Elizabethan Era Chapter 6 - Spanish Armada

Spain: 

- Led by Duke of Medina Sidonia, who would often get seasick and is unqualified as a leader

- 30,000 troops, 8000 sailors and 64 battleships

-English Catholics would help with the invasion because they wanted a Catholic England

England:

- 20,000 troops and 54 battleships

- Their ships were light and move fast

- England were warned of invasion due to the signal beacons being lit before the Armada could reach the shore

- 

The Ambitions of Phillip II: 

- He wanted to marry Mary, Queen of Scots to become co-ruler of England

-Wanted to make England Catholic and wanted a religious crusade

War in Netherlands:

- In Aug 1566: Dutch Protestants revolted against Spanish rule which made relations between England and Spain worse

- Phillip responded by sending 10,000 troops to the Netherlands led by the Duke of Alba 

- Aftermath: 1000 rebels were burned to death and Elizabeth supplied the Dutch Protestans with money and weapons

- By 1579, there was a 2nd rebellion which split the Netherlands in two

- Elizabeth decided to sign the treaty of Nonusch in 1585 - This made her promise to protect Dutch Protestants and she sent an army of 10,000 to help the rebel activity

Actions of English Privateers:

- Drake Francis and his crew captured several towns across the West Indies and he returned with 30,000 pounds and 250 spanish cannons

- In Drake Francis' first voyage, he returned back to England with 140,000 pounds in gold, silver and jewels

- The continuous damaging raids by Francis Drake showed a great negative impact on the Spanish Economy 

- English Strengths - Faster, smaller and more manoeuvrable ships 

- Spanish Weaknesses - Duke of Sedina Midonia was an inexperienced commander and the Spanish cannons were ineffective because many of them exploded when fired

- Tactics - Although the Crescent formations was effective from shielding against English attacks after the Calais attack, the fireships were effective in breaking down the formation 

- Weather - After Battle of Gravelines, the wind changed and forced the Spanish forces to scatter and with inaccurate maps they were bound to be defeated

-  War with Spain still dragged on for a further decade

- Elizabeth still supported Dutch Protestants in the Netherlands 

- Phillip planned a second Armarda on two separate occasions to invade England but they were driven back due to storms

- English soldiers were untrained and poorly equipped whereas Parma's army which was one of the best in Europe

-English land forces were weak and not knowing where the Spanish might land made it had for where to place the army