INTRODUCTION:
It is very difficult to sort out exactly why the Armada failed.
At the time it happened the English and the Spanish had different viewpoints.
Modern historians keep finding new evidence which help explain the reasons.
Essentially the key reasons can be divided into four groups;
* Spanish mistakes,
* English strengths,
* Spanish weaknesses and
* Spanish bad luck.
1. Some historians have suggested that the Armada
failed because the original Spanish plan was flawed.
Philip II had asked two different commanders to put together plans for
the invasion.
Both the Marquis of Santa Cruz and the Duke of Parma put forward their
suggestions.
Santa Cruz’s plan was a naval plan; Parma’s was an army
plan.
Philip II made the mistake of trying to combine the two different plans.
When Santa Cruz died in 1588 the Duke of Medina Sidonia had to take
over command of the invasion - following someone else’s plan!
2. The plan was doubly flawed because Medina
Sidonia did not realise how difficult it would be for Parma’s
vessels (which were just transport vessels - barges and small ships)
to get out to meet up with the Armada quickly - especially if the weather
conditions were bad.
3. Some historians suggest that the main reason
the Armada was defeated was because of the strengths of the English
side.
A. Firstly, some point out the clever English
tactics.
The English used their greatest strength - their guns - to do damage
to the Spanish and
then they sent out a fireship which dispersed the Armada, making it
move northwards.
B. Others say that the English had better
ships and better guns, and their seamen were better trained than the
Spanish.
Medina Sidonia himself said that the cannons of the English ships were
very efficient and did great damage to his ships.
By comparison he said that the Spanish ships didn’t have enough
projectiles for their guns.
4. Other historians point to the weaknesses in
the Spanish side and argue that this is why the Armada failed.
They say that the Spanish didn’t fire their heavy guns often enough.
Some thought it may have been because their guns were more difficult
to reload, or
because the Spanish seamen weren’t trained to reload quickly..
However, recent archaeological evidence from the wrecks raised from
the sea shows that
the Spanish guns and the shot were really badly manufactured.
Many of the cannon balls didn’t fit the guns and
some of the guns were bored so badly that they probably could never
have been fired at all.
It is likely that Drake realised that he had little to fear from the
Spanish guns, particularly after he captured a Spanish galleon and was
able to get on board.
5. However, it is also true that the Spanish had
bad luck.
They were unlucky with the weather which presented many difficulties
for them, particularly for Parma’s barges and for the inexperienced
gunners. The weather also slowed down the invasion fleet and made their
job very difficult because they didn’t have a port they could
take refuge in.
The coins issued to celebrate the victory over the Armada show us that
people at the time thought that the weather played an important part,
and
the Armada portrait of Elizabeth also shows the stormy conditions. (But
in those days they usually thought that things happened because of God.
If they could say that it was the weather then they could say that God
was on their side and had wanted them to win).
Conclusion: So.... what do YOU think?
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