What was the Foreign Policy of Queen Elizabeth of England?

When Elizabeth ascended the throne of England the country was at the cross-roads. Many troubles and problems were looming up the horizon and the clouds of internal disquiet and external fears were getting dense.

Elizabeth had to face all these. France, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Pone and others were also creating troubles for her. At this juncture it was absolutely impossible to rule the country without having adequate political sagacity and practical wisdom.

And Elizabeth gave ample proof of it. She rose to the occasion and by ability, administrative acumen, capacity to work and other qualities solved all the problems facing her and her country. She had affection and sympathy for the people in her heart. She sincerely wanted that there should be peace and happiness in the country for that people may become prosperous and make rapid progress.

Early difficulties of Queen Elizabeth:

Elizabeth was determined to eradicate anarchy, suspicion, disorder arid such other prevalent evils from the country. She was equally concerned at the internal as well as external problems. France and Spain was a running sore to her because of religious and other affinities.

There countries were deeming of propagation of Catholicism in England while Elizabeth was encouraging Protestantism. In fact Elizabeth at her heart felt inclined towards Protestantism. As a result the two powers persisted in harassing Elizabeth. The French king had married Marry Queen of Scots and as such he laid claims to the throne of England just as Mary aid.

On the other hard, Mary Tudor, had married Philip of Spain and therefore later thought that he was the real claimant to the English throne. Besides Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

The Pope had considered this marriage as illegal and improper. Thus the claims of Elizabeth on the English throne were neither accepted by the Pope nor by Catholics of England.

These reasons explain why she had a hard time in her opening years of her reign. However, Elizabeth was a shrewd, skilful and competent ruler. She had made a minute study of all the existing problems and had known that she could surmount them only by diplomacy. That she did.

Motives of her foreign policy:

1. To remain aloof from military entanglements:

Like Henery VIII, Elizabeth wished to follow and actually followed a Policy of remaining aloof from the wars. There were reasons for it.

To begin with, the treasury was more or less empty Secondly; England was facing shortage of war materials and equipment also. Thirdly, Elizabeth wanted to establish her power firmly on the throne of England and did not wish to waste her energies in wars with other countries.

2. Elizabeth’s spinsterhood:

Elizabeth was crazy to see her foreign policy succeed and with that end in view she did not marry. Though the Parliament expressed its wish and Prayer that she should marry and give an heir to the British throne, Elizabeth was more a diplomat than a woman.

By remaining unmarried she saved England from many likely troubles. She knew it full well that if she married a Roman Catholic, the protestant would resent it. If, on the other hand, she married a protestant, the Catholics would seriously view it. Thus her marriage might have complicated matters. Thus Elizabeth’s spinsterhood England untold meries and losses in meu and money.

3. No religious bias in her policy:

The foreign policy of Elizabeth had no religious bias in it. She gave no priority to religion while shaping her foreign policy.

Other rulers of the contemporary period formulated their foreign policies on religious bias. She was fully away that if in Europe Protestantism became powerful she would benefit by it. However, she did not care. She followed a policy of religious neutrality so that she might not antagonise either the Catholics or the Protestants.

4. Securing throne and her dynasty:

As we have seen in the study of Henery VIII the title of Tudors as such to the throne was doubtful. However with Elizabeth it was slightly worse. She belonged to an illegitimate line and that she was herself pronounced and illegitimate child of Henery and Anne Boleyn.

Thus the cardinal principle of her foreign policy was to ensure the possession of the English throne for her and the recognition of the dynasty to which she belonged-Tudors towards this end Elizabeth patiently and wisely proceeded and eventually attained success.

5. Independence of English nation:

Elizabeth was a very ambitious lady and she deserved to cherish high aspirations because of her enviable qualities. Her chief motive in the foreign sphere was that England should remain a free and independent nation. She did not like and could not brook or tolerate that there should be under influence or sways Over England of the pope of Rome or any other foreign power.

HER FOREIGN POLICY

Treaty between England, France and Spain:

In foreign affairs, the first move of Elizabeth’s govern­ment was to end war with France in which England had become embroiled for the sake of Spanish interests.

On the verge of exhaustion with its army disorganised and it’s navy in a state of peace to restore its finances and to put the country in a state of defence. Since France and Spain also wanted peace, a treaty was concluded between the three countries at cateau cambrisis in 1559. By the terms of the treaty Calais remained in the hands of the French.

The loss of this last possession on the continent which was regarded by many Englishmen of that time as humiliating to the English pride was probably a blessing because it relieved England of a great Expense and made withdrawal from foreign complications easier.

Treaty of Edinburgh:

In the same year (1559) Elizabeth sent an English force to Scottard to assist-the Protestants in freeing that country from French dominion. By the Treaty of Edinburgh negotiated between the English and the French the Latter promised to lead to withdraw from Scotland, thus assuring ascendancy of the Reformation party.

Henceforth, to the end of their life, Elizabeth endeavoured to keep Scotland in firm alliance with England in order to prevent. France or Spain from obtaining the upper hand in Scottish affairs and thus to secure the English borders against an invasion from Scotland.

Longest Period of official Peace:

With the treaty of 1560 England entered upon the longest period of official peace it had enjoyed since the thirteenth century. However, there was no lack of tension between it and other governments. Its principal opponents were the two great continental powers Spain and France.

Both were dis-satisfied with the state of affairs in England, Spain wished to regain the influence it had wielded there during Mary’s reign and to reestablish Catholicism. France also, eager to see England restored to the fold of Roman Church regarded Mary of Scotland as the rightful queen of England.

Intriguing Diplomacy:

The great danger lay in a combination of France and Spain against England. To forestall such an alliance Elizabeth launched a succession off one consummate intrigue-playing off one power against the other. Her methods were wholly devoid scruples. Although her age was characterised by Statecraft unhampered by moral considerations she was without J peer in the matter of unprincipled diplomacy.

Averse to adopting a bold course she gave her orders in such a way that she could dis-own them; couched her messages in language so ambiguous that they were subject to various inter­pretations, and planned her course in such a way that retreat was always open.

Internal Trouble in Spain and France:

Despite Elizabeth’s efforts a French Spanish alliance against England might have materialised if internal troubles had not crippled both the countries. Seeing the safety of England in the continuation of these disturbances, the English Queen helped to aggravate them, when the first of a- series of wars broke out in France in 1552. She sided with the Huguenots against the French ruler, giving them encouragement and furnishing aid. Again, when Netherlands rose in revolt against Spain.

Elizabeth sent money to .William of orange and helped him with men also. Notwithstanding the help she lent to dissidents Elizabeth did not regard herself as the champion of protestantism, a role which the protestants have assigned to her supported the Huguenots and the Dutch protestants not because they were protestants but because in so doing she distracted and weakened her adversaries.

In 1564 she concluded a pact with France. There after she assiduously cultivated friendly relations with the French rulers. For the rest of her reign, her efforts were centered upon abating the power of Spain. A bitter hostility soon grew up between the two governments and the two peoples.

Though religious factors contribute to the situation, the most potent cause of the Englishman’s hatred of the Spaniards was the bar which Spain tried to place on the road of England’s commercial expansion.

While England was out-wardly maintaining the fiction of peace, English seamen preyed on Spanish commerce and the Queen herself was not beyond sharing in the spoils when a Spanish galleon was seized. Nevertheless open was between the two governments did not break out until Philip sent his ‘Invincible Armads’ against England.

Diplomatic Asset-Elizabeth’s Marriage:

In her conduct of foreign affairs the question of her marriage was an invaluable diplomatic asset to Elizabeth. It was naturally assumed that the Queen Would Marry for in that age every woman did so if the opportunity presented itself. As Elizabeth was the great prize of Europe and in her younger days not personally unattractive, virtually every eligible prince in Western and Central Europe proposed to her.

Realising the value of her position in the marriage market the English Queen was ever seemingly contemplating matrimony and at ways ready to entertain proposals. Yet in every case she found specific objections.

Her suitors were, merely pawns in the game of politics and according to political exigencies she either, prolonged the courtship or terminated them quickly. More than once she was forced by the circum­stances of her own making into taking a consort. But her gambler’s luck did not desert her she was at ways able to retreat though, at times with difficulty.

Irish Episode:

In its relations with the Irish Elizabeth’s government made no more progress than the government of previous English rulers. She was determined to reduce Ireland to obedience. She employed repression instead of conciliation. Uprisings were savagely put down; the land of the rebels was confiscated and granted to Englishmen who often remained absentee landlords.

Despite the brutal manner in which they were quelled the uprisings continued. Thus instead of subduing Ireland, the high handed method of the Tudor Sovereigns fomented the bitter racial enmity, religious antagonism and incessant strife which became the heritage of later rulers.

Danger from Mary Stuart:

A perpetual danger to Elizabeth was Mary Stuart, better known as Mary Queen of Scots she mas brought up in France as an ardent Catholic and shared the belief of her Church that as an illegitimate child of Henery VIII Elizabeth was a usurper.

Mary was a great-grand daughter of Henery VII and there­fore considered herself to be the rightful climate to the throne and became the leader of the Catholic discontent. She equalled Elizabeth in coloness and courage, but lacked the discretion of the English Queen.

In 1865, the Scottish Queen married her cousin Lord Darnby, an English nobleman in order to strengthen her claim. This was the beginning of her downfall. Lord Darnby was murdered and Mary’s complicity in the affair was established. Furious at this the Scot nobles rose in revolt and expelled her and Mary was forced to seek refuge in English soil made the problem all the more perplexing.

Mary became the centre of all discontent one after the other plots were hatched to dethrone Elizabeth and place her on the throne often these plots were aided by Spain and France. Mary’s guilt was definitely establi­shed in the Babington plot and she was executed in 1587.

Philip and Spanish Armada:

With Mary dead, Philip II of Sain realised that there was only one way to reclaim England for Catholicism and to stop the English attacks on Spanish commerce and that was by force. Hence he prepared to invade England. After extensive preparations, Philip’s fleet which the spariards had named the ‘Invincible Armada’, sailed, for England in May 1588 with disastrous results for Spain. The danger of invasion had drawn all Englishmen together.

English patriotism was excited to a high Pitch and Roman Catholics and protestants stood together to beat back the attacks of the enemy.

The crushing defeat administered to the Spaniards shattered once and for all the tradition of Spanish invincibility. No longer need England fear and invasion.

Conscious of their supremacy at sea .the English turned on the Spaniards with a greater fusy, preying on Spanish commerce, plundering Spanish possessions and ever burning Spanish towns. English trade rapidly increased and English discoveries were sailing on every sea.

End of Elizabeth:

The defeat of Armada was the climax of Elizabeth’s reign. During the last fifteen years of her life, she increasingly lost touch with the new generation and the loveliness of old age oppressed her. Her faithful ministers had passed from the scene and their successors were seeking to make their future secure by planning how to win the favour of the new ruler when he should ascend the throne. On March 24, 1603 the last and the greatest representative of the House of Tudor quietly passed away.