A review of Britain's means of defending its overseas economic interests and waging commercial wars
Britain's main means of safeguarding its overseas economic interests are war and ** policy, and the wars waged by Britain to protect its overseas economic interests are called ** wars.
The ** war waged by Britain can be divided into naval war and colonial war. Wars for naval power made Britain the supremacy of the seas, while wars for colonies allowed Britain to gain more colonies. Britain's policy of protecting its overseas economic interests was primarily a policy of protection, including exclusive protection against competitors and unilateral protection against colonies.
The war for power in the seas.
Maritime power is a concrete component of safeguarding Britain's overseas economic interests;It supports the development of a wider market and the preservation of the UK's economic interests.
In 1588, England defeated the invincible Spanish fleet, paving the way for naval supremacy. Later, in order to further compete for naval power, Britain fought three wars with the Netherlands, further consolidating its maritime supremacy.
Anglo-Spanish maritime competition.
In 1588, England defeated the Spanish Armadada, sparking a struggle for naval supremacy. Spain and Portugal were the first exporting countries to occupy the sea route to the New World. Britain also tried to find new routes to the East, but its attempts to penetrate northern Europe and Russia were unsuccessful. The steady economic growth of the Tudor dynasty gradually strengthened England, while the religious rift between England and Spain deepened. England began to look for an opportunity to challenge Spain and break the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly on maritime power.
The British actively developed pirate forces in order to strengthen their naval power. As early as the 8th century, piracy was widespread in England and Ireland. During Elizabeth's reign, the power of pirates was further strengthened, and secret agreements were made with pirates and even the authorities, posing a certain threat to the throne.
On the surface, Queen Elizabeth enforced the law to suppress pirates, but secretly appeased them and used them to expand British influence, directing pirates to raid and plunder Spanish ships, or sail to the Americas to occupy Spanish colonies without attacking her own ships. With the support of the Queen, the pirate organization grew, and even began to produce specialized equipment with the investment of the nobles, **, and the Queen.
John Hawkins and Drake were famous pirate leaders of the time, and they inflicted great losses on Spanish ships. In 1589, Drake led a fleet of pirate ships to attack the Spanish port of Cádiz, losing 24 Spanish ships and £750,000 in property, buying time for England to prepare for war. The treasures they plundered contributed greatly to the English treasury as a tribute to the Queen of England, and in 1588 a naval battle broke out between Spain and England.
As the British navy grew, the Spanish fleet not only gained superiority, but also suffered heavy losses. The Spanish Armada lost more than 5,000 men and 20 ships in this battle. This is known as the sinking of the Spanish Armadada. The destruction of the Spanish Armada was a major blow to Spain, which lost its naval supremacy and its dominance in the colonies was shattered. Britain began a model of naval supremacy, not only defeating the Catholic powers at home and abroad, but also improving its international reputation, laying the groundwork for later colonial expansion.
Anglo-Dutch maritime competition.
Maritime logistics and shipbuilding in the Netherlands developed and threatened British shipping routes. Since the war with the Spanish Armada, the British navy has been strengthened, and the main component of its maritime power has been transformed from privateers to a regular navy. In the Anglo-Dutch War, British battleships were the main fighting force of Britain. The Anglo-Dutch War was another key point in the expansion of British naval power. The development of the shipbuilding industry in the Netherlands has contributed to the development of transshipment**. The UK Navigation Regulations are designed for transshipment sales in the Netherlands.
In 1652, the First Anglo-Dutch War broke out. The Netherlands has a well-developed shipbuilding and warehousing industry, but domestic industry and agriculture are relatively backward. In contrast, Britain's domestic industry and agriculture were already very developed, which gave Britain an advantageous position in the war. After the defeat, the Netherlands adopted British navigation regulations. Since then, Britain has seized the opportunity to rapidly rise in the maritime industry and maritime **, establishing maritime supremacy.
In 1664, the British fleet seized the Dutch station in West Africa and occupied the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in North America, challenging the Dutch slaves. The Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out. But this time Britain was not so lucky. A series of natural and man-made disasters led to the defeat of the British, who were eventually forced to make peace with the Netherlands and relinquish their claim to the Spice Islands to the east.
In 1672, the English king signed the Treaty of Deauville with France, according to which the British attacked Dutch merchant ships before declaring war, but were repeatedly defeated by the Dutch navy. The Treaty of Deauville was later rejected by the British Parliament, which did not want four times as much"Quadruple markup", but it turned out that the expansion of the UK into the Baltic market was fruitful.
Since the Middle Ages, England has had ** dealings with the Mediterranean, but mainly through Italian merchants. However, Britain also sent its own merchant ships directly to the Mediterranean**, and in the 40s and 50s of the 19th century, the expansion of the Turkish Empire hindered Britain and the Mediterranean**. In the sixties of the 19th century, the rupture of Anglo-Nizakh relations and the Dutch reforms led to the decline of the Antwerp market.
The English began to look for supplies in the Mediterranean market and on new routes to the East, and in 1578, Turkey granted a concession to the London merchants**. These merchants founded the Levantine Company in 1562 and obtained a **patent from Queen Elizabeth. Britain's main exports to the Mediterranean were tweed and tin, but Sudan fruits, spices, herbs, and other textiles were also imported from the region.
The war was unsustainable due to funding problems, so the King of England was forced to make peace with the Netherlands in 1674. Compared with the hardships of the war, the Dutch accepted the terms more favorable to Britain after the war: the Anglo-Dutch Peace of Westminster was signed, the Dutch passed the Navigation Regulations after the war, and Britain took back New York. During the Anglo-Dutch struggle for hegemony, Britain repeatedly resorted to legal means, protectionism and war to protect its overseas economic interests.
Britain was able to successfully defend its interests not only because of the development of shipbuilding and pirate organizations, but more importantly because of the solid development of the capitalist economy at home, and it was precisely because of this solid support that the Netherlands failed to win the war. The Anglo-Dutch War allowed Britain to establish its maritime superiority, and France became Britain's rival on the road to internationalization.