The video forgets to mention that Prince William from Holland not only brought with him protestantism and 40.000 soldiers and seamen, he also brought with him advanced shipbuilding technology, advanced cannon foundry techniques (Dutch cannons shot further and better than English ones), novel high finance systems, and knowledge of where to go for trade and how to gather riches, for The Netherlands at that moment in time was the richest nation in the world. Samuel Pepys describes that the one ship they managed to catch from the fleet of about 280 "returning from the East", had enough value in its bulk to pay for the cost of a fleet. It made him cry. (Source: SImon Schama, The Embarrasment of Riches)
The british have a bad habit of glossing over anything dutch related to their history. Like i know they've had their fair share of wars, but it's hilariously stupid how they sometimes can't admit anything that isn't pro british
about half the country was protestant or some other faith other than catholic, our tech was similar to the Dutch if anything it was because we were so similar we bonded better together, we had 3-4 wars against each other, even the Netherlands had a lot of Catholics since it was controlled by the Spanish and French for a while. also the only reason William of orange became king was because he was married to Mary the daughter of king James the king he usurped with the consent of parliament.
Drake's circumnavigation of the world in the 16th century, with a ship full of gold and silver after many battles, is one of the most insane adventure stories of all time....
I am baffled how much additional as well as vital content is gathered here within this original documentary. We, here in germany, were presented only with a dubbed, 4-Part & around 35 - 40 minute episodic documentary. I mean, I had no Idea that england had such problems with the turks. Ó_ò Apart from that, still what a fantastic work of a documentary! I really enjoyed every minute of it. =)
This is my first incursion into this aspect of the naval history of England. I lived on and owned wooden schooners all my life and ended up in the Caribbean. The focus and honesty is much appreciated. Complete with a little British dramatic presentation, I love the series. Thank you. .... and, as the next person wrote, “stunningly beautiful “ doesn’t hurt. Great photography, writing and location shots, too.
handsome boss all day If there was a similar documentary about the Spanish Navy I would certainly watch it assuming the video is in English. I have nothing against subtitles but they make it difficult or impossible to multitask.
Excuse me, the spanish navy wasnt better, what i meant is that they have been the greatest naval powers in history... Unfortunately in Spain there is absolutely ZERO patriotism and wheras in Eng Nelson is a god, here no one knows anything about the time of ruling the waves of Spain and no one will ever do something for it. However im thinking of doing it.. in english... hope u will watch it!
The English have always been an impressive military power. If anyone had to beat beautiful Spain then I am happy it was the English. God bless that beautiful island and her people!
Well, they didn’t beat them. The weather forced Spain to abort the operation. And before that Spain beat the Brits: the Brits lost 8 ships and Spain none.
Ouch! Glaring error in the very first paragraph of the narrative. The English didn't celebrate doodly squat "beneath the dome of St Pauls" following the defeat of the Spanish armada for the simple reason that St Paul's didn't have a dome. The original St Paul's was a Gothic cathedral that had a spire not a dome and was gutted in the Great Fire of 1666. The new cathedral, the domed baroque structure that replaced it, was not completed until 1710... over a hundred and twenty years after the victory against Spain.
The British do make the best documentaries, particularly historical ones. In this, they appear to enjoy a distinct advantage over others - especially if the language of presentation happens to be English. Post Scriptum: We make splendid historical documentaries in Greece, too; the only trouble is one can never be quite sure in which language they are produced because the narration is always drowned out by the deafening volume of the backgr... - I mean, FOREGROUND! - music.
Kalimera, Dorian. This Hellenic-American would love to see Hellenic documentaries, if in English. We have the same problem here with nearly all film/TV productions, the music/sound effects are incredibly loud. When I go to the cinema, I wear ear plugs, but I prefer to see them at home, where I can toggle the volume up or down.
This is true but it's unfortunate that they are pretty clever with the lies too. As an example, the presenter calls Britain a democracy. That's simply hilarious. Democracy is a ploy that that rich and powerful use to fool the poor and weak. No self respecting ruler would let the idiot masses decide the polices of a nation, so they allow us fools to live in our wonderful fantasy land where we have some say in the direction of our lives. Bring back the rule kings and queens I say.
+ Kish Jugo Yes indeed very true. Propaganda has always been a very powerful tool in silencing the truth, mutating the truth or minimizing it so that it can't be seen or heard - or even diverting the public conversation away from important truths - to other topics - the art of fallacy and use of "the red herring" as it were. Take my comments below for instance which are hidden from view on the main page of this video and can only be seen when I am signed in to youtube. Many youtubers have become very disgruntled by this shadow banning and hiding of truths and have moved their channels to DTube, Bitchute, Vimeo, and Daily Motion in answer to these types of censorship. In this video They certainly underplay the importance of the Dutch influence on England during the 17th century. Dutch privateering almost brought financial collapse of the English economy during all three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. The Dutch superiority in ships and captains is what caused the famous Navigation Acts to be passed. The Dutch possessed a larger navy spread over the world and many more merchant ships. Estimates put the Dutch at 25,000 merchantman at the time of the 2nd Dutch war with the English trailing badly with a mere three thousand. At 49:00 he fails to mention that the fleet was badly damaged after the Four Days Fight of 1666 against the Dutch and the English fleet far from achieving the destruction of the Dutch confederate fleet (that Monck so desired) were forced to retire. This was the largest battle in the history of sail. Three English admirals were killed in that battle and there was no money to repair the fleet. He also fails to mention that the Dutch then blockaded the Thames for a month during the time Pepys had gone to Greenwich and begged for help. He fails to mention that the Medway raid took an entire three days and that the Dutch landed 800 marines who terrorized the population and caused a panic. London was evacuated and Pepys and the King himself fled the countryside believing the Dutch were going to sack London. Ships weren't just sunk at Upnor, and there were skirmishes the whole way up to Chatham. Admiral Spragge attempted a desperate defense and called for reinforcements as London fled. Only one Regiment put up any kind of resistance. Captain Archibald Douglas and the Scot's Foot died to the last man defending the HMS Royal Oak which was burned. Admiral Monck ordered the remaining capital ships up river sunk so that the Dutch couldn't claim them. This brought the total to over 30 Royal Navy ships which were sunk by the English themselves. Also not true that there were no shots were fired in 1688. There were numerous skirmishes between loyalist English troops and William's Dutch Army soldiers and Danish mercenaries, even after London had been secured. In the next episode, they act as if Beachy Head was the turning point in navy organization, but the fact is it was cumulative from losses during the last two Dutch wars and the War of Spanish Succession combined that brought about that great evolution. To learn more come to Buccaneers Reef dot com 19 (likes) Bredah Jake1 year agoContext man, context! This is a general 4-part history of the British Navy not a one-shot on the war with the Dutch. Tell them to make their own docs. 4 Buccaneer's Reef (1 year ago) Sloppy history is sloppy history. Context aside, they need to get their facts straight if they are going to do a documentary. Omissions are one thing but getting the facts wrong are altogether another - especially considering many of the people interviewed and commenting are supposed to be scholars. Sad indeed... 1 soapbxprod (1 year ago) (edited)But the British became the Super Dutch- after years of fighting, the British invited William of Orange over to be King, and the two East India Companies merged, and the Bank of England and Stock Exchange modeled themselves after the Dutch inventions. Hooray for red white and blue Western Civ and the birth of free market capitalism. :) I recommend Niall Ferguson's wonderful series "Empire: How Britain made the Modern World": www.myvideo.ge/v/2634787 1 soapbxprod (1 year ago) indeed! The British became the Super Dutch- after years of fighting, the British invited William of Orange over to be King, and the two East India Companies merged, and the Bank of England and Stock Exchange modeled themselves after the Dutch inventions. Hooray for red white and blue Western Civ and the birth of free market capitalism. :) I recommend Niall Ferguson's wonderful series "Empire: How Britain made the Modern World": www.myvideo.ge/v/2634787 3 protestant england (11 months ago) modernknightone respect to the Dutch played a vital role in our history 1 Chris Goulding (5 months ago) Dutch stock exchange? Are you referring to the sales of tulips in the back of Coffee shops? Bank of England was the first national bank!! jumpingjflash (3 months ago) That's why that big city on Manhattan Island is called New Amsterdam. Oh, wait! The Dutch lost it, didn't they? To whom? Oh yes, to the Royal Navy. What's that city called now………? Buccaneer's Reef (5 days ago) Check your facts chum. The Bank of England WAS NOT the first national bank. The Bank of Amsterdam was! The Bank of England modeled itself after the Dutch edifice. Even the Bank of England's own website will tell you this. 1 Buccaneer's Reef (5 days ago) (edited)@jumpingjflash You do realize it was surrendered originally right? Not a shot was fired. So the Royal Navy did no fighting there. However, you do realize that the Dutch retook it right? During that reconquest the Dutch gave the Royal Navy quite a pummeling. They destroyed all of the Royal Navy Frigates defending the Chesapeake Bay and then further captured a fair amount of the English Colonial Tobacco fleet and burned the rest of it depriving the English Crown of millions of pounds of revenue. During this attack they also launched the first organized nationally led military attacks into North America against another European enemy. The Dutch marines not only destroyed every English Colonial Militia regiment they encountered, but they also plundered and burned most of the rich plantations on Chesapeake Bay and the James River. Some of those burned out ruins can still be seen. I've been there. These attacks were led by the famous Dutch captains/commanders Abraham Crijnnsen, Jakob Binckes, Cornelis Evertsen, and Nicholaas Boes. Another large attack was led upon New Jersey. upper New England, and Newfoundland where numerous towns and large homes were plundered and destroyed, along with dozens of ships and hundreds of fishing boats. Dozens of prizes were taken and conveyed back to New Amsterdam, and Holland. Nicholaas Boes led the southern attack and the Northern attack was led by Jurriean Aernoutz against the French in Acadia (because the French were English allies during the Third Anglo-Dutch/Franco-Dutch Wars) So the truth of the matter is that the Dutch actually ceded New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was a part) to the English at the conclusion of the Third Dutch War via the Second Treaty of Westminster (1674) because they didn't consider it nearly as important at this time as their monopoly in the spice islands of the East Indies OR their claims and large settlements/towns/forts in rich Surinam(which is still Dutch today). The English held the two tiny spice islands of Ai and Run and also had built a city, some colonial towns/settlements and forts in Surinam. The Dutch desired to possess ALL the spice islands with no English foothold and wanted the English out of their large holdings in what they considered Dutch Surinam. So they traded off New Netherland knowing that the colonies surrounding it were all English. In fact the Prince of Orange (who would be the King of England after a large invasion only 14 years later) was advised by his ministers that the colonists in New Amsterdam could not keep up with the English birth rate stating in letters (translated from Dutch) that "the English produce their little turd babies at twice the rate we are able. So with no further lands for us to expand into on the North American continent, we will be greatly outnumbered there in the next generation or two." So the truth of the matter here is that the Royal Navy had nothing to do with taking New Amsterdam and actually experienced a good thrashing in that area during this time in history. Glad I could teach you a little history fella. MK
My Great-Great Grandfather died on the HMS Monmouth in World War 1 and my Grandfather served in the Navy in the 1950s. My Dad was in the Merchant Navy.
My great grandfather was a merchant navy captain but during world war one he was a royal navy reservist. Sadly died in his 30s so his wife went to sea as a stewardess and his three girls went to Bearwood merchant seaman's school.
I’ve been studying English history as a hobby for 50 years and I never heard about these Turkish abductions. I knew they captured some sailors on the seas, but not that they actually took people from their homes in England.
Love Dan Snow, spent many an hour watching him and his father on 20th Century Battlefields - great to have another Snow marathon to binge on 👍 (Also, how awesome was that final shot with Dan halfway up the mast ?!) Many thanks for making this available to all, cheers 🍻👍
Same loved watching them on 20th century battlefields and battlefield Britain also had the honor of meeting his dad Peter snow in 2007 very nice gentleman
Tack för uppladdningen! Går igång svinhårt på historia, främst norra Europa men Storbritannien och Norden i synnerhet. Fattar inte hur jag missat denna uppladdning! Prenumererar.
The narrator speaks as if he and other Brits alive today somehow share in the greatness and evils of some of their ancestors. None of us do - those were other people.
The tides has turned form one century to the next. Ebb and flow of Empires rise and fall. A testament of time. No empire rule the sea forever. the battle continue to the sky and space. More of the same since the primordial
They understated how powerful the Kingdom of England already was at the time, sure it was a rank below France and the two Hapsburgs but it was definitely not poor, not poor at all. The average Englishman probably had a considerably higher income than their French or Spanish counterpart only northern/central Italy, lower Bavaria, Flanders and the North German city states could have been considered wealthier regions of christian Europe.
The reason why English is the defacto universal language can be traced back to its Navy and global commerce shipping. Also founded the US, Canada, Australia New Zealand and South Africa.
Yes it was. It was economically and politically a much less important power than the catholic monarchies of the continent. That wouldn't change for over another century.
Does anyone know what the title of the opening music is? I have heard this being played in the background of several TV programmes and have been unable to find it elsewhere on the web.
I wonder what would have happened to the British Empire if America didn't declare independence & stayed in the British Empire? What would the world be like today??
The Medway, from the Brit point of view...No mention of the victorious commanders, indeed it is not a victory for the Dutch, but a defeat for the Brit. The scale of narrative imbalance we are so used to...
I read that the sailors who were conscripted from the local peasantry to man the ships were kept at sea afterwards without provisions until many of them starved to death, if they died in action, or at least didn’t make it home the were not paid the money promised for their service. She was a wonderful queen!!
Why do documentaries on the Royal Navy always start with the Spanish Armada It is as if there was no navy before that. Actually Alfred the Great who founded the British Navy 700 years before the Armada. And this navy won several notable victories against one of the most feared sea-warriors of their time, the Vikings. What about the Battle of Slurs in 1340, an important English victory over the French.
likesmilitaryhistory Alan Moore there was no Unified Britain 700 years before the armada therefore no Alfred the great couldn’t possibly form the BRITISH navy
Thank you thats exactly what I was thinking. He says in the opening that 'the defeat of the Armada made Britain a seafaring nation' ...?? What? So they didn't research enough to know that people on the isle of Britan have been seafaring since the stone age. You mentioned that Alfred had a Navy and used it to defend against the greatest seafaring people of all time the Norse/Dane Vikings. You could come up with example after example of sea power and for sure seafaring on all of the isle of Britain.
The Brits didn’t win against the Spanish, the Brits lost 8 ships and the Spanish none. Every time the Spanish were engaging the Brits, the Brits ran away. In the end the plan was aborted due to the winds and currents dragging the Armada towards the North Sea so the Spanish aborted their plan and just decided to go home by going around the isles from the north, during which a some ships ended on the rocks due to the storm. I don’t call that a British victory, I call that a plan aborted due to the weather conditions in which the Brits didn’t play a role/ didn’t do a thing. For a show that pretends to depict history, it’s quite historically inaccurate.
When Britain first, at Heaven's command Arose from out the azure main; This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sang this strain: "Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves: "Britons never will be slaves."
If england was in mainland europe, Nazis wouldve steamrolled them. No heroic churchill speeches , no nothing. English channel saved them over and over again.
Muchos países en el mundo tienen a España como país de referencia para reafirmar su nacionalismo. Inglaterra perdió muchas más batallas que ganó contra España, pero en la propaganda inglesa para lo contrario. Pasa lo mismo con Holanda, Bélgica, Alemania, Italia, .
4 года назад
Just think, if England had lost, all of the Americas would be all Spanish speaking Catholics even now. England hadn't quite established what Spain had. Not even the Protestant faith was on solid foundation. Spain was riding high on its explorations
That kind depends on what you mean by "British" and "First". There as a decent sized navy built by the Romans in England, after that the Saxons had a small navy they built themselves, Alfred the Great built argueably the first great navy in England, they later declined but maintained a good but maybe not great navy as England. They did get aid from Portugal but by that point they already had a pretty thriving navy, even if it was nowhere near what the Spanish could muster. By the time Great Britian formed with the Act of Union they had major shipyards and were established a global super power thanks in large part to their naval dominance, but by the time they received that aid from Portugal during their war with Spain they already had a half decent navy with a few centuries of maritime experience, so its a bit unfair to say the Portuguese _gave them_ a great navy when they already had a pretty good, if not admittedly not quite "great", navy.
El imperio Espanol navego los mares ,descubrio un nuevo continente,fuimos los primeros en navegar alrededor del mundo . Inglaterra solo recogio los restos que ibamos dejando. dios salve al gran imperio espanol
Not to mention the ruin of the Americas started by El Imperio Espanol. Unprecedented abuse and genocide. Also British ships and crews gave the Spanish navy many a thrashing Sir. Vivo en Espana. Soy Brittanico. But you can't deny, as a caballero, that the British navy took the Spanish navy to task and mostly defeat. With respect.
@@timkbirchico8542 genocide? please, sir, check the indigenous habitants in the old english colonies and inthe spanish ones. Facts please, not propaganda. Don´t judge the history with XXI century eyes. Remember, history is full of genocides and crimes, by english, spanish, french, dutch,....
No olvides amigo, que Drake (El Dragon) mas tarde chamusco la barba del Rey de España muchas veces y en muchos lugares durante su carrera naval!! Don't forget, my friend, that Drake (El Dragon) had singed the King of Spain's beard many times & in many places throughout his naval career!!
@@mikelsd2001 WELL SAID. I'm really sick and tired of people judging humans from a 500 year old vantage point. Those were different times. Unrecognizable by anyone today. I could go down a list as long as 10 galleons talking about how life is so different today and better than in 1550. You simply cannot hold those people to the same standards or viewpoints we have today. To assume we are somehow magically better than them would assume we are different humans now...and we're not. Same ole humans.
Lo que quieras. Pero el Imperio Britanico fue mas exitoso y poderoso, sus lideres fueron muchos mas astutos y inteligentes. Gran Bretaña aporto inventos, facilidadesy civilizo gran parte del planeta, ademas de fundar las bases del modelo mas exitoso de todos: El Capitalismo
The Japanese copied their economic models main after the Germans, their navy after the Brits, and parts of their army after the French and later Germans. It is kind of amazing how long the sailor uniform has stuck around in Japan, I love it.
To David Martin...... David you have a very warped version of history. The British navy was the most powerful naval power the world has ever seen. It protected the biggest empire the world has ever seen. The British discovered many countries and continents across the globe. Australia, Guiana, New Zealand, Tasmania, the pacific islands, Easter Island, Antarctica and Hawaii spring to mind just to name a few. With regard to cartography The British were leaders and ahead of their time. The British made precise navigation possible with the comprehension of longitude and latitude. Hence why 'Greenwich Mean Time' is the basis of the world time clock. John Harrison (a great British horologist) was instrumental in this which thus made it possible for the Royal Navy to map the worlds oceans. Samuel Plimsoll gave us 'The Plimsoll Line' which determined the weight of cargo which made merchant voyages safer. Isambard Kingdom Brunel gave us the first Iron ships and also the biggest ships (1843). William Bourne gave us the first submarine in 1620. The British pioneered the fastest ships too - namely 'The Clippers' used to transport tea from the far east. The British industrial revolution gave us steam powered ships which continued to secure a vast global empire in the 19th century. FYI Captain James Cook was the first man to sail as far south as Antarctica and did so in the 1773. He also discovered Australia along the way as well as many other countries in the pacific. I think you will also find that the creation of a national bank plus many established 'British' trade routes around the globe was the precursor of globalisation. The opium wars give a good explanation of that and how the British enticed countries into trade. The east India company is another example. The language of trade is English and the most widely spoken language on earth for a reason. It is also true to say that globalisation is not all about the discovery and colonisation of countries. It is also regards communication. The British certainly pioneered this with the invention of the Steam Locomotive, the postal stamp, the telegraph, the telephone and the Internet. The ingenuity used in 1858 by British engineers to lay under water communication cables was certainly a great achievement and made communication that much easier. This was obviously proved vital in everything from trade talks to the apprehension of criminals. See Dr Crippen case 1910. The British defeated The Spanish (and French) individually and collectively on many occasions Thus propelling GB into a true naval superpower. So to conclude, if the Spanish had circumnavigated and discovered more countries then GB why didn't they indeed colonise said countries like they did elsewhere? The sheer expanse of the British empire shows its naval superiority. It really is no exaggeration to say that Britain did indeed rule the waves! As you may know, British man John Harington invented the flushing toilet in 1596 which is where i suggest you put your history books! Good luck on your travels Martin
the what?! Portugal discovered the world, started globalisation...is that what u learn in Brittish schools?!! get ur History straight, instead of telling stories!
amazing how you could accomplish to say so many lies and wrong facts in such a small article, no wonder the oldest treat in the world, was always used to your beneficts, England in the 16 century still had no propper language, you are late runner barbarians that still acvcomplish global influence by all the terrorism that you produce globally to have more profits to your crown, a shame, spare me all the flare traditions and give us substance.... pleaseeeeee.
At 0:35. Oh, so that's how you pronounce "ensigns." I always thought it was "en-SIGNS." Apparently it's "EN-sins." I already learned something new in this documentary, and we're not even 5 minutes in!
I think it all started by Henry VIII . He auctioned out the Catholic church's properties , and created a whole new social class in England and the first in the world : the capitalist class , they were not at all royal , but common people that could rose to the very top of the society through merits , talents and trades ....Such men like Drakes had humble beginnings , and Henry the 8th really started a massive social economic revolution .
Drake is celebrated here in Marin County, California, where he made his North American landing. I never knew he was a slaver, that completely changes how I felt about this local “hero”. I knew about Hawkins, and I thought history documentaries usually just didn’t mention him because of his slaving activities. Time to forget Drake, too, but this won’t be easy as so many things around here are named after him. Maybe this will change?
Don't forget the Dutch fleet came to help save your ass during the armada. A favour returned later when the English helped the Dutch in the 80-years war. But still the Dutch support is not mentioned in most history books...
@Matthew Smith Dutch took over the global trade after the Spanish, Dutch had a global monopoly on spice trade and the Dutch VOC was the richest company of all time adjusted for inflation. About 70.000 employees at its peak. 1570 to 1670 the Dutch were the major power after that the brits started to take over, especially after the glorius revolution where the Dutch guy William of Orange took over in England. William put the brits on the right track so to say.
I'm imagining some kind of crazy final countdown time-travel scenerio where the age of sail museum ships HMS Victory and USS Constitution are equipped with modern Harpoon missles and sent back in time where they sink both the Bismark and Yamato. Since the missiles are fired from over the horizon the Germans and Japanese would never figure out WTF happened. The radar antenna could be mounted on top of a mast, the electronics would go on the gun deck, and the launchers would go where the capstan is located. Remove the cannons, shot, and powder for extra missile storage space. A few .50 cals wouldn't hurt either and Victory might have space for a helicopter and drone catapault if the forward mast is removed.
Do you ever read through primary documents from different threads of history to see how some things overlap which we often only consider separately? For example, what occurred between Franks and Saxons in Germany just before many Saxons left Saxony for Britain. Or the loss of a market in Europe due to Ottomans and the poverty that led to plagues through mass European starvation, etc. I love looking at such overlooked things.
There a few examples of this out there as you know. There is a Natural disaster that occurred in 535. A volcano blew up and it was so bad that the effect was world wide. The skies went pretty much went black for two years . And it took about 10 years to recover atmosphericly? But then the plague came and killed off 1/3 rd of Europe. Amazing, you should check it out.
The British navy has not been even the second most important one. The ranking is this one from my point of view: - The Spanish navy, in close competition with... - The Portuguese navy. - The British navy, in close competition with... - The Dutch navy. This is an extract of the Spanish navy highlights: - Discovery of America. With this one you already finish the game, but let's continue. - Discovery of how to come back from America (quite important as well, often missed this one) - Discovery of the route to go from America to Asia (Magellan and Elcano). - Discovery of how to come back from Asia to America (Urdaneta). Extremely important this one. - First and second world circunnavigation (Magellan/Elcano & Urdaneta). - Exploration from north to south from east to weath of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (this one called for two centuries, "The Spanish Lake". A little arrogant, yes.). - Discovery of Antartica (Gabriel de Castilla). Not 100% probed but with lots of evidences. - The incorrectly called "Drake Passage" is in reality the "Hoces Sea", discovered by Francisco de Hoces way earlier than Drake. - Invention of the Navy Marines (Alvaro de Bazan) - Invention of the Galeon and creation of the Indies Fleet, first global commercial route and one of the most succesful logistics military operations ever. -Tons of inventions and advances in cartography and instrumental (Pedro de Medina, Alonso de Santa Cruz, Martin Cortes de Albacar, Abraham brothers, Jaume Ferrer, Angelino Dulcert...). The first school books on the art of sailing were written here (Pedro de Medina, Martín Cortés de Albacar), books used by Drake and Frobisher among others to learn how to sail in the ocean. I'm sorry but the only one that could compete with this is Portugal. The Spanish and Portuguese navies were the ones that built the modern world: discovering america, exploring all the continents, and building the first global commercial routes and the first global empires. Take a look at the following map showing who discovered what (even if you give to england the discovery of Hawaii - which doesn't make any sense - and Australia - ok, let's buy this one - they're wayyy far from others): www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1KU3AR_u1HMmlqRP3cA3fpVZSZ5s&hl=es&ll=-3.81666561775622e-14%2C157.5219674999998&z=1
The Spanish didn't discover America and that's not a fringe theory. Norseman settled areas like L'anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in the late 10th century. Period no argument it's true Columbus re-discovered North America and possibly even knew it himself because of old books and just general information he had gathered for years before leaving on his voyage. Also you put "how to come back from Asia to America" this is on your list of important accomplishments ...wow you just travel due EAST!!! Watch out for Hawaii though!! However as a North American I'm still glad Columbus made that RE- Discovery.
Nobody ever seems to mention that European colonization of North Africa was largely a response to the refusal of the Muslim pirate states to contemplate any economic model not based on enslaving non-Muslims, despite two centuries of increasingly muscular European actions to convince them to change their ways.
How could two small English ships show up in Africa and load 300 fully grown men (women and children especially were not taken initially as they couldn't work as hard) without the help of the locals?
RicTic66 Because the locals did help to load them. They also helped to catch them too. Unfortunately the local higher ups where bribed with goods that they didn’t have or things they liked and wanted in return for their help to capture/kidnap.
