Why was Spain s maritime supremacy taken away by Britain?

In the 15th century, with the discovery of the New World by Columbus and Magellan, the world began to gradually connect as a whole, and the regions were no longer separate individuals, the era of geographical discoveries came, and at the beginning of the geographical discoveries, Spain and Portugal took the lead in becoming the world's hegemon, especially Spain built a navy known as the Invincible Armada, but the rise and fall of the dynasty will eventually be sometimes, in that era of great powers, no one can once and for all, eternal hegemony, Spain is the same, If they do not strive to develop, they will soon be surpassed by other countries, and the Spanish rulers at that time did not use the wealth brought by the great geographical discoveries to develop their own strength, but spent a lot of money for the pleasure of the royal family, and at this time Britain is under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I, the greatest monarch in British history, secretly developed, Britain has always focused on the strength of the navy, their navy is known as the Royal Navy of the British Empire, but it is worth playing, The rulers of the Royal Navy at that time were a bunch of pirates. <>

So how exactly did Spain lose its hegemony to Britain? In 1588 AD, Britain and Spain broke out a large-scale naval battle because of the struggle for maritime supremacy, we first look at Spain's equipment, the Spanish fleet has a total of 30,000 soldiers, this number is absolutely superior, but the warships used by Spain are still short-range cannon ships, and the combat tactics they adopt are also by soldiers jumping off the ship to fight, so in this case, the other party finds your weakness and you will soon collapse. <>

In contrast, in the United Kingdom, the then British Naval Commander and Senior Staff Officer for Naval Affairs John. Hawkins found that this era has changed the traditional way of warfare is no longer suitable for naval warfare, so he converted the royal ** into a fast fleet, and within ten years equipped with long-range heavy artillery, high hit rate and long range, so soon after the start of the war, a large number of Spanish fleets, because they could not get close to the British warships, were soon hit by British artillery fire, sunk into the vast sea, and it was after this battle that Spain lost its position as the supremacy of the sea. <>

Capitalism in Britain was in its infancy. The development of light industry forced it to rush to find overseas commercial markets; Innovations in shipbuilding and seafaring technology further inflated Britain's ambition to conquer the colonies.

At that time, the British abandoned the game of securing battles, and purely relied on high maneuverability and long-range firepower to fly kites. The Spanish ships couldn't catch up with them, and they couldn't beat them. The result was a crushing defeat for the Spanish fleet, and on the way home there was a hurricane, which resulted in more than half of the losses.

Since then, Spain's maritime supremacy has been gradually replaced by the British.

English capitalism sprouts, commodities In August 1588, Spain and England fought a fierce and spectacular naval battle in the English Channel in order to compete for supremacy at sea. In this naval battle, Spain was powerful, advanced, and powerful, with more than 30,000 soldiers, known as the "luckiest invincible armada". However, unexpectedly, the naval battle ended in a devastating defeat for Spain, and the "Armada" was almost completely annihilated.

Since then, Spain has declined sharply, and the status of "maritime hegemon" has been replaced by England.

The primitive accumulation of capital grew rapidly, and the emerging bourgeoisie in Europe became increasingly powerful economically. Britain and Spain were at odds with each other in their activities of expanding overseas ** and colonial plunder. In order to expand overseas markets, it is necessary to seek maritime supremacy.

Therefore, Britain was anxious to replace Spain as supremacy at sea.

Spain was the most powerful colonial empire in Europe at the time. With a population of 10 million, the colony's sphere of influence has extended to the four continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States, and is known as the "empire on which the sun never sets". The reason why Spain was able to dominate the world, arbitrarily interfere in the international affairs of Europe and the world, and monopolize many regions was mainly by virtue of its maritime hegemony and a huge fleet.

The British were equipped with long-range artillery when they were fighting, and their people were also relatively scattered, and there were many pirates to join, the Spanish were more conservative at that time, and their ships were equipped with soldiers and long-range artillery, and they were connected with cables to form a horizontal team, so that when the British finished fighting each other, they ran Kiga, and Spain quickly fell into the acre and was defeated.

Britain has become stronger, Britain has risen, Britain is the first country to enter the industrial Li Li, Britain's science and technology are more advanced, and Britain's social development has made a qualitative leap.

Britain had the upper hand, and while Spain was preparing to invade Britain, the British were the first to strike.

At the end of the 14th century, the Caravelle style sailing ship was improved, becoming the first Catholic country in Europe to popularize the three-masted sailing ship.

In the 15th century, the ports of Seville, Malaga, Almeria, Valencia and other ports were expanded successively, and the port throughput gradually surpassed that of Marseille and Genoa, the former hegemon of the Mediterranean, and was second only to Venice, the treasure box of the Mediterranean.

The conquest of Morocco in the mid-15th century gave full control of the Strait of Gibraltar and became the maritime gateway to the western side of the Mediterranean.

In the 16th century, learning the techniques of the Turkish navy, the Latin sail galen was improved, a third deck was added, deck guns were used extensively, and the Genoese defeated the Venetian Turkish navy together.

During the Habsburg period of Spain, he conquered Tunisia twice and curbed North African piracy and Islamic power. The north controls low-lying countries such as the Netherlands. In the battle for the north, the naval naval blockade of Oslo was used for half a year, becoming the first country to use the tactics of naval blockade.

In 1580, Portugal was annexed, the imperial ships were reorganized, and the Arfonso dry dockyard was used as a production base to build the Armada. Eight years later, the naval battle with Britain was defeated, and the sea supremacy changed hands.

In 1595 the Port of Caracas was inaugurated as the largest port in the New World, only to be replaced by the expanded Port of Havana only eight years later.

The first country to introduce a naval escort system in the 17th century protected Spanish gold ships between Europe and the New World.

Launched in Havana in 1769, the USS Santa Trinidad is the world's only four-deck supership. Spain is determined to once again restore its position as the supremacy of the seas.

In 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, lost to Nelson, the Santa Trinidad was captured. After the loss of the colony, the province of Gibraltar was swept away by the British, and Spain completely lost the ability to compete for maritime hegemony.

After the opening of new shipping routes, the Netherlands took advantage of its unique geographical conditions to operate transshipment with the colonies**. The northern province of Holland became the most economically developed province under capitalism.

The shipbuilding industry in the Netherlands is very well developed and actively developed abroad**, and Amsterdam is an important port.

At the end of the 16th century, the Netherlands gradually replaced Spain as maritime supremacy, transshipment goods for many countries. In the 17th century, the Netherlands monopolized the world's shipping industry and became the world's "sea coachman".

After the fall of the Spanish Armada, the era of Dutch control of the world began. In 1651, England promulgated the "Navigation Regulations", which aimed directly at the Netherlands, and after three Anglo-Dutch wars, the Netherlands lost its maritime supremacy.

Hope it helps.

The first overlord was Spain, and thanks to the success of Columbus, Spanish colonists quickly flocked to the American continent, directly bringing the destruction of Inca civilization in South America.

Then came the Netherlands, the sea coachman, who vigorously developed commerce, mainly local products from Southeast Asia, created the East India Company, and once occupied Taiwan, China. At one time, the Netherlands was the country with the most powerful maritime power.

Then England began to rise under the leadership of Queen Victoria, and after defeating the Spanish Armada, it began to expand throughout the world, constantly taking the colonies of Spain and the Netherlands as its own. Gradually become an empire on which the sun never sets.

Almost at the same time, France also began to take the path of militarization and seizure of sea power, occupying Canada and the west coast of Africa. But it is still slightly inferior to the UK.

Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, France.

Spain. Netherlands, United Kingdom, France.