Why was the spanish armada sent?
To skip a long prelude to this answer, the seventeen provinces of the Dutch Republic had been warring with Spain for their independance and religious freedom for over ten years. The seventeen provinces, under the leadership of William of Orange, begged the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I for aid in their civil war. Since the Dutch Republic was just across the channel from England, if the Dutch Republic fell to Catholic Spain there was no doubt that Phillip II would push to eliminate Protestant England as well. Three things led to Elizabeth I acceeding to the Dutch pleas were: The war in the Netherlands was hurting the English economy; with the turmoil, there was no market for English wools. The 1584 murder of William of Orange eliminated a semblance of Dutch unity and foretold a Spanish victory The collapse of Antwerp appeared to signal a Spanish sweep through the Netherlands For these reasons, Elizabeth lent 250, 000 pounds and 2, 000 troops to the Dutch Republic between 1585 and 1587. I
