What if spain conquered england

Do you think a female ruler would have been at a disadvantage if the invasion had taken place? The first visual representations of the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Download: Lesson pack Related resources Elizabethan propaganda How did England try to show Spain planned to invade in ? This website uses cookies We place some essential cookies on your device to make this website work.

Set cookie preferences. Skip to Main Content. Search our website Search Discovery, our catalogue. View lesson as PDF. View full image. Lesson at a glance. Download: Lesson pack. Did God really help the English defeat the Spanish Armada? Tasks 1. This is an extract from a letter to the English government which gives details about the progress of the Armada.

How useful do you think this information would be to the English government? Why were there more soldiers than sailors? How do you think the news that the Spanish Armada had been sighted was able to reach Lord Howard so quickly when he was at Plymouth, over a hundred miles away?

Why do you think Howard complained to Walsingham about the wind? What made it strong? The dates mentioned in this account are based on an old calendar which is slightly different from the one we use now. These events took place at the end of July and first week of August according to our calendar. According to Hawkins, what was the main problem for the English fleet in the battle near Portland? Does Hawkins think that the English have a chance to beat the Spanish Armada?

Parma would have been in a position to force concessions from Elizabeth I concerning Catholic worship in England and the surrender of English influence in the Spanish Netherlands. Whether she was captured quickly during the siege of London or later after making a last stand at a stronghold like Windsor Castle, England would certainly have lost its Protestant regime.

This would have an instant effect on European politics as Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands would stop receiving English support and so likely face defeat, all but ending hope for Dutch independence.

The Spanish believed Catholics around England would rise up in support of the invasion, heartened by reports from their spies of friendly populations in counties like Lancashire, Westmorland, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Hampshire; they even brought gifts of jewel-encrusted swords for Catholic nobles. Some English Catholics would conceivably support the Spanish and there would be little chance of loyal Protestants holding out.

Total conquest of England was by no means assured. The Spanish were on foreign soil and facing at least a guerrilla campaign from Protestant forces, which could have spilled over into civil war. The sea would have to have been exceptionally calm, the weather kind and the tides benevolent. England, no longer a Protestant nation and bearing the humiliation of invasion, could have become part of the Spanish Empire. Colonisation of the New World would have looked very different with Spain as the dominant power and England not featuring at all.

There may not have been a British Empire. Philip wished to dethrone Elizabeth I and re-install a Catholic monarchy in England. A combination of poor leadership and strategy, faster English ships and bad weather all culminated in the retreat of the Armada back to Spanish shores.

When the fleet eventually made it back to Spain, nearly half of the ships had been lost. This in turn led to the rise of the British Empire. How might English or indeed world history look if the Armada had broken through? Before we dive into the historical ramifications of a Spanish win, let us first analyse just how Spain might have secured a victory over the English during the summer of Spies for Elizabeth had long reported on the amassing of the Spanish invasion fleet, so the element of surprise for Spain was non-existent by This gave the English time to make preparations of their own, which included building up their fleet and the creation of an early warning system of beacons spread across the south coast.

The beacons were lit when the Spanish fleet came into view, rapidly reporting the news to London. The Armada would have had a greater chance of success had it not taken so long to launch. However, the experienced admiral died in February , just a few months before the actual Armada launched. This led to Philip appointing the Duke of Medina to the role of commander, a man who had zero naval experience and was blamed for a multitude of strategic errors during the invasion.

So let us imagine the Spanish had launched earlier and successfully joined forces with the army camped at Flanders. They would have then had to tackle the logistically complicated task of transporting troops, artillery and horses across the English Channel, requiring a great deal of luck from the weather, tides and sea.

If all that went to plan then it's likely the battle-hardened and well-trained Spanish troops would have advanced on London with relative ease. At that time, the Spanish army was considered the best in Europe whilst the English army was poorly led, trained and supplied.

The Spanish also hoped after they landed that uprisings would occur across the country as Catholic sympathisers looked to seize upon the opportunity to oust the Protestant regime.