Seeing that it was profitable, the coastal countries of Western Europe, such as Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, all joined the opening of new shipping routes and colonial expansion. As early as the end of the "Wars of the Roses", during the reign of King Henry VII, Britain joined the opening of the new sea route " The name "Great Britain" comes from the Anglos who moved to the British Isles, which means "Anglo land". The name of the island , " Britain " comes from the indigenous people of the Bretons , which today exist in the Welsh region of England. Similarly, its neighbor France is named after the Franks and Germany from the Teutonics. They were all Germanic tribes that had migrated south.
Britain once dreamed of dominating the European continent, but after the defeat of the Hundred Years' War in 1453, Britain and France turned to the sea. At the end of the 15th century, Britain took advantage of its geographical advantages facing the Atlantic Ocean and developed navigation technology to actively participate in the opening up of new shipping routes and triangular trade. Since Spain and Portugal had already discovered new routes between Africa and the Americas to Asia, the up-and-coming countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands had to explore several shipping routes different from those of Spain because their national strength was not enough to compete with them at first, which led to the northeast and northwest passages that later bypassed Europe from the north and the Americas to Asia (this northeast and northwest is in terms of Europe)
The British can be said to be the pioneers of the exploration of the East-West North Sea Route. In 1497, john cabot (formerly known as Giovanni), an Italian who emigrated to England during the time of Henry VII, first set out to explore the Northwest Sea Route, reaching today's Newfoundland island and the Labrador Peninsula. "Newfoundland" means a newly discovered place, and has nothing to do with that Finland. But he always thought he had reached the east coast of Asia.
Carbert statue
Before his death in 1499 he again visited the east coast of present-day America. After his death, his son Sebastian continued to explore the shipping lanes and drew a map of the North American coast.
The Main Explorers of the Northeast Passage are Richard Chansel and Hugh Willoughby. They crossed a stretch of the Arctic Ocean to northern Russia in 1553 and established the Moscow Company in 1555, successfully establishing trade relations with Russia. Unexpectedly, on the return voyage, the two were killed, willoughby was killed in 1554, and Chansel, who continued to return, was also killed in 1556. Since then, almost no one in Britain has dared to explore this waterway.
Hugh Willowby like
While exploring new routes, the British also allowed some pirates to rob Spanish cargo ships and bring their treasures home. This is known as "Pirates of the Caribbean". The 16th century was represented by Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Walter Reilly of England, while the 17th century was represented by Henry Morgan, William Kidd and Edward Titch. In the 18th century, as Spain weakened and Britain's sea power grew, the number of Pirates of the Caribbean declined. I'll tell their story later.
The robbery of pirates in the Caribbean caused contradictions between Britain and Spain. At the same time, the contradictions between the two countries have intensified because of religious conflicts. Spain was a Catholic country, and England became a Protestant state of Anglicanism after Henry VIII's Reformation. Although Queen Mary later ascended the throne to restore Catholicism, her sister Elizabeth took the throne after her death, not only restoring the Church of England, but also killing Mary Stuart, the former Queen of Scotland, who was supported by Spain and plotted to usurp the throne. In 1585, war finally broke out between the two countries because of The English support for Dutch independence.
Another threat to Spanish hegemony is the Netherlands. The Netherlands was originally a piece of land annexed by King Charles V of Spain through marriage, known as the Netherlands, meaning "low country". This has always been a wealthy area of industrial and commercial development, and the first Dutch started by catching herring from the North Sea to make canned fish and selling canned food. The Dutch did not care who ruled them, as long as they did not offend their economic interests and religious beliefs. In 1517, a "Reformation" movement broke out in Europe, which affected Many European countries and regions such as England, France, Scotland, and Germany, and the Netherlands was naturally greatly affected. The harsh suppression of the Reformation by King Charles and Philip of Spain provoked a revolt by the people of the Netherlands. In 1566, an anti-Catholic iconoclasm broke out in the Netherlands, and after the execution of two rebel leaders by the Spanish governor of the Netherlands, Alvaro Toledo, in 1568, the people of the Netherlands organized an uprising between the "Beggars of the Sea" and the "Beggars of the Forest". In 1573, after the liberation of the northern region by the people of the Netherlands, william van Nassau Orange, a nobleman who supported dutch independence, returned to the Netherlands and became the leader of the War of Independence. The following year, when the Spanish army entered the city of Leiden, William forced the enemy back by digging a dike and releasing water, which won him a lot of prestige. At the time of the victory of the War of Independence, the nobles of the southern provinces feared that their interests would be damaged, and in 1579 they organized the "League of Alas" to betray the revolution. In the same year, the northern provinces also organized the "Utrecht Alliance" to confront the South. In 1581, the northern provinces declared the establishment of an independent " United Provincial Republic" headed by the Dutch province , with William in power. This is where the name "Holland" comes from. The southern provinces continued to exist as "Spanish Netherlands". Unfortunately, in 1584, William was assassinated by the Spanish Assassins, and his son Maurice succeeded to the throne, and the War of Independence was still going on. But with the accession of The British in 1585, the war became a joint anagram between Britain and the Netherlands against Spain. Whether Spain can beat these two opponents, and I will listen to the next breakdown.
William the Silent Father of the Netherlands