Unresolved economic contradictions between England and the Republic of the United Provinces and the rivalry of these countries in the overseas colonies exploded into a new war. London periodically complained about the infringement of the rights of its subjects in India, Turkey and on the African coast: the Dutch, who controlled the ports there, did not allow rival ships into them, causing enormous damage to the overseas trade of the British. In the summer of 1664, a conflict broke out between the English Africa Company and the Dutch over the possession of several small coastal forts in Guinea; On August 23 of the same year, a naval expedition under the command of Richard Nichols suddenly occupied New Amsterdam, the administrative center of the Dutch possessions in North America (New Netherlands); in response to protests from The Hague, the Clarendon government officially declared its non-involvement in these violations of international law, which, however, did not prevent Charles II’s brother, the Duke of York, the governor of the British colonies in North America, from appointing Nichols governor of New Netherlands and renaming New Amsterdam to New York . The escalation of the conflict was rapid: after the successful raid of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, which drove the British out of disputed possessions in Guinea and on the island of Goré, the British, in retaliation, began to attack Dutch merchant ships, including by privateers. An English squadron of nine ships under the command of Admiral Ellin attacked a Dutch convoy of 30 pennants returning from Smyrna in the Strait of Gibraltar (December 1664); the attack was unexpected, but the Dutch naval commander van Brakel defended himself so desperately that he lost only three of his ships to the enemy. An embargo was imposed on all ships of the United Provinces that were in English ports. The Netherlands responded by severing diplomatic relations, banning the import of British goods, and seizing British ships in European waters. Then the English parliament voted the king military subsidies in the amount of two and a half million pounds sterling, “to punish the Dutch for insults and insolence and to avenge the honor of the nation,” and on March 14, 1665, England declared war on the Netherlands.
Admiral Reuther. Modern image on the medal.
Despite his obligations under the Treaty of Paris of 1662 and the requirements for their compliance by the government of the Republic of the United Provinces, Louis XIV was in no hurry to fulfill his allied duty and enter the war for the sake of the interests of the Dutch, who offended him by refusing to negotiate on the mutual division of the Spanish Netherlands and, in addition, dared to threaten the creation of an alliance with Spain or the emperor. Before the outbreak of the second Anglo-Dutch War, French diplomats managed to conclude a treaty with Denmark (August 3, 1663), the basis of which was a trade partnership and mutual assistance in observing the Peace of Westphalia; the secret articles of the same treaty provided, in particular, for the provision of subsidies to the Danish king if his war with Sweden resumed. However, there was no reason to expect that the Danish king, on the basis of this treaty, would actively support the Republic of the United Provinces in the war with England, an ally of his victorious enemy Sweden. The dialogue with Sweden, to which Louis XIV invited to join the Franco-Danish Pact, has so far been rather sluggish: the Swedes agreed to trade cooperation, but did not allow their country to be drawn into an alliance with Denmark, or even to formally recognize Denmark as one of the guarantors of compliance with the Westphalian Treaties . Being forced to take into account the position of Sweden in connection with the expected nomination of one of the princes of the House of Condé to the throne of Poland, French diplomats temporarily suspended pressure on Stockholm.
Jan de Witt. 17th century engraving
Following the recommendations of d'Estrada, who enjoyed de Witt's full confidence in The Hague and therefore was well aware of the latest trends in Dutch politics, de Lionne told the ambassador of the Republic of the United Provinces that France, which, according to the Treaty of Paris, has the right to provide assistance to its ally no earlier than four months later after his request for one, she intends to use this period for peaceful mediation, because she finds the circumstances of the outbreak of war not entirely consistent with the fulfillment of her allied obligations. Firstly, the minister clarified, official London promised to provide evidence that it was the Dutch who started the war, capturing colonial outposts in Africa; secondly, even if the British assurances are not considered convincing, His Most Christian Majesty doubts that France's allied obligations extend so far as to support a war in Europe for the sake of Holland's African interests, which are completely alien to it.
France's foreign policy priorities on the eve of and during the second Anglo-Dutch War were inextricably linked with projects for the annexation of the Spanish Netherlands. For the upcoming struggle, it was necessary to accumulate forces and maintain strong international positions, but for now they could only be ensured by neutrality. France's non-participation in the present naval war allowed her to retain her fleet, and thus gain a serious, if not decisive, military advantage if the upcoming struggle for the Spanish Netherlands involved her in a conflict with England or Holland. After the opening of hostilities, Louis XIV found himself in a difficult position: the treaty obliged him to take the side of the Dutch, but support for the republic of the United Provinces would inevitably “divorce” him from Charles II, who personally did not interfere with France’s annexationist plans for the Spanish Netherlands, and in the future, perhaps even turning into an ally. At the same time, if the British had won the war, one should have kept in mind the prospect of the removal of the republican-oligarchic party from power in the Netherlands and the triumph of the Orangemen - ultra-Protestants politically oriented towards England - then France's relations with England and Holland would have developed completely unpredictably. Under these conditions, French diplomats, willy-nilly, had to secure small strategic goals. One of the options for France's foreign policy during the war was formulated by the same Comte d'Estrade: in a letter to Louis XIV dated January 1, 1665, he proposed adhering to a policy of neutrality for as long as possible, but if for one reason or another this turns out to be impossible, enter the war, additionally obliging the Dutch, firstly, to recognize and fully support the French king in the upcoming struggle for the rights of his wife to the Spanish Netherlands, and secondly, to give France the fortified and strategically located city of Maastricht, the possession of which allowed not only to control border between the Spanish Netherlands and the Republic of the United Provinces, but also to gain access to the very heart of the Dutch region along the most important river artery - the Meuse. If The Hague was dissatisfied, the ambassador proposed to put pressure on it by supporting the sluggishly smoldering dispute about the Julich-Cleves inheritance, in which the Dutch still participated: in d'Estrada's opinion, France should have stood up for one of the co-heirs - either the Count Palatine of Neuburg, who was seeking the realization of his claims to the Duchy of Jülich, or the Elector of Brandenburg, who laid claim to the Duchy of Cleves and, by right of the Duke of Cleves, also to the small county of Moers adjacent to Geldern, which belonged directly to the House of Orange; an alliance of France with either one or the other of these princes, d'Estrade believed, would force both the Estates General and the Orange opposition to be more accommodating.
Charles II Stuart, King of England
In April 1665, in order to maintain France's reputation as a peace mediator and delay its entry into the war as long as possible, the Dukes de Verneuil and de Courten left for London to negotiate with Charles II. However, despite the fact that the English king generally reacted favorably to their mission, it ended in a complete fiasco, since subsidies for the war had already been allocated, England was arming itself in full swing, and battles were in full swing at sea. The embassy of de Verneuil - de Courtenay, however, lasted a full eight months, which allowed Louis XIV to declare war on England only on January 26, 1666. On February 11, a Franco-Danish-Dutch treaty on mutual military and economic support was signed in The Hague: the Danish king promised to equip a fleet of forty ships to assist the Republic of the United Provinces. Immediately after France entered the war, the mission of peace mediation was entrusted to the French envoy to the Scandinavian states, the Marquis S.-A. de Pomponnou: one of the tasks of his embassy (winter - spring 1666), as before, was to attract Sweden to the Franco-Danish-Dutch alliance - if not as an active party, then at least in order to ensure its neutrality in relation to Denmark, whose participation in the war on the side of the Dutch (from December 1665), conditioned by the Danish-Dutch agreements of 1649 and 1653, as well as the treaty of 1663, was already marked by the blockade of the Baltic for English ships. De Pomponne's proposals in Stockholm boiled down to the creation of a bloc of maritime powers allied with France - Holland, Denmark and Sweden - by which England would be isolated from the maritime trade space in the North Sea and the Baltic and, for economic reasons, would not be able to fight for a long time. This time the Swedes succumbed to persuasion: however, observing allied obligations, they, as before, rejected Paris’s offer of military support, but gave an unofficial commitment not to attack Denmark and not to interfere in the Anglo-Dutch war. France was not completely satisfied, but did not continue the dialogue: Philip IV of Spain died on September 17, 1665, and Louis XIV was much more occupied with thoughts of annexing the Spanish Netherlands than with arranging alliances in favor of the Republic of the United Provinces.
Sailing ships. 17th century engraving
Active hostilities between the English and the Dutch took place from the beginning of May 1665: an English fleet of eighty (and according to other sources, eighty-eight) ships of the line and twenty-one fireships under the command of the Duke of York headed for the Dutch coast, so that, as in the previous campaign, block it, prevent superior enemy forces from dominating the Strait. Unfavorable weather forced the Duke to change plans and take the ships back to the south-eastern coast of England. This allowed the Dutch naval commander Wassenaar to concentrate the naval forces at his disposal into a powerful fist - ninety-seven (in other sources one hundred and three) ships, eleven fire ships, seven yachts and twelve rowing galliots, combined into seven squadrons - and, despite their insufficient training , move into enemy territorial waters: initially, apparently, it was intended to begin a blockade of the coast between the mouths of the Stour and Thames. However, on June 13, the Dutch met the Duke of York's fleet in sight of the port of Lowestoft and entered the battle. A desperate artillery duel ensued, confusing the center of Wassenaar's ship formation and forcing some of its captains into a disorderly retreat. Without allowing the enemy to come to his senses, the Duke of York quickly attacked the trembling enemy center; Lord Montagu's rearguard broke through the Dutch line, ensuring the approach and docking of fireships with enemy ships. The main blow of the enemy was taken by the Dutch flagships and several ships whose commanders had sufficient combat experience, while on other ships that were converted from merchant ships, the guns were not even brought into combat readiness. During a fierce defensive battle, the Dutch flagship Endracht was blown up, killing Wassenaar, Lieutenant Admiral Kortenaar and two other vice admirals; thirty-two Dutch ships were burned or captured, and the remnants of the fleet of the Republic of the United Provinces with great difficulty, under the leadership of lieutenant-admirals Cornelis van Tromp (1629-1691), who commanded the rearguard squadron, and Evertsen with the remnants of the vanguard, left the scene of the battle and retreated - one to the island Texel, the second - to the mouth of the Meuse.
Admiral Wassenaar
This heavy blow, however, did not break the Dutch: at the shipyards of the Republic of the United Provinces, damaged ships were repaired, and the construction of new ones, no less powerful than the English ones, and partially armed with heavy 42-pound guns, continued; Dutch naval commanders developed in depth linear tactics of naval combat, taking into account the lessons of their defeats. The successful arrival at the mouth of the river caused general rejoicing in the country. Ems of the Dutch merchant fleet from Norway (70 ships), which Admiral Reuter, returning from the West Indies, successfully navigated under the protection of his ships through the choppy waters of the North Sea; the squadron sent to intercept by Admiral Montagu managed to capture only a few ships that lagged behind the convoy (August 1665). An unexpected respite from the war was provided to the Dutch by a plague epidemic that broke out in the southern counties of England and undermined the enemy’s military preparations. The Hague diplomats closely followed the progress of the French-English negotiations in London. After France officially entered the war, Louis XIV declared that he would provide his ally with military support at sea, but it was not until April 1666 that a French auxiliary fleet of 40 ships and 12 fire ships, led by the Duke de Beaufort (1616-1669), sailed from port of Toulon and, having received a reinforcement of several ships in La Rochelle, headed for the English Channel to connect with Reuter's fleet.
Duke de Beaufort
Reuter went out to meet the Allies and waited for reinforcements, anchoring in the Pas-de-Calais, a few miles from Dunkirk. In order to eliminate the danger of the allies uniting and blockading the Strait, the court military council of Charles II decided to send a flotilla under the command of Prince Ruprecht of the Palatinate (1619-1682) to meet the French ships, which was to be joined along the way by ten ships coming from Plymouth. At the same time, it was ordered to attack Reuther with the forces remaining at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the English fleet, General J. Monk; they were significantly inferior to the Dutch: if Reuther had eighty-four battleships under his command, the British had only fifty-seven. Thus, at the decisive moment, the British forces were disunited, which might not have happened if London’s diplomats had turned out to be more knowledgeable or more perspicacious: the plans of the French naval commander did not at all include participation in hostilities; de Beaufort's campaign lasted for several months and without a single shot, allegedly due to a fierce storm, ended... in the French port of Dieppe, tens of miles from Dunkirk, in view of which, on June 11-14, 1666, the most famous and lengthy battle of the second Anglo took place. -Dutch War.
The course of the naval battle of Dunkirk is known to us in sufficient detail from the memoirs of the French military observer Comte de Guiche, who was on one of the Dutch ships. With a favorable south wind, Monk suddenly attacked the rearguard squadron, commanded by Tromp the Younger - he barely managed to cut the anchor ropes (chains were not yet in use), set the sails and, under hurricane fire, deploy the ships for a defensive battle. But the onslaught was too rapid, and only the decisive intervention of Reuter with the center squadron saved Tromp from defeat. During the fierce battle, the wind carried the ships of Tromp and Monck towards the Flanders banks, while Reuther managed to cut off the English rearguard squadron and inflict serious damage on it. The fierce battle between ship and ship raged until darkness, when Monk gave his captains the order to retreat. Monk's fleet, having restored, as far as possible, tactical order, retreated to the west: it was planned to join the flotilla of Prince Ruprecht, who at that time had already been recalled back, without waiting for his potential enemy. On the morning of June 12, the battle resumed with even greater pressure: the south wind increased, and Monk attacked the Dutch battle line, which was located on the leeward side. Without waiting for an order, Tromp the Younger, at the head of the rearguard squadron, eagerly rushed into a counterattack on the enemy center and thereby not only irreparably disrupted the formation of the Dutch fleet, but also, in an unfavorable wind, found himself virtually defenseless against the cannons of the entire enemy line. Reuther again had to help out his comrade-in-arms, sending part of the center's ships to help him. At the same time, the Dutch battle order was completely mixed up, the ships, according to an eyewitness, huddled together “like a flock of sheep,” many captains hastily left the battlefield, without waiting for the British to close the flanking squadrons around and begin boarding. At the same time, Monk, whose fleet, as already mentioned, was significantly inferior to the Dutch in number, and many ships were damaged, did not dare to undertake this maneuver and preferred to retreat to the morning positions, awaiting the approach of Prince Ruprecht. This gave Reuther the opportunity to restore his line of battle and take up defensive positions. Throughout the third day, Monk drifted in a wide front to the west, waiting for a connection with Prince Ruprecht (this took place in the evening of the same day); The English naval commander ordered to burn several of his most damaged and unstable ships so that their participation in the upcoming decisive battle would not affect its tactical development and so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy.
General Monck, later Duke of Albemarle
On June 14, the opponents met in a strong southwest wind; quantitatively their forces were now approximately the same: on each side there were up to sixty battleships; nevertheless, Monk, who took command of the combined English forces, had at his disposal twenty fresh, undamaged ships brought by Prince Ruprecht (in this battle he commanded the rearguard squadron); Moreover, the English ships generally had better equipment and more powerful weapons. The English vanguard was led by Sir J. Askew (?-1671), and the center was led by Monk. The Dutch fleet was led by Reuter; the center was commanded by van Nees; the rearguard was held by Tromp the Younger and Meppel, and the vanguard by Evertsen the Elder and de Vries. For some time, the opponents fought an artillery duel, sailing on parallel courses under small sails in a westerly direction. To take advantage of the windward side, Askew raised the sails, temporarily breaking away sharply from the center squadron; but van Nees rushed into the interval thus formed with one of the detachments of the center; his rapid onslaught disrupted the British formation. This maneuver served as a signal for the Dutch ships to approach the enemy: Tromp quickly attacked Prince Ruprecht, after a brutal short battle he scattered the British rearguard and went to their rear, planning to link up with van Nees. Since at this time the English center found itself cut off from its half-destroyed flanks, the third, decisive blow was delivered by Reuter himself, who was still with the main Dutch forces on the windward side: his squadron, after approaching, broke the British front and entered into close combat with Monk’s squadron. The Dutch fought with reckless courage: when equipping the ships, Reuther deliberately included in the crews former prisoners who had known the hell of English prisons, so that their stories would deter others from cowardly surrender, and personal hatred of the enemy would serve as a catalyst for victory. Faced with the threat of encirclement, Monk's forces and the remnants of Askew's and Prince Ruprecht's squadrons were forced to retreat. The four-day battle in the Strait cost the British twenty ships, of which nine became enemy prizes (versus seven for Reuter) and about eight thousand people killed, wounded and captured - losses four times higher than the Dutch!
Victory at the Battle of Dunkirk gave way for the Dutch to defeat in the third major battle of this war - at Cape Northforland, north of Dover. Jan de Witt insisted on speeding up the military initiative - and already at the end of July 1666, 72 battleships and 16 Ruiter frigates with 20 fireships, which had undergone repairs in Dutch ports, appeared near the coast of England, threatening to blockade the mouth of the Thames and landing troops (initially it was planned to participate in landing and French forces). On August 2, a fleet under the command of Monck and Prince Ruprecht set out to meet them from the Thames. His attack from the windward side on August 4 was unexpected: the Dutch sailors managed to weigh anchor too late, the vanguard, after the death of its commander, Lieutenant-Admiral Jan van Evertsen and other flagships, left the battlefield in disarray, and Tromp the Younger, having arbitrarily begun the pursuit of several enemy ships, completely mixed up the battle formation and almost fell under the crossfire of the English center and rearguard. Only Reuther, who masterfully ensured the retreat at dawn on August 5, managed to save his fleet from defeat and heavy losses. Appearing soon near the enemy shores, Monk destroyed more than one and a half hundred Dutch merchant ships with cargo worth twelve million guilders off the islands of Texel and Vlie and burned the coastal cities to the ground; his bloody August raid was interrupted by bad weather and the news that the French fleet had entered the Strait - the same one with which the Dutch had counted on joining two months earlier - and Monck took his ships into English waters, preparing for defense. Meanwhile, from Dieppe, de Beaufort's ships turned back to the port of Brest, without taking part in a single battle.
Admiral Tromp
It is significant that the French, who at one time demonstratively doubted the need to enter the war in connection with the Anglo-Dutch conflict in Africa and did not want to provide assistance to the Dutch in the Strait, where fierce battles were raging, nevertheless did not fail to take away several weakly defended islands in West Indies - Tobago, St. Eustace and St. Christopher, which the British had recently captured from Holland - and completely ruin the English colonies of Antigua and Montferrat.
To be continued.
Anglo-Dutch wars 1652 - 1674
Anglo-Dutch wars 1652-1674 fought for supremacy at sea. Their reason was the publication by the English Parliament in 1651 of the “Navigation Act”, according to which foreign goods could be imported into England only on English ships. Thus, Dutch intermediary maritime trade was undermined.
The Anglo-Dutch War began in 1665. On June 11-14, 1666, the British were defeated in a naval battle in the Pas-de-Calais Strait. After this, on July 19, the fleet of the Dutch admiral de Ruyter broke through to the mouth of the Thames and blocked it, destroying several enemy ships and warehouses.
The Dutch had 85 ships and 18 fire ships (a fire ship is a ship loaded with flammable and explosive materials, which was set on fire and launched into the wind or downstream at enemy ships). On August 1, the English fleet, which had one more fireship, left the mouth of the Thames. De Ruyter decided to meet him near the island of Northforeland. On the morning of August 4, the English vanguard attacked the enemy vanguard. Due to weak winds, the main forces of the Dutch fleet were unable to engage in battle. All three Dutch admirals commanding the vanguard were killed. The Dutch vanguard fled. But de Ruyter with the main forces withstood the attack of the enemy fleet, despite the fact that the vanguard ships, freed after pursuit, also joined the main part of the English fleet.
Meanwhile, the English rearguard pinned down the Dutch rearguard, commanded by Admiral Cornelius Tromp. When Tromp was able to move to the aid of his main forces, they were already retreating to the Dutch coast and by the evening of August 5 they reached the port of Wielingen. Tromp's squadron arrived there the next day. The Dutch fleet lost 10 ships. 2 thousand Dutch died, and another thousand were captured. The British lost 4 ships and 1.5 thousand killed and captured.
Peace was signed in 1667. The Dutch lost their colonies in North America, but achieved the repeal of some articles of the Navigation Act.
In the new Anglo-Dutch War, England's allies were France, Sweden and some German principalities. Holland's allies were Spain, the German Empire, Denmark, Brandenburg and a number of other German principalities. In March 1672, the English fleet attacked Dutch merchant ships. In April, the French army invaded Holland and approached Amsterdam. However, the Dutch opened the floodgates and, by flooding part of the territory, stopped the enemy's advance.
The Dutch fleet failed to prevent the connection of the squadrons of England and France. On August 21, 1673, the battle took place near the island of Texel. The English fleet consisted of 65 ships, the French - 30, and the Dutch - 70. The Dutch vanguard managed to break through the ranks of the French squadron, which was temporarily withdrawn from the battle. The Dutch rearguard of Admiral Tromp began a battle with the English rearguard of Admiral Spragge. As a result, the main forces of the British Admiral Rupert, numbering 30 ships, were forced to fight against the main forces and vanguard of the enemy, which numbered 40 ships.
Ruyter managed to encircle 20 British ships, but Rupert broke out of the encirclement and went to the aid of his rearguard. Now 65 English ships faced 70 Dutch ones. The battle ended with the onset of darkness. 2 English ships sank and 7 burned. The Dutch fleet had no losses in ships. The outcome of the battle was affected by poor British shooting. As a result, the Dutch rearguard had no casualties at all, not even wounded. And there were few casualties among the main forces. Soon after the battle, de Ruyter freely led a caravan of ships from the East Indies to the Dutch ports.
After defeat at the Battle of Texel, England dissolved its alliance with France and made peace with Holland in 1674. As a result of the Anglo-Dutch wars, Holland managed to defend its status as a leading maritime power and maintain reliable connections with its overseas colonies. However, the further strengthening of the English navy and its accelerated industrial development forced the Dutch to abandon competition with it by the beginning of the 18th century.
Anglo-Dutch wars
— wars between England (from 1707 Great Britain) and the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (Holland) in 1652-1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674, 1780–1784. The conflicts were based on the desire of powers to dominate maritime trade routes and competition in colonial expansion. In the first half of the 17th century. The United Provinces became one of the leading maritime powers of the Old World. Owning numerous trading posts on the Spice Islands (Indonesia) and displacing the Portuguese and British from there, the Dutch became the monopoly supplier of spices to Europe. English traders constantly faced Dutch competition also in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas, off the coasts of Africa and America. The British were especially irritated by the Dutch trade hegemony in the Baltic and North Sea, where the Dutch controlled the trade in grain and ship timber.
Despite economic contradictions, Protestant Holland during the English Revolution of the 18th century. was perceived by supporters of the English parliament as a natural ally in the fight against monarchical tyranny and the papal Counter-Reformation. In April 1649, the English Republic proposed an alliance with the United Provinces. The Dutch Republicans, who represented the richest provinces in the Estates General, greeted this proposal favorably, but the Orangemen were supporters of the Stadthouder William II of Orange, a relative of the executed Charles I, opposed. William II provided patronage to the English royalists even after they killed the English envoy I. Dorislaus in his own chambers. Relations between the two republics deteriorated. On 10/09/1651, the English Parliament adopted the Navigation Act, which allowed the import of goods into England and its colonies only on domestic ships and on ships of manufacturing countries. This seriously affected the interests of Holland, which received significant income from intermediary trade and the charter of its merchant ships, and now it initiated new negotiations on concluding a military alliance, during which the parties agreed on almost all the points of the future agreement. At the same time, Dutch corsairs, operating from French ports, continued to attack on behalf of Charles II to English ships.
07/09/1652 England declared war on the United Provinces, accusing them of implementing the “Orange plan” to overthrow the English Republic and restore[. In June 1652, Blake attacked a flotilla of Dutch fishermen and their accompanying military convoy off the Orkney Islands. 07/02/1652 in the English Channel, the English squadron of Askew attacked a large trade caravan: 6 ships were captured, 3 were burned, 26 ran aground and only 7 reached the Dutch shores. In mid-August 1652, Askew's squadron attacked a Dutch trade caravan from the West Indies and the warships of Admiral M. A. Ruiter guarding it, but the attack was repulsed with considerable damage to the British. 10/28/1652 Blake, near Kent, defeated the Dutch fleet under the command of K. de Witt and Ruyter. After part of Blake's squadron was sent to the Mediterranean Sea, M. Tromp defeated Blake on 12/10/1652. In March 1653, the Dutch defeated the British off the coast of Italy. However, having assembled a fleet of 80 ships in the English Channel under the command of Blake and J. Monk, the British seized the initiative. 02/18–03/02/1653 near Portland they significantly battered Tromp and Ruyter, capturing more than 10 merchant ships from the caravan they were guarding. In June 1653 Blake defeated Tromp and C. de Witt off the Suffolk coast. In the summer of 1653, Monk blocked the Dutch ports from the sea. In August 1653, the Dutch fleet tried to break the blockade at Scheveningen, but was defeated. Tromp died in battle. This defeat strengthened the position of the Republicans led by J. de Witt, who managed to agree with O. Cromwell acceptable peace terms. At the Peace of Westminster 1654, the United Provinces recognized the articles of the Navigation Act of 1651 and pledged to limit the power of the House of Orange.
A.-g. V. 1665–1667 began with the seizure by the British of the trading posts and colonies of Holland in the West. Africa and North America. After the Dutch regained what they had lost by force, England declared war (March 1665). At the Battle of Lowestoft (June 1665), the British destroyed 17 enemy ships, but the Dutch managed to save the bulk of the fleet. In August 1665, the British tried to capture a caravan of the Dutch East India Company with spices in the Danish port of Bergen, but their attack was repelled by the fire of coastal batteries. In 1666, France (January) and Denmark (February) entered the war on the side of the United Provinces. At the end of May - beginning of June 1666, the Dutch squadron under the command of Ruyter and K. Tromp won a four-day battle in the English Channel, destroying 20 English ships. However, in August 1666, the English admiral R. Holmes made a successful raid on Terschelling Island, where he burned about 130 Dutch ships with goods. In 1667, due to financial difficulties, the English fleet was unable to go to sea, which Ruyter took advantage of: in February, he led his squadron up the Thames to the Chatham shipyard, where he burned many enemy ships. After this, the British asked for peace, which was signed in Breda on July 31, 1667. The United provinces received the right to import German goods to England, regained Suriname, which they had previously lost, but were forced to abandon their North American colony of New Amsterdam.
A.-g. V. 1672–1674 England led a coalition with France. In 1668, England, the United Provinces and Sweden concluded the anti-French Triple Alliance, but behind the backs of the allies, Charles II signed a secret treaty with France, pledging to support it at sea against Holland. In 1672, England (March 28) and France (April 6) declared war on the Republic of the United Provinces. On land the French were successful, but at sea the Dutch were successful. Admiral Ruiter's squadron defeated the Anglo-French fleet at Solebey (June 1672), Schoneveld (June 1673) and Texel (July 1673). The unsuccessful course of military operations and the growth of opposition sentiments within the country forced Charles II to conclude a separate Peace of Westminster on February 19, 1674, which repeated the conditions of the Peace of Breda in 1667.
The reason for A.-g. V. 1780–1784 became the position of Holland during the War of Independence of England's North American Colonies. Dutch shipowners and merchants, taking advantage of the neutral position of their country, supplied weapons and ammunition to the rebel Americans. After the English fleet received orders to detain all Dutch ships heading to America, confiscate their cargo and detain their crews, the United Provinces joined the League of Neutral Powers. 12/31/1780 Great Britain declared war on Holland - 08/05/1781 the Dutch squadron in the North Sea defeated the English fleet, but some time later it managed to completely block the Dutch ports from the sea. In February 1781, the British captured the island of St. Eustatius, through which the main Dutch supplies to the North passed. America, and then almost all Dutch trading posts in Africa. The war ended with the signing of the Peace of Paris of 1784, according to which Great Britain received Negapatam in India and the right to freely trade in Indonesia.
Shatokhina-Mordvintseva G. A. Foreign policy of the Netherlands. 1713-1763. M., 1998; Hainsworth R. and Churches Ch. The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652–1674. Stroud, 1998; Pincus S.C.A. Protestantism and Patriotism; Ideologies and the Making of the English Foreign Policy, 1650–1658. Cambridge, 1994; Wilson C. Profit and Power: A Study of England and Dutch Wars. L., 1957. S. V. Kondratiev.
Anglo-Dutch Wars
ANGLO-DUTCH WARS. England and Holland, which ousted Spanish maritime trade from distant seas (see. Anglo-Spanish wars), inevitably had to come to a collision due to competition in this trade. Because the Dutch took into their hands the lion's share of shipping not only from their possessions, but also from all others, October 9, 1651 English. parliament issued the famous Navigation Act , which terribly limited Dutch trade. This led to war in 1652. The opposing fleets varied slightly in strength. The Dutch had more warships, but the English. some were armed with heavier artillery. Both sides resorted to strengthening the military. fleet armed commercial vehicles. k-lyami. Disadvantage Gold. consisted in the enormous size of its commercial fleet, which required protection and made it possible to capture many rich prizes, while the Dutch had this opportunity in the same way. to a lesser extent. In addition, the geographical position of A. was very advantageous, since all the sea routes to G. went past the English. shore. Therefore, G., as relatively weaker at sea, took a defensive position from the very beginning of the war, while A. immediately began to act offensively. In the spring of 1652 in London between the English. The government and the Dutch ambassadors were still negotiating, but war was already inevitable, since the reason (competition in trade) was irremovable, and the pretext was not difficult to find. In English In the canal off Dover, a Dutch cruiser was cruising. es-ra from 42 kr-lei under the beginning. adm. Tromp, whose task was to protect merchant ships returning to G. in case of an attack on them by the British. English had only two small detachments at sea - 9 cruise missiles. under the beginning Burna in the Downs, an outer roadstead of the port of Deal (Downs, Deal), and 8 crbl. under the beginning Black in Rye. Rest English fleet, approx. 60 krbl., was still in the Thames. In addition, adm. Ayscue with several ships was in the West Indies. On the 29th May Tromp appeared before Dover, where he anchored and explained that he was forced to approach the English. shores due to unfavorable winds. Bourne demanded the removal of the Dutch, and upon his notice, Ri Black came up from Rea. One of the demands presented by A. to G. during the negotiations was the recognition of English. fleet is the master of the seas washing A., as a sign of which the Dutch cliques, when meeting with the English. should have been the first to salute them by lowering the flag. Now Black, walking with his captain past Tromp's captain, fired three warning shots, demanding a salute. Tromp responded with fire from the entire side. A general battle ensued, in which the British, despite more than double their superiority in numbers, took two ships from them. Darkness separated the opponents. This skirmish served as a pretext for the start of the war. actions. The British plan was entirely based on an attack on Dutch industry and trade. On July 7, Black with 39 military personnel. krbl., 2 fire ships and 18 weapons. commercial ships left the Thames to the village. with the order to destroy the Dutch fishing fleet near the north-east. coast of Scotland (the question of fishing rights was also one of the reasons for the war), and then intercept those commercial gold. ships that will choose a route around Scotland. Askew, who at that time returned from East India, received orders to move from Plymouth to the Downs to protect the approaches to the Thames, where he arrived on the 80th of June, and the strength of his squadron was increased to 14 ships, half of them armed. merchants Upon strengthening his squadron with ships armed in the Thames, he must. was to go into the channel again to intercept the goal. merchant ships. Tromp's position was excellent. The enemy scattered his forces in pursuit of the second place. goals, and he had 32 military. krbl., 6 brand. and 54 voor. merchant In addition, from the ambassadors returning from London after the termination of negotiations, he learned about the weak composition of the Esq. Askew. He could smash the enemy piece by piece. However, the attempt to attack Eskew failed, because he stood very close to the shore, under the protection of strong shores. fortifications, and the direction of the wind was not favorable to the attack. Therefore, Tromp chased after Black, who at that time managed to disperse the fishing fleet, taking about 100 of its ships and all 13 small ones. their frigates that guarded it, and had already moved to Scotland. about you to complete your second task. Here Tromp overtook him on August 5, but it didn’t come to a battle, because a fierce storm blew out from the NW, and the English. The fleet managed to take refuge under the shore, and the Dutch fleet suffered terribly. Tromp returned to G. with only 39 ships, the rest either sank, or were damaged and scattered, and returned alone only in September. Tromp was replaced. Witte-de-Witt took his place, and the famous Ruyter was appointed as his assistant. Only on July 28th was war officially declared. Both sides continued to adhere to the same course of action - attacking trade on the part of the British and protecting it on the part of the Dutch. Especially for English. the pursuit of this second growth. the goal was wrong, because their squadrons, although inferior in number to the Dutch ones, were stronger and included much more real warships. This gave the English a great advantage in battle, which was demonstrated in the skirmish before Dover on May 29th. Askew with 52 military. At that time the ships moved to Plymouth, and Black was at V. coast of England. 21st Aug. Ruyter from the 30th century. court., went to sea, with the task of leading through the English. channel to sea caravan of 60 commercial vehicles ships About 20 of these ships were armed and could strengthen Ruyter's squadron. Aug 26 Askew near Plymouth blocked his path and a battle took place (see. Plymouth Battle.), the consequence of which was Askew's retreat to Plymouth. Having led the caravan into the sea, Ruyter wanted to attack Askew in Plymouth, but the wind prevented this. Ruyter cruised until the end of September. in the z. parts of English channel, providing the so-called freedom of movement of commerce ships, but when he received news that Black had gone to sea from the main. by English forces fleet, he retreated to the goal. shores, and 2 Oct. between Dunkirchen and Newport connected with de Witt. Black did not have time to prevent this connection. De-Witt had 64 krb., and Black - 68. The meeting took place on Oct. 8. not far from Newport, near the Kentish Knock shoal, where the British gained the upper hand (see. Newport Battle.); but, although they received reinforcements from 16 cruise missiles the night after the battle. from Askew's squadron, they did not dare to pursue DeWitt, fearing small goals. shore. In the calculation that the defeated goal. The fleet will not be able to go to sea soon, but they have scattered their forces again. 18 crb. was sent to the Sound because misunderstandings arose with Denmark, which was helping Holland by escorting its trade. ships; 12 crbl. were in Plymouth, 20 corb. escorted the trade. ships, many ships were repaired in the Thames, and Black himself was in the Downs with only 37 ships. Meanwhile, the Dutch worked energetically to restore the fleet and by December they had assembled a fleet. out of 73 ships, most of which were armed. bargain. k-li. Due to de Witt's illness, command of the fleet was returned to Tromp. Tromp was given the task of leading through England. canal to the ocean caravan of 300 rooms ships and conduct in G. those gathered near the island of Re trades. anyone returning from the colony. Because the British captured a lot of single trades in the canal. ships, the latter were ordered to gather in caravans, which were supposed to be escorted by strong squadrons. Having learned about the division of English. naval forces, Tromp left the caravan at the goal. shore, headed towards Downes and suddenly appeared in front of Black on December 9th. Black could not remain at anchor, because he did not bother, as Askew did in July, with the construction of the shore. batteries, and a contrary wind prevented him from retreating into the Thames. Forced to accept battle, Black was defeated on December 10th (see. Battle of Dover.), and Tromp freely led his caravan into the ocean and for several weeks owned the waters of England. channel. The Anglos energetically began assembling their ships and arming new ones, and in mid-February Black and 70 ships. was ready to go to sea. His task was not to allow Tromp to lead the caravan away from Fr. Re. Tromp had 80 weaker. ships and he was greatly constrained by a coravan of 250 trades. glue. 28 Feb. 1653 Opponents met at Portland. The battle lasted 3 days (see. Portlandsk.battle .). The gols lost 12 k-lei and about 39 trades. court, and English is not only one class. But still, Tromp managed to achieve his goal and bring his caravan to G., including the strategic one. success was on the side of the loaches. Military operations also took place in Mediterranean. sea. Since 1650, the English did not have an escrow there to protect the auctions. ships from pirates. In 1652, this squadron consisted of only 6 military personnel. k-ley and 2 voor. com. ships, while the Goltsy had there, although much weaker, about 30 ships. One of the English detachments was blocked by the Dutch in Livorno, and another, after a fierce battle, managed to break through to the island. Elba, where he was also blocked. Defeat of the English under Dover responded to the state of affairs in the Mediterranean. sea. Hertz. Tuscany, under pressure from the Dutch, demanded the exit of the English. detachments from Livorno and about. Elbe. On March 14, Badilei, who was on the Elbe, which was much stronger than the Dutch, came out with the goal of diverting the enemy’s attention and giving the weaker Appleton the opportunity to leave Livorno. The loaches succumbed to this bait and went after Badilei, but Appleton came out too early, and the loaches managed to attack him with all their might. A hot battle took place, in which almost the entire Appleton detachment was destroyed, and Badilei was not pursued by the Germans. In May, Badilei received orders to leave Srediz. the sea, which they did not consider impossible to keep behind them. - After the Battle of Portland, the opponents began anew. weapons and military buildings. ships, because previous battles showed the weakness of ships converted from merchant ships. Golldsk. The government banned its subjects from fishing off the coast of Greenland in order to facilitate the recruitment of crews and free the fleet from the need to protect fishermen. Tromp rightly insisted on abandoning the protection of trade, meaning to direct all efforts to break the sea power of the English. However, at the beginning of May 1653, despite the fact that the new ships were not yet ready, Gol. The government demanded that Tromp bring 200 trades into the ocean around Scotland. ships going to Spain and France, and brought those gathered to the village. Scotland trade. the ship was returning to G. It was very risky, but, fortunately for the Golts, it was successful. English fleet under the beginning Monk and Dina received the news about this and approached the Dutchman. shores to capture the caravan, and on May 15th I was only a few miles from Tromp, but due to the fog I did not see it. It was also by chance that they did not meet him when he was walking back at the end of May, they stayed near the Dutch. shore. Upon his return, Tromp gathered all his forces and with 98 ships. and 6 brands. went out to sea from unity. The task is to find English. fleet and give him a general. battle. The British, whose forces consisted of 100 ships, also strived for this. and 5 brands, and again their ships were larger, more powerfully armed, and their fleet included a smaller number of weapons. merchant ships The opponents met on June 12th at S. Foreland. The battle lasted two days, Tromp was defeated (see. Newport Battle.), and his fleet took refuge in Texel and Willingen. English The fleet suffered so little and was so well supplied that it did not return to its bases, but blocked Holland. coast, occupying the main forces a position between Texel and Willingen. That's right now Dutch. Morsk. trade and fishing stopped completely and G. suffered huge losses. With rare energy the Dutch repaired their ships. and armed new ships. 3rd Aug. Tromp left Villingen with 90 troops and 5 brands. His task was to connect with Esq. de Witt, who was in Texel with 27 ships. and 4 brands, which he succeeded on August 9. meaning English fleet. 10th Aug. A decisive battle took place near Scheveningen, in which Gld. The fleet was again defeated, and Tromp was killed (see. Scheveningen battle 1.). English were also so damaged that they were forced to return to their shores, and the Dutch. Morsk. trade could continue; military The enemy fleets were so weakened that they were not able to begin any serious operations this year. On April 15, 1654, the Peace of Westminster was concluded, according to which Germany was forced to recognize the Navigation Act. This war is characterized by the fact that both fleets, starting with the pursuit of secondary goals - attacking trade and its defense - were led by the force of things to concentrate forces to fight for possession of the sea, i.e. to the right strategy.
War of 1665-67 G. could not come to terms with the constraints for her navy. trade; Having restored her fleet and finances, she decided to make an attempt to regain what was lost in the previous war. A., for her part, believed that she had not achieved all her goals in this war, and most importantly, G. continued to remain the most dangerous competitor in trade. Therefore, A., in which Cor. now reigned. Charles II, who also had a personal hatred of G., also strove for war. Pretexts were easily found in the constant violence that trading companies inflicted on each other in the colonies. Louis XIV, whose cherished dream was to establish himself in the Netherlands in place of the ousted and increasingly weakening Spain, played a double game. He pushed G. into war in order to weaken her, promised her support, and in 1666 entered into a formal alliance with her, but never provided any help. Already in 1663 they began to equip an extensive expedition to capture Holland. colonies in the West. Africa and North. America. In Jan. 1664 English adm. Holmes with 22 krbl. appeared off the coast of Gold. possessions in Africa and took possession of Fr. Goree and many points on the Gold Coast. Then he moved to America, in August he took possession of New Netherlands and renamed the main city. city of this province from New. Amsterdam to New York in honor of the Duke of York, chief. head of English fleet and inspirer of the expedition. To Gldsk's complaints. Prospect, A. stated that this expedition was private (meaning, some of its ships belonged to the state), promised to investigate the matter, and she energetically continued the armament. Then an order was given to Ruyter, who was with Esq. in Mediterranean. sea, for operations against pirates, to take by force what Holmes took and attack the English. merchant ships, but only outside European waters Visible peace continued in the European possessions of the enemy. Ruyter took to Spanish. ports for a year of provisions and at the end of October. appeared at the Gold Coast, again took possession of all points and Fr. Good grief, I grabbed some more. points that belonged to the British, and in February. 1665 with 12 krbl. headed to East India, then to New Foundland, taking rich prizes everywhere. A. responded with violence and europe. waters 29 Dec 1664 English adm. Allin attacked Gibraltar. strait on the caravan of gold. bargain. ships sailing from Smyrna with a convoy of a military detachment. ship under the beginning adm. Van Brakel, and the latter was killed in battle. 24 Jan 1665 G. declared war on A. In Jan. 1666 France and Denmark joined the first. Taught by the experience of the previous war, in which the protection of trade means. to the extent that the military was weakened. fleets and hampered their operations, the Dutch issued a decree prohibiting all maritime trade and fishing during the war in order to concentrate all forces to fight the English. military fleet. The enemy fleets were almost identical in number (about 100 cruise ships on each side, except fireships), but now they consisted almost exclusively. from warships, and goal. the ships were no longer inferior to the British either in size or artillery. Because war was declared in winter, when in the North. sea swim for ship the construction of that time was dangerous, then the military. Actions began only in the spring, especially since earlier the fleets had not yet been prepared to go to sea. Gold. the fleet was located at two points - in the Meuse and Texel. Therefore hertz. York, who commanded the English. fleet, went to sea on May 1st and headed towards goal. Be careful to prevent the connection of the goal. squadrons, and also intercept those returning from the North. America Ruyter. But, afraid of being late, English. the fleet set out without sufficient supplies; three weeks later, having also weathered a fierce storm, he had to return back. Now (May 22) May squadron, under command. adm. Evertsen, moved to Texel. A few days later the main goal. fleet adm. Wassenaar went to sea in search of English. the fleet, which at that time was loading battles in Harwich. supplies and provisions. Having received information about the release of the goal. fleet and considering Garvich, surrounded by shoals, inconvenient for battle, Hertz. York crossed on June 11th with a fleet and transports to Solebay (Solebay or Southwoldbay). On the same day, a goal appeared in sight of Solebey. fleet, and therefore, hastily loaded, hertz. York went out to sea. Due to the lack of wind, the fleets did not enter into battle until the 13th of June at Lowestoft. The Glaciers were defeated (and the chief adm. Wassenaar also died, see. Battle of Lowestoft .) and retreated with heavy losses to Texel. The British pursued sluggishly and soon returned to their ports. Returning from East India, Ruyter went around A. from the north and entered Statland (Norway). Then he learned about the result of the battle. at Lowestoft and therefore carefully made his way along the banks of Norway and Denmark at the mouth of the river. Emsa, where he anchored on August 6. Meanwhile, English fleet, under the beginning Earl of Sandwich, in search of Ruyter, went to Scotland on July 15th. shores, but instead of waiting for him here, he soon moved to the village. to Dutch oh-you, having dispatched the adm. Tiddimana with 14 krbl. to Bergen, where, according to rumors, a detachment of Dutch ships was located. O.-India company. This turned out to be true, but goal. the detachment brilliantly fought off Tiddiman. Upon his return, Ruyter was appointed chief and went to sea with 93 cruise missiles. and 11 firebrands to carry out the trade that was gathering there from Bergen. ships returning from distant countries He walked along the. coast of A. to 58 ° N. lat. and here, on August 25, I learned about the division of the Sandwich fleet and the appearance of the English off the coast of Norway. Fearing for Bergen, Ruyter headed there, but no longer found Tiddiman there. On the way back, Ruyter and his caravan were caught in a terrible situation. a storm that scattered his ships. 13 Sep. he ended up at the Dogger Bank with only 36 rubles. At this time, Sandwich was returning from the north and 8 soldiers fell into his hands, one by one. krbl., 2 brand. and 2 crbl. ost. ind. comp. Both fleets were forced to return to their ports to repair the damage caused by the storm. At this time, the plague broke out in A. and due to difficulties in manning the ships of the English. the fleet no longer went to sea. Having learned that English ships are scattered in different places. ports, Ruyter in mid-Oct. went to English shores. He walked around Harwich, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Solebey and the Downs, but the English. They managed to hide all their ships in the Thames. Then Ruyter blocked the Thames, but on November 1, due to illnesses that developed in the fleet, he was forced to return to Gia, leaving a detachment of 18 cruise ships to blockade the Thames, which was subsequently reinforced by 16 cruise ships and stayed at sea until February. This means. the sea was constrained. English trade and a lot of their bargaining. the ships fell into the hands of the loaches. So. arr., due to the fact that the victory at Lowestoft was not used by the British, goal. The fleet caused serious harm to the English. trade, had the opportunity to strengthen himself and practice his crews through long cruising at sea. By the spring of 1666, G. had produced 84 krbl. According to the agreement, Denmark was supposed to put up 40 rubles; however, although her fleet was prepared to go to sea, it never moved and did not take part in the war. The hope for help from France turned out to be just as ephemeral: its fleet of 40 cruise ships left in January. 1666 from Toulon, but only towards the end of August. he reached La Rochelle, and in September he was in Dieppe, after which he returned to Brest. English produced 80 krbl. and, consequently, they were only able to fight with one goal. fleet June 5th goal. The fleet, which was preparing in different ports, concentrated, and on June 10th Ruyter headed for the Downs, where, according to his information, the English were located. fleet English forces were divided, because Charles II received false news that the French. The fleet has already approached the entrance to England. channel and is located on the path of connection with the goal. fleet; therefore, Charles II ordered a detachment of 20 squadrons to be sent to meet him, which could be joined by another 10 squadrons in Plymouth; the detachment separated from the fleet on June 8 or 10. This was a gross strategic mistake, since the English, who occupied a favorable central position. position, instead of beating the opponents in parts, they separated into parts themselves, and both of these parts were weaker than the opponents approaching them from opposite sides. On June 10, Monk (Earl of Albemarle), who commanded the English. fleet, left the Downs with 58 ships. towards Ruyter. On June 11, the fleets met at Dunkirchen and fought a stubborn battle for 4 days (see. four-day battle 1.), what does English have to do with it? retreated to the west to join up with the squadrons. Prince Rupert, who separated against the French. Despite the fact that by the end of the third day they succeeded, they were still completely defeated, but also the Dutch. the fleet was so damaged that it was forced to return to Willingen. Thanks to Ruyter's energy, a goal. The fleet went to sea again on June 6, consisting of 75 cruise ships. and transports, which carried about 7,000 dry. troops, it was supposed to land in English. shore, as numerous Englishmen insisted on. emigrants - republicans who were in Greece after the restoration of royal power in Africa. Low winds made it possible for Ruyter to approach the mouth of the Thames only on July 13th. English The fleet was not yet completely ready to leave, but the approaches to its anchorages in the Thames and Harwich were heavily fortified. It was necessary to abandon the landing force, which was sent back, and limit ourselves to the blockade of the Thames. 1st Aug. English The fleet began to leave, and then Ruyter retreated into the open sea so as not to fight between the shoals. 4th Aug. The opponents clashed near Nordforeland, and in a two-day battle the Goals were defeated (see. Northforeland Battle .), and Ruiter had to take refuge in Willingen. The English took advantage of this. and equipped an expedition of shallow ships for a raid on the islands of Vli and Schelling, near which there were about 150 goals. bargain. ships and where the ship shops were located. reserves belonging to both the government and the East India Company. All this is adm. Holmes, who commanded the expedition, was put on fire; The Dutch suffered a loss of about 12 million guilders, after which Holmes's detachment joined the main forces located in Harwich. 5 Sep. Ruyter came out with 79 rubles. and 27 brand, having orders to connect with the French. squadron. Having received news of Ruyter's exit, the English also left. from Garvich (about 100 rubles). For 10 days the fleets maneuvered to England. channel, sometimes coming into sight of each other, but both opponents avoided battle. From the side Ruiter understands this, because English. were stronger and his task was to unite with the French. English it was more profitable to enter into battle before this formation, and the only reason for their avoidance of battle was the condition of their ships. Not expecting such a quick exit from Ruyter, they considered this year’s campaign over and did not begin serious repairs and supplies of their fleet after Nordforelandsk. battle. In addition, the weather was fresh all the time, inconvenient for battle. 16th Sep. English entered Portsmouth, taking a central position between Ruyter and Hertz. Beaufort (French fleet). Ruyter continued to hold out in front of Boulogne, and rejected the French proposal to join forces at Brest. 18th Sep. he received an order to return to G., because there they had lost hope of joining the French, but this order was immediately canceled, because news was received of a huge fire in London (Sept. 12-16), which destroyed almost the whole City. Since in A. there was already a strong current in favor of peace, in G. they hoped that the national disaster would strengthen this trend, and the presence of the Dutch would also contribute to this. fleet in English channel. Therefore, Ruyter advanced to the west, all the while enduring severe storms. 28 Sep. he received a message from Beaufort that he was in Dieppe, waiting for the Dutchman there. fleet 24 hours, but what is further to the east, in view of the position of the English. fleet, he could not go, and returned to Brest. In Dutch Meanwhile, the squadron developed illnesses and moved to the east. Oct 3 Ruiter himself fell ill and had to leave the fleet. In mid-Oct. Peace negotiations began, and in May 1667 In Breda, representatives gathered to work out peace terms. The negotiations dragged on, and Louis XIV, who was planning an attack on Flanders just this year, opposed peaceful trends so that G.’s attention would continue to be distracted by the war with A. Therefore, G. decided to force A. to peace with energetic actions at sea and armed her fleet . Meanwhile, Charles II, who spent a huge amount of money. funds for his personal purposes and in need of money, in the hope of peace, he did not start arming the fleet, deciding, in the event of a renewal of the war. actions, limit ourselves to operations to pursue trade (cruising operations). As a result, on June 17, Ruyter appeared at the mouth of the Thames with 84 cruises, 15 brands. and a landing force at 17.416 hours, ravaged Sheerness and Chatham, burning ships and supplies there (see. Thames 1), after which he blocked all the south-east. coast of A. On July 21, a peace was concluded in Breda, according to which G. achieved some relief in Navigation. Act (permission to transport German goods on Dutch ships), but New Netherlands remained with A., in return for which G. received English. colony of Suriname.
War of 1672-74 A. remained dissatisfied with the terms of the peace - Ruyter’s raid on the Thames was difficult to forget - and therefore Louis XIV, who benefited from the mutual weakening of A. and G., managed to induce Charles II to a new war, and he entered into an alliance with him. Having found fault with minor pretexts (misunderstandings in fireworks), A. moved on to challenging demands, and in March 1672 the English. squadron (Adm. Holmes) attacked England. channel to the caravan goal. bargain. ships returning from Smyrna, and entered into battle with the detachment escorting them. On March 29, she announced that from April 7. will start in. actions, and on this day Germany and France declared war. This war was not purely maritime for G., like both previous ones, but she also had to defend herself from the dry route against the French invasion. armies. The Allies' plan was to invade Germany from land and sea, for which the united fleet was to receive ground forces. Ruiter sought to force the English into battle before the French joined, and on May 12, as soon as 40 cruise missiles were ready, he left, hoping to catch the English. the fleet is still in the ports, unready; but, coming to English. shores, he received information about the connection of the Allied fleets at about. White. More and more reinforcements approached Ruiter, and, following the orders of the Dutch. government, he decided, covering the mouth of the Thames with the entire fleet, to send an expedition of 39 light ships up the river. But English the fleet had already left, the approaches to the harbors were protected, and success Gol. the expedition had no Ruyter decided on this dangerous operation because the wind was blowing from the east. winds that delayed the allies in England. channel; having received information about the approaching union. fleet, Ruyter retreated to the shores of G. Plan gldts. was to keep behind the shallows near your shore, attack the allies when they begin to land, and at the same time take advantage of every advantage. an opportunity for an attack. On May 29, the allied fleet appeared, but, after holding out in sight for 2 days, it went to Solebey for provisions and water. Ruyter immediately advanced to Nordforeland, and, having learned from scouts that the allies were in disorder at Solebey, he headed there and suddenly attacked them on June 7th. The allied fleet was commanded by Hertz. York, French squadron of Comte d'Estrées. Despite the superiority in strength of the Allies (large capital ships: 57 British and 30 French against 75 billion), after a stubborn battle (see. Solobeyskoe battle 1.) Ruyter gained the upper hand, but his losses were also significant. damaged, and he retreated to Willingen. The consequence of the English defeat was a delay in the planned landing. But on the dry route, the French achieved a number of successes, as a result of which internal affairs took place in G-ii. unrest and change of government. Prince William of Orange was proclaimed Stadtholder. This was reflected in the fleet by the lack of means for correction and fighting. supplies and people needed for the army. Ruiter had only 47 crbl., 12 freg. and 20 firebrands, and then poorly supplied, with which he decided to hold on to the shallows until the allies began the landing itself. Only at the beginning of July the union. A fleet of 90 ships, on which the troops were embarked, approached Holland. shores, but, despite the good weather, the allies did not dare to land for a long time, fearing Ruyter, who was holding on their flank behind the shoals; after July 21st, prolonged storms blew in, which so damaged the allies. fleet that he was forced to return to A., and on September 28. French the squadron left for France. In winter, the loaches strengthened the entrances to the rivers and the interior. bays, and Ruyter was preparing for the earliest possible exit to the sea in order to prevent the connection of the allied squadrons. To do this, he intended to block the mouth of the Thames, where the English were preparing. fleet, ships with stones and at this time fall on the French. fleet On May 10, 1673, Ruyter was already at the Thames, but at first the barrage operation was hampered by bad weather, and then the English appeared. fleet, and the Golds had to return. The coastal defense plan was the same as the previous year. Ruyter's fleet, brought to 52 cruise missiles. and 12 freg., took a position beyond the Schuneveld shoals. At the end of May, the allies united (English: 54 cruise missiles, 8 fregs and 24 brands, French 27 cruise missiles, 3 frigs and 10 brands). The English fleet was commanded by Prince Rupert, the French - Gr. d'Estrée. The Allies entered Garvich, where they received a large landing and on June 1st appeared in front of Schuneveld. They did not dare to land without first dealing with the Dutch. fleet, and on June 7th they attacked it (see. Battle of Schuneveld 1.), but were repulsed with such damage that they decided to go to A. for repairs and transport of numerous wounded; but on June 14th Ruyter attacked them again and again gained the upper hand. Only on July 25th were the Allies able to go to sea again, and again, despite previous experience, they had landing troops on their ships (about 7,000 hours). At the mouth of the Thames, another 30,000 people were prepared. for immediate transportation if the first landing is successful. Now Ruyter had 77 rubles. and freg. and 22 fires, and therefore he went out to sea on July 29, met with the allies on July 30, and stayed in sight of them for 2 days. They avoided the battle, maneuvering in such a way as to distract Ruiter from the shores. Fearing that the English did not land troops behind him, Ruyter returned on August 1st. to Schuneveld. The allies followed him and walked along the entire Dutch. shore, but did not dare to land, because they feared Ruyter’s attack. At this time, the return of the trade caravan was expected in G. ships from O.-India, on the successful arrival of which the financial ability to continue the war depended. All of Germany now pinned its hopes on the fleet, since it was necessary to remove the allies from the coast at all costs. Aug 18 Ruyter moved to Camperdown (Dutch name: Camperduin), and came into contact with the enemy. Aug 21 Ruyter attacked the allies at Texel and inflicted a severe defeat on them (see. Texel battle 1.). The Allies retreated to England. shores, and then French. the squadron went to Brest. The Indian caravan arrived safely. The influence of the Texel victory was also reflected in the fact that parliament and societies. opinion demanded that Charles II dissolve the alliance with France and conclude peace. In general, they were not very excited against the French, because they believed that in battles they protected their ships and that, in general, A. served only their goals - the establishment of France in the Netherlands. Peace negotiations began, and although Charles II tried to resist them, when G. began preparing a powerful fleet in the winter to continue the war, A. refused unnecessary demands, and on February 19. peace was concluded at Westminster. G. also conceded on many points, because she needed peace to wage a war with France, which lasted another 4 years (see. Dutch-French.wars). The wars between A. and G. played a big role in the development of the art of war at sea. During this period they disappeared from the military. armed commercial fleets, types of military vessels were established, correct formations were developed, and naval tactics were generally developed. In addition, a real naval strategy was developed, which set itself the main task of fighting the enemy fleet in order to achieve control of the sea, instead of the previous “cross expeditions” and pursuit of trade.
War 1780-1783 Holland took part in this war against its will. The incredible oppression to which neutral trade was subjected by the British forced G. to join the “Armed Neutrality” declared by the coalition of northern powers, and as soon as she did this, A. declared war on her, without declaring her to any of these powers. A. believed that the war with G. was beneficial to her, because the Goals had no power, but had numerous, rich and advantageously located colonies, which A. hoped to take advantage of as important strategic ones. points and for exchange at the conclusion of peace. She immediately captured the islands of St. Eustathius and St. Martina in East India, made an attempt to take possession of M. Good. Hope, captured Negapatam and Trincomalee, and if her attempt failed and most of the captured points were taken from her, then this was done not by the Dutch, but by the French, and not for the loaches, but because these points, which had an important strategic . meaning, the French needed it. Therefore, all these events are described in the English-French description. war, between English and only one battle took place, on August 5. 1781, on Dogger Bank, when their esprits met, accompanying caravans of trade. ships into the Baltic Sea. Both opponents were seriously damaged and dispersed to their respective ports. According to the terms of peace, G. received from the hands of Fr. back to Trincomalee, and Negapatam remained with A. ( Wars 1795-1801, 1803-1815 and literature see Anglo-French.wars).
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In the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance, neither the English nor the Dutch could compete with such maritime powers as Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Castile and Aragon. However, in the 16th century, when the continent was torn apart by the Wars of Religion, Elizabethan England built a powerful fleet intended for hugely profitable privateering attacks against the Spaniards. In 1585, the conflict that had previously flowed without a declaration of war resulted in an open phase, the immediate reason for this was the support provided by the British to the Republic of the United Provinces in its struggle for independence from Spain. This war, which lasted until 1604, ended formally with the status quo, but was remembered for the defeat inflicted by the British on the Spanish Invincible Armada.
After the conclusion of peace, which occurred after the death of Elizabeth, by decree of James I, attacks by English privateers on the Spaniards were stopped, which, on the one hand, led to an improvement in relations between the two powers, and on the other, to the neglect of the English fleet. The unsuccessful war with Spain of 1625-1630 for the British was only a temporary deterioration in relations. At the same time, the Dutch, who continued the war with the Habsburgs, achieved serious success in their privateer raids against the enemy and took away most of their trading posts in the East Indies from the Portuguese, gaining control of the extremely profitable spice trade. This provoked an extremely rapid growth of the Dutch merchant fleet and, although less impressive, but still a very significant increase in the military fleet.
Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667)
Both sides managed to distinguish themselves with serious victories during the war: the British captured New Netherland, and the Dutch prevailed in the Four-Day Battle. Be that as it may, the raid on the Medway ended the war with a victory for the Dutch, who destroyed part of the English fleet right in the harbor.
The British captured about 450 merchant ships during the war - significantly fewer than expected, which did little harm to the Dutch, while Charles was on the verge of bankruptcy. This, coupled with the plague epidemic and the Great Fire that happened in London during the war (the latter in Holland was considered God's punishment for the Holmes raid (English) Russian, which captured 150 Dutch merchants in one raid and burned the entire city) caused serious unrest. Because of the king's fears that these unrest would lead to open rebellion, Lord Chancellor Clarendon ordered the English ambassadors in Breda to make peace as quickly as possible.
Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674)
The British quickly restored their fleet after the previous war, but, having learned from its bitter experience, they were no longer eager to fight. Be that as it may, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Dover (the secret Anglo-French pact for joint action against the United Provinces), Charles II declared war on the Netherlands the day after France did so. During the war, which was part of the Dutch War, flooding made it impossible for the French to advance and it was decided to attack the Dutch by sea, but Admiral de Ruyter defeated the Anglo-French fleet, after which the English parliament forced the king to sue for peace. The alliance with Catholic France against Protestant Holland did not enjoy the support of the English parliament, which feared the creeping Catholicization of England, so after the Battle of Texel the Peace of Westminster was concluded on February 19, 1674.
Consequences of the first three wars
The wars between England and Holland played a large role in the development of the art of war at sea. During this period, armed commercial ships disappeared from the military fleets, types of military ships were established, correct formations were developed, and naval tactics were generally developed. In addition, a real naval strategy was developed, which set itself the main task of fighting the enemy fleet in order to achieve control over the sea, instead of the previous “cross expeditions” and pursuit of merchant ships. [ ]
