Significant1652 – 1784 · 132 years
Anglo-Dutch Wars
England · Netherlands · North Sea · Mediterranean
Three naval conflicts between England and Dutch Republic contested global maritime and colonial dominance (1652-1678).
Estimated casualties
200Ksingle estimate · no range published
What happened
As maritime powers competing for colonial possessions and naval supremacy, England and the Dutch fought three wars. The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654) resulted from English Navigation Acts restricting Dutch trade. The Second (1665-1667) saw successful Dutch raids on English fleets, including the capture of New Amsterdam. The Third (1672-1674) involved English and French alliance against the Dutch. English naval innovation and French pressure gradually shifted advantage to England. The wars redefined Atlantic naval power relationships.
Why it mattered
Anglo-Dutch wars presaged English naval dominance during the 18th-19th centuries. Dutch colonial eclipse initiated English hegemony over North America and Indian Ocean. The conflicts established England as the premier Atlantic naval power.
Belligerents3
- England
- United Provinces
- France
Conflict graph
SUB-CONFLICTS · 3
- First Anglo-Dutch War1652–54
- Second Anglo-Dutch War1665–67
- Fourth Anglo-Dutch War1780–84
Sources
- Wikipedia — text reused under CC BY-SA 4.0
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 1652 and opens this record.
Cite as: Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652 – 1784). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/c/anglo-dutch-wars · Sources & methodology