 Hello and welcome to our video summarizing all we need to know about Queen Elizabeth I and the Elizabethan era. My name is Barbara and in this video, we'll examine England's war with Spain under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth. Bear in mind that this is the fifth of our five-part revision series and bear in mind that there are four other videos to also examine which cover the life of Elizabeth herself from her birth all the way to her death, the Elizabethan government and the structure of the government, how life was like during Elizabethan times as well as troubles that Queen Elizabeth faced at home and abroad. All of this is going to be really helpful, particularly if you're studying Queen Elizabeth and her reign as part of your upcoming exams or your coursework. So let's get started. Now, of course, as I've mentioned in previous videos, Elizabeth and England had a really defining and important war with Spain. So during her reign, England and Spain, by and large, tried to stay on good terms. However, there were growing tensions and these tensions eventually escalated into a war. Now, there were political, religious and economic tensions which caused a lot of friction between the two countries. There was King Philip II of Spain who had been married to Queen Mary I of England and the two countries had been allies. Elizabeth and Philip did try to maintain good relations, but tensions between them gradually began to grow. Now from a political perspective, Spain was a great imperial power and in Europe, Philip ruled Spain, the Netherlands and parts of Italy and from 1581 Portugal as well. And so he had a large empire in the Americas and in 1570s, England was starting to have ambitions for an empire of its own and this led to a growing rivalry between the two countries. Also from the religious perspective, Philip was a devout Catholic and he hated Elizabeth's religious settlement, which punished and put lots of restrictions on Catholics in England. He became involved in several Catholic plots against Elizabeth in the 1570s and 1580s, which damaged Elizabeth's trust in him. From the economic perspective, Elizabeth encouraged privateers who were people who owned their own ships to trade illegally with Spanish colonies, raid Spanish ships and attack the treasure fleets, carrying gold and silver from the new world, which is the Americas to Spain. In the 1560s, an English fleet commanded by John Hawkins traded with Spanish colonies and even though Spain had banned them from doing so and this of course led to the Battle of San Juan de Lour in 1568. Also, Sir Francis Drake raided many Spanish colonies in South America during his world around the world voyage, which of course escalated tensions between England and Spain. England and Spain thus eventually went over into war over Netherlands. In 1581, Protestant rebels in the Netherlands declared independence from Spain and in 1584 the rebel leader William the Silent was assassinated and the revolt was in danger of being defeated. So Queen Elizabeth decided to help the rebels. In 1585 she signed the Treaty of Nonsush, which promised military assistance and thus religious economic and military factors influenced the decision. No one came to the religious factors. Queen Elizabeth wanted to protect Dutch Protestantism and prevent Philip from forcing Catholicism on the Netherlands. When it came to economics, English exports to Europe were vital to the English economy and many English goods reached the European market via Dutch ports, especially Antwerp. Elizabeth therefore needed to ensure that English merchants would have access to the Dutch ports. From the military perspective, if the rebels were defeated Philip might use the Netherlands as a base for an invasion of England. Philip himself saw the Treaty of Nonsush as a declaration of war in Spain and in response he began building a huge fleet in Armada that he planned to use to invade England. Now when it came to Spanish Armada, it was launched in 1588, but right from the start things didn't go according to plan. So Francis Drake was sent to disrupt Spanish preparations for the Armada and Queen Elizabeth sent him to spy on Spanish reparations and attack the ships and supplies and in April 1587 So Francis Drake attacked the Spanish court of Cadiz and he destroyed around 30 ships and seized many tons of supplies. This therefore delayed the Armada by over a year. Obtaining fresh supplies and weapons was very expensive and this therefore strained Spain's finances. Also during his raid, so Francis Drake captured planks made from seasoned wood which were needed to make the barrels used to carry food and water. As a result, the Spanish had to make the barrels from unseasoned wood which couldn't preserve food and water very well and this caused supply problems for the Armada and affected the morale of Spanish troops and sailors. Fresh water supplies were lost and many tons of food rotted as the fleet sailed to England 1588. So Francis Drake described his raid on Cadiz as singeing the kings of Spain's bid. He meant that he had essentially inflicted temporary damage on King Philip's Armada but hadn't destroyed it internally. It would grow back in time. The Armada planned to meet the Duke of Palmer in Dunkirk. So firstly by the spring of 1588 the Spanish Armada was complete. The Armada was a huge fleet of around 130 ships manned approximately by 8000 sailors and carrying an estimated 1800 soldiers. Sir or rather King Philip appointed the Duke of Medina Sidonia to lead the Armada. He respected the Duke's high social status and trusted him to obey instructions. However the Duke had very little military or naval experience. Thirdly the Spanish had thousands more soldiers stationed in the Netherlands under the leadership of Duke of Palmer. And Philip's plan for the Armada to meet Palmer's army at Dunkirk. The combined forces would then sail across the channel to England under the protection of the Armada's warships. However the English managed to scatter Spain's ships. Now the Armada set out in May 1588 and in July it was sighted off Cornwall. English ships set sail from Plymouth to attack the Armada but they caused little damage and only two Spanish ships were lost and they were destroyed by accident. The Armada then sailed up the channel in a crescent formation and this was an effective defensive strategy which used the large armed galleons to protect the weaker sublime troop ships. Having sailed up the channel Medina Sidonia anchored the Calais to wait for Palmer's troops. However Palmer and his men were being blockaded by Dutch ships and weren't able to reach the coast in time. Medina Sidonia may have thought his ships were safe in Calais but his problems are only beginning and things went from bad to worse. That night the English sent eight fire ships, these are ships loaded with flammable materials and satellite among the anchored Spanish ships. The Spanish sailors panicked and headed for the open sea. The weather made it impossible for them to return to their defensive positions at Calais. Also the English advanced and the following battle lasted for many hours. Five Spanish ships were sunk and the rest of the fleet was forced to sail away from the French coast at the North Sea. The Mardos journey back to Spain was also a disaster. So Medina Sidonia decided to call off the attack on England and returned to Spain by sailing around Scotland and Ireland. The Spanish sailors however were really unfamiliar with this very dangerous route and they encountered several powerful Atlantic storms. Many ships sank or were wrecked on the Scottish and Irish coast. Those ships that completed the journey ran short of supplies and many men died of starvation and disease in less than half of the fleet and fewer than the 10,000 men made it back to Spain. The war with Spain continued until 1604. Despite the defeat of the Mardos there was continued tension between England and Spain which did help sustain the war. So the victory of 1588 encouraged England's development as a strong naval power to rival Spain and it boosted Elizabeth's popularity and strengthened the Protestant cause that was seen as a sign that God himself favoured Protestantism. Spain was also determined to end the Protestant rebellion in the Netherlands and bring the country back under Spanish control. So Queen Elizabeth continued supporting the rebels which in turn angered Prince King Philip. Elizabeth still attacked Spanish ships off the coast of Spain through her army and in the Caribbean while Spain launched two more unsuccessful Mardos in 1596 and 1597. However by the end of the 16th century the conflict was beginning to seriously drain English and Spanish resources and in 1604 they signed a priest treaty which brought an official end to the war. So that's all. If you found this video useful do give us a thumbs up. But also head over to our website which is www.firstrate tutors.com. There you will find history model answers and exam papers that you can use to enhance your essay writing skills and get top marks when it comes to your exams and coursework. Make sure also you check out our other four videos because this is the final of a five part video series where we summarise all the different aspects of Queen Elizabeth's reign and life in Elizabethan England. Thank you so much for listening.