Editing First Anglo-Dutch War (section)

===Path to war===
In England, after 1648 and more particularly after Charles' execution and the proclamation of the Commonwealth, the army assumed a more prominent political role compared with parliament.

The neutralisation of Rupert's fleet and its bases, the defeat of the Irish Royalists at [[Battle of Rathmines|Rathmines]] and [[Siege of Drogheda|Drogheda]] in 1649 and of the Scots at the [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Battle of Dunbar]] in 1650 made the Commonwealth more assertive in its relations with the Dutch, both on trade and on William II's support for the Stuart cause.<ref name="Groenveld552-3"/> French support for the English Royalists had led the Commonwealth to commence the issuing of [[letters of marque]] against French ships and against French goods in neutral ships in December 1649.<ref name="Godwin360">Godwin (1827), p. 360</ref> Dozens of neutral Dutch ships were detained near French ports by English ships operating under letters of marque, and some of these were seized. Dutch concerns were further raised by an English embargo on Dutch trade with Scotland declared soon after.<ref name="Groenveld563-4">Groenveld (1997), pp. 563–564</ref>

In 1649 and 1650, General-at-Sea [[Robert Blake (admiral)|Robert Blake]] drove the Royalist fleet under Prince Rupert from its bases in Ireland and pursued it to the port of [[Lisbon]], where it was protected by the harbour's forts and the Portuguese king's refusal to let Blake enter the port.<ref name="Godwin357-9">Godwin (1827), pp. 357–359</ref> The Council of State decided to reinforce Blake and authorised him to seize ships from Brazil in reprisal, and to withdraw the English envoy to Portugal, whose departure in July 1650 created a state of war.<ref name="Godwin360-1">Godwin (1827), pp. 360–361</ref> In response to the Portuguese failure to expel Rupert, Blake continued to seize merchant ships entering the [[River Tagus]] from Brazil. On 24 September 1650 Blake attacked a fleet of 23 merchant vessels from Brazil and their naval escort, sinking the Portuguese Admiral and capturing the Vice-Admiral and ten of the larger merchant ships. The Portuguese court were compelled to insist that Rupert leave Lisbon harbour in September 1650,<ref name="Groenveld558">Groenveld (1987), p. 558</ref> but after finding Blake waiting for him, Rupert placed his ships under the protection of Portuguese coastal forts, where he remained until December, when he escaped to the West Indies.<ref name="Godwin360,366-7">Godwin (1827), pp. 360, 366–367</ref> The threat of the Royalist fleet had been neutralised by forcing it into retreat. Its strongholds in the [[Isles of Scilly]], the [[Isle of Man]] and the [[Channel Islands]] were captured in 1651. This was followed in 1652 by the recovery of England's colonial possessions in the [[West Indies]] and North America by General [[George Ayscue]].<ref name="Low35">Low (1872), p. 35</ref>

Infuriated by the treatment of the English delegation in the Hague and emboldened by their victory against [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] and his forces at the [[Battle of Worcester]] on September 3, 1651, the [[Rump Parliament|English Parliament]], as noted above, passed the first of the [[Navigation Acts]] in October 1651.<ref name="Israel714-15"/> It ordered that only English ships and ships from the originating country could import goods to England. This measure, as also noted above, was particularly aimed at hampering the shipping of the highly trade-dependent Dutch and often used as a pretext simply to take their ships; as [[George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle|General Monck]] put it: "The Dutch have too much trade, and the English are resolved to take it from them."<ref>Kennedy (1976), p. 48</ref> Agitation among the Dutch merchants was further increased by [[George Ayscue]]'s capture in early 1652 of 27 Dutch ships trading with the Royalist colony of [[Barbados]] in contravention of the trade prohibition imposed by the Commonwealth. Over a hundred other Dutch ships were captured by English privateers between October 1651 and July 1652. Moreover, the death of Dutch Stadtholder William II, who had favoured an expansion of the army at the expense of the navy, had led to a change in Dutch defence policy towards protecting the great trading concerns of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Accordingly, the States General decided on 3 March 1652 to expand the fleet by hiring and equipping 150 merchant ships as ships of war to allow effective convoying against hostile English actions. Although the States of Holland stressed that this measure was intended defensive and it carefully selected its captains and issued prudent instructions about saluting English warships, when news of this decision reached London on 12 March 1652, it was seen as a provocative move.<ref name="Groenveld565">Groenveld (1987), p. 565</ref>