-Sea Robert Blake had defeated the fleet of Portugal in a violent gale, sinking the Portuguese Vice-Admiral and taking seven prizes, compelling Portugal to cease protecting Rupert. In 1651 the royalist strongholds in the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands had been captured, and in 1652 General George Ayscue had recovered England's colonial possessions in the West Indies and North America. The English navy had been placed on a secure financial footing by an Act of 10 November 1650 which imposed a 15 per cent tax on merchant shipping and provided that the money thus raised should be used to fund the naval forces protecting the convoys.

Related Topics:
English Civil War - Prince Rupert - Lisbon - 24 September - 1650 - Robert Blake - 1651 - Isles of Scilly - Isle of Man - Channel Islands - 1652 - George Ayscue - West Indies - North America - 10 November

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