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The Anglo-Dutch War consisted of several battles

The Anglo-Dutch Wars (Dutch: Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen or Engelse Zeeoorlogen) were four wars between England and the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the 17th century, in order to defeat the growing commercial rival Netherlands, and strive to maintain the maritime superiority that it had begun to establish and compete for colonies, the United Kingdom provoked three wars against the Netherlands. As a result of the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars, France gained a lot of land and commercial interests; its national strength rose sharply and surpassed the Netherlands, becoming the strongest hegemon in Europe. In the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in the 18th century, Britain defeated the Netherlands and began to gain world financial hegemony.

After the independence of the Netherlands, the economy developed rapidly, taking advantage of Spain’s decline and Britain’s busy civil war to monopolize world trade. After the end of the British Civil War, the expansion route was resumed, and the navy was vigorously developed. In 1651, the Netherlands was banned from participating in the British maritime trade. The two countries fought three trade wars.

The First Anglo-Dutch War took place in May 1652, when the fleets of the two countries clashed in the Strait of Dover, clashing with the Dutch maritime trade. The fuse was the British attack on the Dutch merchant ships, which led to large-scale ship operations, and the official declaration of war on July 8. The British Navy blocked the Strait of Dover and the North Sea, intercepted Dutch merchant ships, and the Netherlands organized a fleet to escort them. The naval battle between the two sides gradually developed from a trade war of blockade and anti-blockade to a decisive battle for sea control between the main fleets. In August 1653, the Netherlands concentrated its naval forces and Britain was defeated in the decisive battle, and the British took control of the sea in the English Channel, paralyzing the Dutch economy, which depended on trade for survival.

The Dutch victory at the Battle of Elba and the Battle of Livorno completely paralyzed British trade in the Mediterranean. After many battles in the Mediterranean, especially the Atlantic, Britain, like the Netherlands, was exhausted by the war and agreed to negotiate peace. In 1654 the two sides signed the “Peace of Westminster”, the Netherlands conceded defeat and recognized the navigation regulations.

The Second Anglo-Dutch War took place from 1665 to 1667, when Britain imposed stricter maritime laws and occupied the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (now New York) in North America. After the war, the Netherlands retained Suriname, the territory occupied by the United Kingdom, and ceded the North American colony New Netherlands, including New Amsterdam, to the United Kingdom (that is, the two sides exchanged territories).

The United Kingdom revised the maritime law, ceded some of its commercial and trade interests to the Netherlands, and was forced to form a tripartite alliance with the Netherlands and Sweden to jointly put pressure on the emerging France, demanding that King Louis XIV of France return a large amount of territory to Spain (1667-1668 French Defeated Spain in the War of Transfer of Property). In general, the Second Anglo-Dutch War was the defeat of the United Kingdom, so the third Anglo-Dutch War was brewing.

The third war took place from 1672 to 1674. The French invaded the Netherlands in 1672 (French-Dutch War), causing the “Rampjaar” in the Netherlands. The Netherlands broke the embankment to prevent the French from occupying Amsterdam, and allied with Spain to force the French to withdraw. The British attacked the Netherlands at the same time, but the Netherlands won all four naval battles, and the British were forced to truce.

Later, under the pressure of Congress, the King of England signed a peace treaty with the Netherlands, and the two countries negotiated: Britain received part of the colony and trade privileges of the Netherlands, but had to give the Netherlands 200,000 pounds in compensation. war.

The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War was fought from 1780 to 1784. The reason is that the United Kingdom unilaterally abolished the various treaties of the Anglo-Dutch alliance led by William III in 1780 on the grounds that the Netherlands supported the American War of Independence, and launched the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. Relying on its superior navy, the United Kingdom completely overwhelmed the defunct Netherlands, and plundered the rich caravan supplies and colonies of the Netherlands.

The war of 1784 ended with Britain’s recognition of the independence of the United States, and the Netherlands was forced to rely on its ally France to mediate and help the Netherlands win a better peace treaty with the United Kingdom because of the collapse of its national power and credit.