Britain had the greatest naval fleet in the world. Even when challenged by the best Spain had to offer, she was able to uphold her reputation. Now this was a lot to say since, “Spain in the sixteenth century was at the height of her power.”(Marx 11) Philip II was on a conquering massacre and Britain was the next to fall victim. Now with Elizabeth I trying to hold her unstable, internally conflicting country together, Spain thought it would be simple. Well, that is what they thought.

Britain was having major problems within herself. Elizabeth I, being a female, did not have complete support from her country. Scotland, Wales and Ireland were in constantly in Elizabeth’s face with a threat of revolt. On top of that the small country had no wealth with the taxes being brought in late or being never brought in at all. Now to get an idea of how poor Britain actually was, British land owners were forced to sell their land and personal belongings to buy food when the small amount of taxes were not in on time. The Protestant Elizabeth was an easy target for the Spanish conquest.

Charles V was the father of Philip II and he had an idealist dream. He wanted to wipe clean all oth

The quick British ships made circles around the large Spanish ships crashing into each other. The Spanish had then no choice but to retreat up North instead of South closer to their home. It was August 9, 1588 and the Spanish ships were running up North but got in trouble fast. While sailing up North the fleet got stuck in the sandy banks of Zealand. Britain was going to let them go but because they were just sitting there like sitting ducks they were going finish them off. But just as the fleet was going in for the final blow a miracle occurred. A strong wind pushed the Spanish fleet clear off the sandy banks and away form Britain. The battle was over and Britain had won, but the battle was far from over for Spain. They had a huge struggle just to stay alive.

er religions besides Christianity. He did in fact accomplish this dream until his created Christendom was split. Charles V was able to conquer all of the land around the Mediterranean and turn all conquered lands into Christianity; this was called Christendom. This was all good for Charles V until the Protestant Reformation ripped his ideal world in half. Now his son Philip II was going to do everything in his power to share in his father’s dream. Nothing was going to stop Philip II from having Christianity all throughout the New World. However, the scary thing about Philip II was that he would use everything and anything in is power until he got what he wanted and so far it was working. Philip was finally able to defeat the Moorish invaders after a seven-year struggle. In addition, Philip II also took the neighboring Portugal along with discovering new worlds across the ocean. This caused Philip II to own three-fourths of the known world. Now with such an impressive resume Britain should have been an easy task, should have.

The knowledgeable British captains sat down and figured out plans to stop the Spanish. First, they decided to attack the crescent formation of the Spanish Armada a different way than before. Instead of attacking straight up the middle they decided to attack the points or tips of the shape. This was the Armada’s weakest point and the small guns of their ships could do more damage. Second, they decided to use an offensive strike feared by all. The use of the dreaded fireships. These types of ships consisted of a regular seaman ship loaded with gunpowder and lit on fire. The ships were then sent in a suicide type of way straight into the opposition, and because the British ships were so fast the opposing ships could not get out of the way in time. These two strategies really messed up Spain. Everything planned by the British worked perfectly. The long-range guns broke down the weak outer points causing the crescent shape to become a large mass of ships. The fireships were then sent straight into the middle of this cluster of ships taking a maximum effect. This all occurred on a day in August and a battle that had been on going for three months was now being decided in a matter of a day. The Spanish ships became disorganized and looked like a pile of mush.

Britain, Spain and France were in constant conflict with each other. These three countries persistently teamed up on one and other. At one time Britain and France would team up on Spain, then break that alliance and Britain and Spain would make an alliance. It was a very awkward situation for all three countries but would take a turn for good with Spain. Philip II took advantage of this confusion when France decided to make an alliance with him to bring down the Protestant Religion. So with France off his back Britain was the only thing he had to worry about. With this the Invincible Armada left Coronnor and arrived at Lizard Point, England

Some topics in this essay:
Philip II, Armada Instead, British Island, Armada Mattingly, Francis Drake, Mentioned Britain, Zealand Britain, God God, Besides Spain, Britain British, philip ii, british ships, spanish ships, britain spain, sir francis drake, spain coming, spain britain, sir francis, francis drake, ships water, spanish armada, philip ii power,