How far was the failure of the Spanish armies to subdue the north caused by a) Spanish military weaknesses b) Dutch military superiority?

Parma's Preparations and Strategy

• Arrived in 1577 as a lieutenant under Don John
• On Don John's death in 1578, took over as governor
• Parma had withdrawn the Spanish troops in 1579 in accordance with the Union of Arras and instead used native troops
• The native troops were ill-disciplined but he still managed to overrun much of the territory occupied
• Between 1579-1583 Parma worked hard to establish the precoditions for a successful reconquest of the north; money and troops
• In 1582 he convinced the leaders of the Southern provinces to get the Spanish troops recalled or the South would fall
• 60,000 arrived that summer from Italy
• He extracted a promise from Philip that they would be promptly and regularly paid
• Strategy: -Occupy the Flemish coastline and blockade the Scheldt
• Intended to undermine the economies of Brabant and Flanders an cut off their supply routes to the north, forcing their surrender
• By 1584, all of Flanders had been occupied
• Antwerp had been put under siege and finally surrendered in August 1585
• By the en of 1585, all the great towns of Brabant had surrendered
• After 1585, Parma's advance slackened; Holland, Zealand, Utrecht and Friesland remained uncaptured with most of Gelderland
• Counter-offensive was began in 1590's which undid much of Parma's earlier work
• United Provinces expanded to include Groningen and Overijssel, making 7 provinces in all plus small slices of Brabant and Flanders
• Parma died in 1592, and everything was reversed

Dutch Failures

- Parma's triumphs owed much to the internal disorginisation of the United Provinces, rather than Spanish military success

- Dutch suffered from contradictory orders and a poor command structure

Spanish success

- Led by a general of ability and imagination 

Spanish Failure

- In 1592, two rival commanders came to power; Count of Fuentes and Count of Mansfelt took Parma's place…