World history: the downfall of the Armada

As we said in the last article, since the16th century, European countries have started a vigorous religious reform movement, and European countries have once again experienced new ideological emancipation, making the requirement of separation of church and state more urgent. Under the banner of the Reformation, universal education and the accelerated development of science and technology provided a guarantee for the modernization of European countries. However, in southern European countries, such as Spain and Portugal, the religious reform did not start, which also had an impact on later development.

So in this article, let's talk about the story of the world hegemon. We talked about all kinds of opportunities, especially the discovery and occupation of the new continent, which made Portugal and Spain dominate the world. They have a strong navy and vast colonies.

However, the dominance of these two teeth has been challenged by other European countries. First the Netherlands, then Britain.

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the Netherlands

Holland is a very humble small country. The area of the Netherlands is only over 40,000 square kilometers, which is a little bigger than that of Taiwan Province Province in China.

However, the shipbuilding industry in this country is very developed. According to historical records, the shipbuilding capacity of this small country is almost one ship a day. The Dutch reformed the popular ships at that time, which made the cabin space bigger and the cargo capacity of the ships increased a lot. His fleet actually has more than 654.38+00000 ships, which is called "sea coachman". At that time, it was a maritime power, and its commercial development accumulated rich wealth.

The Netherlands established the Dutch East India Company to expand overseas.

The East India Company expanded in the Straits of Malacca, India and South Africa, leaving behind the largest Dutch ethnic group in South Africa. A huge colony has been established in present Indonesia. He once occupied Taiwan Province Province, the treasure island of our country, but was later driven away by the national hero-Zheng Chenggong. What was the original name of new york City? It is called New Amsterdam. The name reminds us that the early colonists here were the Netherlands. At that time, the Netherlands occupied many places in America, Africa and Australia, but most of them didn't stay because of their poor strength.

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Britain, England

After the Netherlands, the new world hegemon Britain began to appear on the world stage. When it comes to the rise of Britain, people often refer to the landmark event-the collapse of the Spanish Armada.

1588, the Spanish Armada fought against the British navy, and seemingly weak Britain won, while Spain encountered unprecedented challenges. Spain and Britain fought a naval battle, although the real goal of both sides was to establish or consolidate maritime hegemony. But we still need some high-sounding reasons to go to war.

Spain is a Catholic country, and Catholicism was very strong in Europe at that time. Many important activities can also be supported by the Pope. Britain is a country dominated by Protestantism.

The fuse: Mary's death

The royal families in Europe have the habit of marrying each other. Mary, the Queen of Scotland who fled to England because of the coup, was accused of killing Queen Elizabeth and was beheaded in 1587.

Mary is the suitor of the king of Spain. This decapitation stirred up a hornet's nest and angered the powerful Catholic forces in Europe. Mary is a Catholic, and Mary's death is regarded as a great failure of Catholicism. To this end, the Pope issued a summons calling on Catholics to unite against Britain. King Philip II of Spain, who also believed in Catholicism, was the first to respond to the call of the Catholic Pope and made up his mind to attack Britain. This real battle for hegemony started from such a reason.

Spain has built an invincible fleet.

In order to defeat Britain, Spain made full preparations. Philip II has been expanding his army all summer, and a huge fleet is quietly gathering. This fleet is the famous invincible fleet. Spanish Armada, which means great and lucky navy, is translated into Chinese as Armada.

Spain made a fortune by capturing many wealthy colonies and accumulated wealth that European countries could not match. This wealth is not only used for the wanton consumption of princes and nobles, but also for expanding the army and preparing for war. As a traditional maritime power, Spain spared no effort in the expansion of the navy and the construction of the fleet. At that time, the Spanish navy was extremely powerful.

According to historical records, from 1545 to 1560, the Spanish navy shipped back 5500 kilograms of gold from overseas. Silver reached 246,000 kilograms. By the end of 16, 83% of the precious metals in the world were mined by Spain. It can be said that most of the ill-gotten wealth gained by plundering the world at that time fell into Spain's pocket. Apart from the extravagant consumption of princes and nobles, it is not a problem to build a powerful navy with some of them.

According to the data, this fleet has 130 warships, of which more than 60 are large warships. The entire fleet has about 30,000 soldiers, including 7,000 crew members and sailors, 23,000 elite infantry, and there are more than 3,000 guns on board. Spanish naval arms are divided into sailors and infantry. Spain was addicted to its former infantry superiority, and the famous Spanish phalanx once made the Spanish army invincible in the world.

In the naval battle, the conventional docking tactics are still used to collide with enemy ships, forcibly board the ship and carry out hand-to-hand combat, and then seize the British ships. Philip II built this fleet with huge wealth, armed it with the most advanced equipment at that time, and made the experienced general Duke Szidonia as the commander-in-chief of the fleet.

Philip II decided that Britain would lose, except for the apparent reason of revenge for Mary's death. More importantly, Spain hates the challenges posed by Britain in its colonies and trade. Philip II must take this opportunity to defeat Britain and dominate the world.

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Armada expedition

1588 in July, after full preparation, a huge fleet set sail from the port of Spain.

On July 2 1 day, the Armada sailed into the English Channel. When Queen Elizabeth got the news, she immediately sent a British fleet to intercept it. Duke Szidonia, commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armada, smiled contemptuously when he saw the British ships, saying that the British ships were too small and few in number.

He ordered the Spanish fleet to approach the British fleet at full speed and prepared the infantry for boarding. When the warships of the British fleet entered the range, the guns of the Spanish warships began to fire, and for a time the guns were deafening, such as lightning and thunder, with extraordinary momentum. However, after the excitement, no British warship was hit, let alone sunk.

When the Spanish Armada saw that the artillery didn't work, it used the old tactics. Rely on the advantage of the warship's own weight to rush forward quickly and hit the British ship with the hull. But this small and light British ship deftly dodged the Spanish warship. Let the huge Spanish warships have no chance to use brute force.

What is even more frightening is that the British fleet is not only flexible, but also can fire across the hull. The fire was fierce and fast, hitting several Spanish warships. The Duke of Szidonia realized the advantages of small and flexible British warships. The British navy didn't give Spain a chance to board a ship for hand-to-hand combat.

In fact, although the British navy was not as strong as Spain at this time, it was fully prepared. A fleet of more than 9,000 soldiers and 105 warships, led by Commander-in-Chief Howard, cleverly bypassed the front of the Spanish Armada on July 30th under the cover of darkness.

The fleet immediately divided into two roads to occupy a favorable position, and one route led by Commander-in-Chief Howard gained the upper hand on the right wing. The other route, led by the pirate-born General Drake, gained the upper hand on the left wing, only to see that the British fleet was as agile as seagulls at sea. The formation will change temporarily with the needs of the battle. Artillery fire kept blooming above the head of the Spanish armada, and the Spanish fleet was defeated. At that time, the Spanish navy was used to regular naval battles. The flagship attacks first, and other ships, led by the sub-flag, follow on both sides of the flagship and form a horizontal line. This will concentrate fire on attacking enemy ships. Spain's rigid tactics exposed its fatal weakness in the face of British naval mobile warfare.

It turned out that in order to meet the Spanish fleet, Britain changed the firepower distribution and ship structure of warships, and they lowered the height of ships. Cannons were installed on the deck and portholes of the ship, which greatly enhanced the flexibility and launching ability. No matter whether the ship is horizontal or vertical, the cannon can fire at the enemy ship, which was a great innovation in the naval battle at that time.

The flexible formation of the British fleet and the precise and fierce artillery fire made Spain almost impossible to prevent. Many ships were hit and the Armada lost a lot. Howard, commander-in-chief of the British army, saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ordered the fleet to go ahead at full speed, chasing the enemy ships and waiting for a decisive battle.

At the beginning of August, the fleets of the two countries met again on the sea near Calais. Because the British navy blocked the sea, the reinforcements that the Armada hoped for did not come, but what they were waiting for was a chilling artillery attack.

On the night of August 7th, eight British ships went straight for the Armada like meteors. When the two ships approached, the eight ships bravely rushed to the Spanish warship. Filled with fuel, the brave boat spontaneously ignited without hesitation, and eight ships rushed into the Spanish fleet like eight flames. Those wooden boats in Spain burst into flames as soon as they touched the flames. In a flash, the Spanish fleet turned into a sea of fire, and the soldiers were burned to death, giving out screams. Many Spanish ships were burned and countless people sank after the collision. Several ships escaped from the fire and fled to the northern waters, followed by British warships. At first, the invincible fleet that wanted to show off was hiding like a mouse seeing a cat.

The artillery of the British fleet burst into flames, and shells rained down on the head of the Armada. Spain suffered heavy losses, with more than 4,000 people killed and countless others injured.

Under the heavy artillery fire of the British army, five large warships lost their combat effectiveness due to serious injuries. Although the remaining warships barely supported the battle, they were already under fire. The commander-in-chief of the Armada saw that the defeat was a foregone conclusion and had to order a retreat. There were only over forty ships left, so we had to run away. Since the defeat of the Armada, Spain has launched many naval battles to try to reverse its disadvantage. Although there are winners and losers, the trend of declining strength is inevitable and the dominance has been shaken.

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Reasons for the collapse of the Armada

In fact, in addition to the weather, wind direction, tactics and other accidental factors, Britain has also experienced the baptism of the Magna Carta movement and the top-down religious reform, and Britain has gradually embarked on a unique development path. Coupled with Elizabeth I's efforts, British capitalism sprouted rapidly, primitive accumulation accelerated, and industry and commerce rose rapidly.

Britain's innovative shipbuilding and navigation technology, coupled with the use of personnel in naval battles, is full of morale and proper tactics. In the face of conservative and rigid Spanish navy, Britain's victory is inevitable.

On the other hand, although Spain plundered a lot of wealth from the colonies, it was not used for the development of industry and technology, but for the luxury consumption of nobles. The whole country is not enterprising, self-righteous, tactical and tactical, and looks senile in front of ambitious Britain.

Judging from the religious influence, he is rigid and conservative, and there is no religious reform, which is not conducive to economic and social development. What's more, King Philip II of Spain was autocratic, waging wars abroad year after year, plundering people's wealth, and the royal family and nobles were still profligate. It makes the people complain, makes the army tired of fighting and has low morale, so how can the war be unbeaten?

Later history tells us that Britain's victory over the Armada is a trivial matter, and its system reform and industrial revolution have opened a new chapter in modern world history.

It's over.