The British were able to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. They were able to defeat the Spanish because they had advanced ships, better weaponry, and tactics compared to the Spanish. The British ships had more technology, and ere faster than the ships of the Spanish. Also the British had more experienced commanders in charge of their navy. Finally the win over the Spanish helped Britain and Queen Elizabeth I during her reign.
During the Spanish Armada the English were led by Sir Francis Drake and Admiral Howard. Also the Duke of Medina Sidonia set out to with the intention of putting an end to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Medina Sidonia was one of the commanders of the Spanish navy and he had no experience of sailing or fighting in his career. The “Invincible Fleet” was eventually defeated by the British navy with almost no loss to their fleet. King Philip II invented a plan to restore the Catholic Church into a Protestant England, and this is the reason why the Spanish Armada was created. The Spanish invasion took lots of hard work and time, the plans of the Spanish showed great detail. In the entire fleet it consisted of 132 ships, 8,766 sailors, and 21,556 soldiers who were ready to invade the English and bring reform to their religion.
The plan that the Spanish drew up was that their fleet would sail from Spain along the English Channel and would combine forces with the Duke of Parma coming from the Netherlands. The two forces decided to combine fleets thinking it was too overwhelming for the British to handle. This was the key to capture the Queen and ultimately conquer England entirely.
The Spanish were hoping to catch the English off guard but Queen Elizabeth I had her fleet waiting for the Spanish eve...
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...e than the Spanish ships. The British also had better tactics, and fired their guns at a further distance so they wouldn’t get damaged by the Spanish. Also to prevent the Spanish from utilizing their specialty of fighting in close combat.
The plans of the British were so successful because it took all of the offensive weapons of the Armada away and they couldn’t defend themselves. Lastly the commanding officers for the British were way more knowledgeable about the Spanish than the officers of the Armada. The British leaders were able to force the retreat of the Spanish with again little causality. While on the other hand the Spanish leaders lost half of their ships and two thirds of their army. This proves that the British navy was the far more superior combatant and ultimately was victorious dealing a huge blow to Spain by destroying the “Invincible Fleet”.
This was successful as it made another ally and it meant that contenders and rebels could use Spain either. However, due to the ties with France and the hatred between Spain and France and the fact that England had marriage connections with England, this may have been an unsuccessful move as France could have broken away.
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
They had the biggest and best ships money could buy, and with them a record of victories. Alongside Britain’s vast naval fleet stood 50,000 British soldiers, and 30,000 mercenary Hessian soldiers. Not to mention, Britain still possessed 30,000 additional American loyalists who were still loyal to the British crown. It would seem that Britain’s army looked incredibly intimidating, but as Britain soon found out, this war was going to be so much more than a numerous army. When Britain entered the war, one of their biggest problems was uneven support during the war.
At first, most think Britain would achieve an easy victory over such a small and inexperienced group of colonies. This was also what Britain’s thought. The 7.5 million inhabitants of Britain more than doubled the population of the colonies. With such large numbers, the British government had no problem generating war funds through taxes. The monetary wealth Britain acquired also paid for the first class naval force of Britain. The British had the biggest and best ships money could buy, and with them an array of victories. Alongside Britain’s vast naval fleet stood their 50,000 British soldiers, and 30,000 mercenary Hessian soldiers. Not to mention, Britain still possessed 30,000 additional American loyalists who were still loyal to the British crown. It seemed that Britain’s army was incredibly intimidating, but as Britain soon found out, this war was so much more than a number game.
Led by Commander George Dewey, the Navy won the most glorious victory in the history of the Navy. However this didn’t end the war. In order for America to force the Spanish out, a military invasion on Cuba would have to take place. More than 250,000 soldiers rushed to volunteer for service.
The Control of England in North America and Demise of the Spanish Power in the Atlantic
In 1572 Drake sailed from England with two ships and 73 men. They landed at a small island called the Isle of Pines and began preparations for his attack on the Spanish. His plan was to sack the city of Nombre de Dios. On their first attempt they did not succeed but they made another soon after. They then took the town of Nombre de Dios on the Isthmus of Panama, they captured a ship in the harbor of Cartagena, they burned Portobello, they crossed and re-crossed the isthmus, and they captured three mule trains bearing 30 tons of silver.
During the Age of Exploration, countries of Spain and England were rivalries. Spain, after Columbus made his discoveries, went on to explore and colonize lands in Mexico and Peru. With the riches that it obtained, Spain overwhelmed England with its powerful navy, but failed to do so because of the strong will and nationalism of the English explorers. Sir Walter Raleigh was among these brave men and soon became a distinguished member of the English society. He was favored by Queen Elizabeth but was still not satisfied with his glamorous life. Raleigh had wanted to achieve glory for England so that its superiority would exceed that of Spain’s.
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
This statement begins to expose the fear felt by Britain of the imposing German fleet. Due to the militaristic views of Europe, many countries desired to have more power and control, by any means possible. This hunger initiated the Naval Arms Race, in which nations believed as one country increased its naval powers, they too were obliged to increase their armed forces, to maintain a balance of power. The British had dominated the seas and many far off colonies because of their naval fleet, granting them immense power. As the Germans began to propose a new and vast naval fleet, and France and Russia formed a new alliance sparking suspicion in Britain, Germany quickly became a threat to British supremacy. This created a chain reaction of stressed importance upon naval arme...
The Spanish Conquest was a significant expedition in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Cortés’s fleet, crew, weapons, and horses helped him in his conquest. However that alone was not enough to defeat a larger society, and with the alliances formed by Cortés with the Tlaxcalans who hated the Aztecs helped him gain more power in his overpowering of the Aztec empire. The expedition was successful and it brought Spain many goods and riches making it very important to Spain.
by a small English army. In 1350 Edward led an English fleet against the spanish from
Gunpowder’s effect on the world can be exemplified through the grand changes in weapons. This can be shown through the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by the English navy. In this sea battle, the Spanish Armada outnumbered the English navy immensely turning the odds against the English. However, the Spanish Armada still used old boarding tactics while the English used advanced weaponry. In the end, “the English used their superior firepower to whittle away the Spanish forces” (Schlager). The English navy's victory over the Spanish Armada illustrates the effects of the invention of gunpowder. With the successful usage of advanced gunpowder based weapons, the English navy crushed the opposition even when the Spanish Armada clearly had the upper hand. The defeat of the Spanish Armada shows that weapons based on gunpowder allowed countries with smaller armies to have a higher chance in winning their fights. The gunpowder weapons proved to be a tactical advant...
Isabella and Ferdinand accomplished many things that altered the course of history. They expanded the Spanish empire by funding explorers. They also united several kingdoms to make the country that Spain is today, geographically and economically. However, Ferdinand and Isabella always believed that their greatest achievement was making Spain a dominantly Christian nation (“Isabella and Ferdinand”). By the end of their rule, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella colonized a world that had never been discovered, set up the spread of Christianity, and altogether created Spain into a nation with immense economical and industrial power in the world.
The British had some advantages. They did receive reinforcements from Britain, and they had a base in Bengal, and in the Punjab the Sikhs were so hostile to the Muslims that they supported the British against the Mughal restoration in Delhi.