Conflict with Spain

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Drake raided Spanish ports and ships on the Pacific coast of South America and captured huge amounts of silver and gold, including the treasure ship nicknamed the Cacafuego. Elizabeth then knighted him on board the Golden Hind in 1581 and shared the profits, which showed Philip II that she supported attacks on his empire.

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The Dutch revolt against Philip II began in 1566, and England quickly had reasons to care. The Netherlands lay just across the North Sea, so a powerful Spanish army there could be used to invade England. Antwerp was the main market for English woollen cloth, and many of the rebels were Protestants. When the Duke of Alba arrived with a Spanish army in 1567 and punished rebels harshly, thousands of Protestant refugees settled in English towns such as Norwich and London.

At first Elizabeth's involvement was unofficial. In 1568 she seized money that Spanish ships were carrying to pay Alba's army, which led to a trade embargo until 1573. She allowed the Sea Beggars, Dutch privateers, to use English ports. However, she did not want war, and in March 1572 she expelled them. This backfired: in April 1572 the Sea Beggars captured the port of Brill, which sparked a new revolt in Holland and Zeeland. English volunteers, such as Sir Humphrey Gilbert, went to fight for the rebels.

Through the late 1570s and early 1580s Elizabeth gave the rebels money but avoided sending an army. Instead she paid the French Duke of Anjou to fight Spain there, hoping to weaken Spain without open war.

In the mid-1580s, however, the Spanish under the Duke of Parma were winning back much of the south. In July 1584 William of Orange was assassinated, and in December Philip allied with the French Catholic League in the Treaty of Joinville. When Antwerp fell to Parma in August 1585, it seemed that the revolt might collapse. As a result, Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nonsuch, agreeing to send about 7,400 troops under the Earl of Leicester in return for the ports of Flushing and Brill. Leicester arrived in December 1585, and England was now openly at war with Spain in the Netherlands.

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Interpretation A is convincing about the importance of the weather, especially in destroying the Armada on its voyage home, but it is unconvincing in claiming that the English played no real part in its defeat.

Some of the interpretation is well supported. In the fights off Plymouth, Portland and the Isle of Wight, English long-range gunfire did little damage. Before Calais the Armada lost only two ships, the Rosario and the San Salvador, both through accidents, and it reached Calais in good order on 27 July. The wind did play a key part: it carried the fireships into the anchorage, and after Gravelines, when the Armada was drifting towards the Zeeland banks, a change of wind drove it north into the North Sea, so it could not return to meet Parma. Most Spanish losses happened on the voyage home, when storms wrecked many ships off Scotland and Ireland; perhaps only 60-65 of about 130 ships returned. Even the English spoke of a 'Protestant wind'.

However, the claim that the Armada was beaten 'not by the English' is unconvincing. It was the English who prepared and sent in the fireships, which broke the crescent. At Gravelines they attacked at close range, sinking or wrecking several ships and damaging many more. Throughout the campaign they kept the weather gauge and stopped the Armada finding a safe anchorage in the Solent. The Armada was also weakened before the storms struck: many ships had lost their anchors at Calais, and food and water had gone bad, partly because Drake's raid on Cadiz had destroyed the seasoned barrel staves. Spanish weaknesses mattered too: Parma's army was not ready, and the Dutch blockaded the coast.

The author, a Spanish historian, may want to protect Spanish honour by blaming the weather. Overall, the weather destroyed much of the Armada, but the English and Spain's own problems defeated the invasion.

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The year 1585 was the most important turning point in relations between England and Spain, because it was when hostility turned into open war. However, relations had been worsening since 1568, and the events of 1585 were caused by the crisis of 1584, so it was the climax of a long decline rather than a sudden change.

The case for 1585 is strong. In May Philip II seized English ships in Spanish ports. In August Antwerp fell to the Duke of Parma, and it seemed that the Dutch revolt would collapse. Elizabeth responded by signing the Treaty of Nonsuch, openly allying with the rebels and sending an army of about 7,400 men under the Earl of Leicester, which arrived in December. At the same time Drake raided Vigo in Spain and went on to attack Santo Domingo and Cartagena in the Caribbean. Before 1585 Elizabeth had helped the Dutch secretly and denied responsibility for the privateers; after 1585 England was openly fighting Spain. Philip began to plan the 'Enterprise of England', which led to the Armada of 1588, and the war continued until 1604. Nothing after 1585 was a return to peace.

However, 1568 has a strong claim as the real turning point. Before then England and Spain had been allies, and Philip had even proposed marriage to Elizabeth in 1559. In 1568 Elizabeth seized money being shipped to pay Alba's army, leading to a trade embargo; the Spanish attacked Hawkins at San Juan de Ulúa; and Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England. Relations never recovered. In the early 1570s Spain was linked to the Ridolfi Plot of 1571, and its ambassador de Spes was expelled.

The crisis of 1584 was also crucial, because it explains why 1585 happened. William of Orange was assassinated, the Spanish ambassador Mendoza was expelled after the Throckmorton Plot, and Philip allied with the French Catholic League in the Treaty of Joinville. These events convinced Elizabeth that Spain might soon dominate the Netherlands and France.

Later years also mattered. In 1587 the execution of Mary Queen of Scots and Drake's raid on Cadiz made an invasion certain, and in 1588 the Armada brought full-scale war to England's coasts. Yet these followed from the decisions of 1585.

There was also continuity. Elizabeth kept trying for peace, holding talks with Parma's representatives even in 1588, and rivalry over trade and privateering continued throughout.

Overall, I largely agree. Relations had been hostile since 1568, and 1584 made the change necessary, but 1585 was the turning point because it was the year England and Spain moved from undeclared rivalry to open war, which lasted for the rest of Elizabeth's reign.