Wars Between Spain And France :: essays research papers

The wars between England and Spain was a shifting ofpower in Europe. A cause of the wars was theimprisonment and effect of Mary Stuart Queen ofScots. The Netherlands wanting to break away from Spainwas a cause of the war. Elizabeth sending aid and troops tothe Netherlands was another cause of the war. Mary Stuartwas the direct heritor of Scotland. She was a Catholic. Manypeople in England wanted to see Mary the Queen andmake England a Catholic nation. This worried QueenElizabeth and had Mary come in under house arrest for nineteenyears. There were many plots made trying to assassinateQueen Elizabeth involving Mary. The final plot called theBabington plot had enough cogent evidence to convict Mary andexecute her. Queen Elizabeth knew the consequences thiswould create throughout the Catholic world. And this wasthe last straw between Spain and England. TheNetherlands wanted to abolish the control Spain had overtheir nation. They wanted to get rid of the SpanishInquisition. Two-hun dred nobles, in the Netherlands,formed a league, and they petitioned King Philip II not touse the Spanish Inquisition. He refused and a revolt stone-brokeout. William of Orange led the united seventeen provincesof the Netherlands against Spanish authority. QueenElizabeth lent aid to the Netherlands in their war withSpain. She sent over 6000 troops in 1585. take over Juanbecame the general of the Netherlands and planned aninvasion. After Don Juans death the Union of Utrecht wasformed breaking the solid front of the 17 provinces of theNetherlands. When Spain tried to invade England theywere defeated. The great Spanish Armada was beat bysmall, quick fleet of English and Dutch ships. English andDutch pirates raid the Spanish ships also. The weatherplayed a role in the war. A bad storm wiped out manyships of the Armada. England gained a great deal from thisbattle with Spain.