Seventeenth Century, How Did England And The Dutch Republic Compete Successfully With France And Spain

Sabrina Warner
May 5, 2014
Assignment: FRQ #4
Week 24

In the Seventeenth Century, how did England and the Dutch Republic compete successfully with France and Spain for control of overseas territory and trade? Breaking it down by country, we can examine England first. England was the most powerful nation during the seventeenth century, and anyone who dared mess with them was destined for destruction. Their power greatly improved during the Agricultural Revolution and the Cottage Industry. In the war of Spanish Succession, England gained even more property like Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Hudson River. The war of Austrian Succession (1740–1748) showed a great English threat to France when England took over India from France. They built an Indian army and nationalized the country. Therefore, when the 7 Years War broke out between the English and the French, the French were dominated because of England’s strong military force.
England was able to trade and commemorate with the Indians which allowed their economy to boom. The Netherlands, at this time, were on their all-time high- hence, the 17th century was titled the Golden Age.
They were experiencing economic growth because of banking and trading. They also benefitted from the agricultural revolution. Their founding of the Dutch East India Company allowed them to make allies in Asia and open more trade for their own country. The Netherlands began to override the power of Spain and were given so much freedom due to the Peace of Westphalia. Spain was experiencing their Golden Age in the sixteenth century because of their exploration of South America that opened doors for trading and allies. This trade (that included gold) gave their economy budget a boost. However, they were seriously defeated after the English raided their ships. As we know, the Spanish Armada defeat was one of the most tragic defeats in Spanish history under Philip II’s rule. This defeat hurt their economy even more and nearly all their power was gone, until the Treaty of Pyrenees officially gave up Spanish power to
England. The “toughest” dispute during the 17th century was the rivalry between England and France. England had the open seas, trade, military power, and France had the large population and was plentiful in natural resources. The English defeated the French in the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years War. In 1759, a British invasion on the French Quebec ended in the Treaty of Paris that took away French owned North American and Indian Territory. It was then given to Britain. The Netherlands and the British were able to work together and control the trade because they had territory overseas and in other continents. Their military was very strong and their economy was booming at the time. The fact that France and Spain had literally been stripped of all their territory and military and economic strength, it was no hassle for England and the Netherlands to defeat them and control trade. France and Spain were susceptible to power-overtake, and that is just what happened.