Restoration England 1660-1685Topic Summary
Topic Summary: The Dutch Wars, 1665-1674
Part of The Dutch Wars — GCSE History
This topic summary covers Topic Summary: The Dutch Wars, 1665-1674 within The Dutch Wars for GCSE History. Revise The Dutch Wars in Restoration England 1660-1685 for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 4 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 15 of 15 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 15 of 15
Practice
8 questions
Recall
4 flashcards
Topic Summary: The Dutch Wars, 1665-1674
Key Terms
- Navigation Acts: Laws requiring colonial trade to use English ships — the economic trigger for the Second Dutch War
- Raid on the Medway: Dutch attack on Chatham (June 1667) — England's worst naval humiliation; Royal Charles towed away
- Treaty of Breda: Peace treaty ending the Second Dutch War (1667) — England kept New York
- CABAL: Charles's five ministers after Clarendon's dismissal — Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, Lauderdale
- Secret Treaty of Dover: 1670 agreement with Louis XIV — Charles promised to convert to Catholicism in exchange for French money
- Lord High Admiral: James, Duke of York — commanded at Lowestoft (1665); later revealed as a Catholic convert
- Royal African Company: English trading monopoly in slaves and gold; Anglo-Dutch rivalry on African coast was a pre-war flashpoint
- Clarendon Code: 1661-65 Acts enforcing Church of England and punishing non-conformists; named after Charles's dismissed Lord Chancellor
Key Dates
- 1660: Navigation Acts renewed and strengthened — direct challenge to Dutch trade
- 1665: Battle of Lowestoft — English victory, James commands, 17 Dutch ships sunk
- 1666: Four Days' Battle — Dutch victory, 20 English ships lost; also year of Plague and Great Fire
- June 1667: Raid on the Medway — Dutch burn English fleet, capture Royal Charles
- July 1667: Treaty of Breda — peace ends Second Dutch War; Clarendon dismissed
- 1670: Secret Treaty of Dover — Charles II's secret Catholic alliance with Louis XIV
- 1672: Third Dutch War begins — England and France attack Holland
- 1674: Parliament forces peace — Third Dutch War ends; Charles abandoned by Parliament
Key People
- Charles II: Sought naval glory and trade profit; ultimately shown he could not govern without Parliament's money
- James, Duke of York: Lord High Admiral; commanded at Lowestoft; later Catholic convert; his religion drove the Exclusion Crisis
- Lord Clarendon: Lord Chancellor dismissed 1667 as scapegoat for Medway disaster; went into exile in France
- Michiel de Ruyter: Dutch admiral who led the Medway raid; the man who inflicted England's greatest naval humiliation
- Samuel Pepys: Naval Secretary and diarist; recorded the chaos and fear after the Medway; key primary source for the period
Must-Know Facts
- Medway raid: June 1667 — Dutch towed away the Royal Charles, flagship of the English navy
- The fleet was laid up at Chatham because Parliament had not funded the war properly — financial failure, not military surprise
- England kept New Amsterdam (New York) under the Treaty of Breda — the one gain from the Second Dutch War
- Clarendon dismissed 1667 as scapegoat for the Medway — replaced by the CABAL ministry
- Secret Treaty of Dover 1670: Charles promised conversion to Catholicism for French money
- Third Dutch War (1672-74): Parliament forced Charles to make peace — direct demonstration of Parliamentary power over the Crown's foreign policy
- Date sequence to memorise: 65 (Lowestoft victory) → 66 (Four Days' Battle defeat) → 67 (Medway disaster and peace)
- MPGF: why England lost — Money, Plague, Great Fire, France joined Dutch
- The wars' greatest significance: they proved Parliament controlled the Crown's finances, and fed the anti-Catholic fear that culminated in the Exclusion Crisis
Cross-Topic Links
- → Trade & Economy (Topic 57): The Dutch Wars were fundamentally trade wars — the Navigation Acts created the commercial rivalry that made conflict inevitable, linking foreign policy to economic ambition.
- → Charles's Court (Topic 50): The Secret Treaty of Dover (1670) — signed between wars — reveals Charles's strategy of using French money to reduce dependence on Parliament, connecting diplomatic history to domestic politics.
- → Exclusion Crisis (Topic 59): James's role as Lord High Admiral and his Catholic faith (exposed 1673) made him central to both war and the succession crisis — the Dutch Wars contributed directly to anti-Catholic feeling.
- → Great Plague (Topic 53): Both the Plague and the Four Days' Battle struck in 1665-66, compounding each other's damage — Parliament withheld war funds partly because of the economic devastation of plague and fire.
- → Restoration (Topic 49): Parliament's repeated refusal to fund the wars adequately (including disbanding the fleet at Chatham) showed that the 1660 settlement permanently limited royal war-making power.