Second Anglo-Dutch War

The Second Anglo-Dutch War was fought between England and the United Provinces from 1665 to 1667.

Prelude

In April 1654 the First Anglo-Dutch War was concluded with a British victory despite the fact that peace was not signed for another eight months. With Admiral Maarten Tromp's death early in the final engagement during a fierce gale, Witte de With assumed the Dutch command and although he fought bravely, he was obliged to retire beyond the proximity of the Dutch shoals, after which General Monck's fleet of 100 ships themselves struggling against the storm were commanded to haul off.

Related Topics:
1654 - First Anglo-Dutch War - Maarten Tromp - Witte de With - Shoal

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After the Restoration there was a general surge of optimism in England. There was great hope to end the Dutch dominance in world trade. Privateers began to attack Dutch ships, capturing about 200 of them. After incidents involving the English capture of Dutch trading posts and colonies in West Africa (by Robert Holmes) and North America (New Netherland among which New Amsterdam); — subsequently partly recaptured by Michiel de Ruyter — the Dutch allowed their ships to attack British war ships in the colonies in January 1665; Charles II of England used this as a pretext to declare war on the Netherlands on March 4, 1665.

Related Topics:
Restoration - Privateer - West Africa - Robert Holmes - North America - New Netherland - New Amsterdam - Michiel de Ruyter - Charles II of England - March 4 - 1665

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After the First Anglo-Dutch War the Dutch were better prepared, having built 60 ships in 1654 but still only possessing four heavier ships of the line. During the second war they greatly extended their navy by ordering eighty new warships from 1664 onward. England could only build a dozen.

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The explicit casus belli was that Dutch ships were obliged by treaty (1662) to salute the British flag first. In 1664 the British ships began to provoke the Dutch by not saluting in return. Though ordered by the Dutch government to keep on saluting first anyway, many Dutch commanders couldn't bear the insult.

Related Topics:
1662 - British flag - 1664

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However, the cause celèbre was the previous Amboyna Massacre, where in 1623, after the British assaulted Batavia, the Dutch had incited locals against British merchants and factors. The British were hung up with cloths placed over their faces upon which water dripped until the victims inhaled water. After some time, the victims were taken down to vomit up the water, and then it was repeated. The Dutch also put candles on the victims' bodies to show the translucence of the flesh. The British never forgot this atrocity, and pamphleteers reminded the public of it as the war neared. Additionally, broadsheets demonized the Dutch as drunken and profane, with Andrew Marvell's 1653 insult of Holland, "The Character of Holland," reprinted ("This indigested vomit of the Sea,/ Fell to the Dutch by Just Propriety"). When De Ruyter recaptured the West African trading posts, many pamphlets were written about presumed new Dutch atrocities, although these had no basis in fact.

Related Topics:
Amboyna Massacre - 1623 - Batavia - Andrew Marvell - 1653

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The true causes of the war were mercantile. The British sought to take over the Dutch trade routes and colonies while excluding the Dutch from their own colonial possessions. Contraband shipping had gone on from English colonies in America and Surinam for a decade, and the British felt that they were being cheated of their revenues. The vilification of the Dutch traders was at least partially an expression of unease with the presence of notable Cromwellian politicians and officers in Holland in exile. Charles II of England had reason to be nervous about the possibility of a coordinated uprising within England and a Dutch invasion. An important factor was that many members of the British elite would gain personally if Dutch ships were captured.

Related Topics:
America - Surinam - Cromwellian

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The outbreak of war was followed ominously by the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. These events, in such close succession, virtually brought Britain to its knees, as even before them despite an enormous nominal war chest the British fleet had an immediate cash flow problem.

Related Topics:
Great Plague - Great Fire of London

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