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Many a times we as an individual or a country limit ourselves in advancement, looking at the lead of another individual or a country.
In 16th century Spain was world’s leading maritime power, controlling Caribbean, Mexico and large parts of South America. Philip was King of Spain and his motto was “NON SUFFICIT ORBIS” meaning world is not enough. This has been taken from the satire of ‘Juvenal’ referring to ‘Alexander the Great’. James Bond adopted the family motto in the novel “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. It made a brief appearance in the film of the same name and was later used as the 19th James Bond film title.
When Spain was omnipotent power of the world ruling the seas, English had barely begun overseas operations. Colony for them(England) was Ireland, and Newfoundland was meant for fishing. English Queen was conscientious Elizabeth. Philip was always indulging in micromanagement whereas Elizabeth was champion of macro-management, and she was aware of this infirmity of Philip. Philip was a hedgehog and Elizabeth was a fox(as famously adumberated by Archilochus of Paros and essayed by Isaiah Berlin). She kept biding her time for right moment against vainglorious Philip. Her kairos moment came on 7th August 1588, when largest and strongest navy in the world laid siege to England. But luck was shining on England. It’s geography, favourable winds, a clever lord admiral and a few fiery ships with the blessings of exemplar queen changed the course of the history. The Spanish plan was half hearted, without any communication and execution planning, leaving a lot in god’s hands. To add to their vicissitudes Spain’s best admiral Santa Cruz had died and Duke of Medina Sidonia was to lead the Fleet, lacking seafaring skills. Sir Charles Howard, Elizabeth’s lord admiral took advantage of favourable winds to rig fire ships, forcing the armada to cut its anchor cables and disperse. English did not defeat the armada but they wore it down. Spanish sailed long way back home, defeated and dejected. Out of 129 ships which took part, 50 were lost and many were scrapped on return. Spain lost 15000 men, in contrast, English lost only 150 men.
Had Philip succeeded, all English voyages to America would have stopped and North America wouldn’t have been same what it is today. The failure of Spanish Armada laid the American continent open to invasions by Nothern Europeans and this made possible the creation of United States.
Despite Spain’s lead, Elizabeth refused to rush. She set the template of British America.
Very informative n interesting blog. Would love to read more about this.
Thanks Romina.
Very interesting point of view and great clarity of thought Sandomina…look forward to your next post.
Thanks Shailesh for the encouraging review.
Well written, Sandeep. Historical facts are always interesting to read and your writing made it even more. Thanks. Hope you will continue ahead on this scholarly journey.
Cherish your wonderful comments.
Good insight.
Thanks Brother.
Very interesting and informative article on history… thanks
Thanks Ramki
Wonderful piece of work … waiting for the next one . This paves the way to my introduction to world history . Thank you .
Thanks Bismi.
Congratulations! Welcome to the world of Blogging. Very apt trivia from history that may inspire many in this generation of startups. Keep the thoughts flowing…..
Thanks Atul.
Be like a fox
Thank you Kanika.
Wow! World History like never before! Appreciate your research and analysis! Good language!
Thank you. Appreciate the encouragement.
Intersting Read!! It’s always fun to read such historic events, and there must be umpteen such incidents which are unspoken. Thanks for it.
Hope to stay above parochial wisdom. Thanks for encouraging words.
Very well written piece about a chapter of world history that is not well known. Keep the thoughts flowing sir!!
Much appreciate it Rajiv. Thank you so much.
Very well written Sandy the wordsmith now. Let’s see more like this coming now
Thank you so much for the encouraging words. Appreciate it.
Her finest moment as queen with its effects still in place! Well conveyed and finely written 😃
Thank you so much Kritica.
Very well compiled . Keep them coming . Happy Blogging 👍👌.
Thanks Manju. Good to see US warming up to the post.
Commendable piece on history with a deep message. I am sure ink of SANDOMINA just got wet and flowing . Happy blogging buddy.
Thanks Harry for the lovely review.
I liked the thought behind your piece. Till it remained beaten at home, the Brits were cowed down. And lo behold what a victory can do to your spirits.The entire where the sun never sets was probably coined for the 16/ 17th century Spaniards & usurped rightfully 19/early 20th century Brits, who gleefully swept through most continents, beTing everyone in their path.
Happy blogging.
Beautifully summed up Vijay. Thanks.
Great work. Choosing to blog on unknown portions of history is indeed unique. Keep them coming. Look forward to more.
Thank you so much. It gives me lots of encouragement.
A good beginning. Well researched and insightful. Best wishes always.
Thanks for encouraging words Sunil.
Informative and interesting
Thank you so much.
Hmmmm. Makes an interesting read. Didn’t know this bit of history. Keep it going !
Thanks Shailendra.
Sandy you have nicely brought out a very important aspect of leadership i.e. the ability to sniff out an opportunity and then seize it with both hands just like Elizabeth did. Something which should be stressed to all leaders even at the cost of failure. A very fluid and engrossing blog.
Very aptly put across Vedu. Thanks for the encouraging review.
An awesome writeup.
In brief so well brought out from history that however superior be the men and material, the winner is the one who has a good plan and a good leader.
Very well put down.👍
Very well summarized Anand. Thanks for the comments.
Very valid insight, very well put together Sandy. Corroborating your article, ironically, is the fact that British empire has sunk to a UK, in danger of breaking apart, if Ireland and Scotland decide to separate. And America the colony? A big boy now.
Nicely articulated. Thanks.
Thanks for the interestingly informative blog. Keep them coming mate.
A good read.
Cheers.
Thanks Rajat.
A very interesting article. One needs to learn from history and our intellectuals/ thinkers need to keep emphasising on the same
Thanks for the review Dashmesh.
Interesting!
Thank you very much for your appraisal 🙏🙏
Thank you so much, Rachana, for stopping by and appreciation.
You are always welcome ❤️
👍👍👍
Thanks for stopping by.
Liked the topics and theme of your blog
Thank you so much.
Interesting… Your post just make us realize that history is always fascinating..
You are absolutely correct, Chiru. George Orwell once famously said “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history”. That is exactly what has happened in the Indian subcontinent. Invaders destroyed Indian history and Pakistanis are destroying and denying their own. Thanks for stopping by.
That’s a great quote.. Rightly said..
Apt quote… Absolute truth.. That’s the exact scenario in Ind Pak case.
Thanks Chiru.
What a great blog! I’m interested in the history of all people and al time periods. You liked one of my blog posts and that’s how I found you. I’m glad I did. I’m going to be a follower and read up on your material. I like to check out a fresh perspective.
That’s so kind of you Kenny for your wonderful review. You yourself have a wonderful website and I am going to check out each one of your posts. Warm regards.
I really liked this post sir, and especially because of its interesting insight.
Thank you, Kundan, for your kind words. Do read other articles also. There is a lot of research I have done to bring out facts.
I’ll try to read all your articles already posted as well the upcomings. Your research for your posts are praiseworthy.
Sure sir I’ll read the other articlesas well. Your efforts are appreciative and praiseworthy
So kind of you Kundan.
Fascinating history! Your passion for the subject is evident, and pulls the reader in. Thank you!
Thank you so much, Jennifer, for stopping by and kind words.
You are so very welcome! Blessings, grace, and peace!
Thanks once again, Jennifer. Regards.
🙂
Thanks for your like of my post,”The Catching Up! When? ” I am very appreciative of your kindness.
Thank you so much for your kind words. You have an amazing website and wonderful articles. Warm regards.
Thank you. Your kind words are greatly appreciated.
I’ve always been a lover of history but I think I kind of lost my passion after leaving undergraduate. Let’s see if it can be rekindled!! I think what made me love history is the fact that things can change very quickly! From this analysis we see how Spain lost their political standing to England. Interesting to say the least .
Thank you so much, Nadesha, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. History and geopolitics are very interesting topics.
This was an interesting piece of history specially since I´m Spanish. I think we conquered all the other countries in the world except North America, so we did great!
Here is a theory that just came to my mind, what if the Spanish were feeling guilty of so much conquering people and decided out of the goodness of their heart to at least let the English have one. We were already ¨hummanitarians¨ back then.
Again, very interesting post.
Great thoughts Charly, whether true or not, God only knows, because history is written by the victor. The only thing which had happened for sure is inclement weather siding the Royal Navy. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Great work has gone behind every article of yours Sandeep…the effort you have taken for each Post is amazing and mention worthy. Truly commendable job. Keep up the good work…
Thank you so much, Anamika, for stopping by and kind words. I have gone through your blog too and it’s a nice one. Regards.
Oh ok. Thanks and regards to you too.
Thanks.
World is temporary and no success is everlasting. British Empire has lost most of its possession. But I think, majority of the time, who takes lead at earliest (significant contribution) wins the race.
Take Microsoft, for instance.
That’s so wonderfully put across by you Abhay. Though a lead gives the advantage, it is the leader of the day’s duty to keep producing leaders for the future. Or else biggest of the empires have vanished due to lack of leadership or new ideas.
Exactly my friend, This is relevant for any organization or for country.
So true, thanks.
Read all your posts. So thorough and well researched. Would love to reblogg it on my blog, but didn’t find reblogg button.
That’s so kind of you Namrata. I used to have reblog button but after I switched to business plan, its funny that they removed the button. And now there is no option to select that. I am on a very intense assignment for next 8 months, so unfortunately would not be publishing any article for that period. Warm regards.
So interesting
Thank you so much, Denise.
It’s always interesting to think about how many details must come together for one course of history to form. I’m glad I don’t have to plot out every detail all by myself. 🙂
Thank you so much Nora for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Interesting history facts…
Thank you so much, Ianus, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
🙂
Quite a well researched article..!! I am keen on learning more about history..
A well crafted and informative read.. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing..
Thank you so much, Abirbhav, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
You are most welcome Sir.. 🙂
many tx for visiting my blog – wishing you the best here 🙂
It was my pleasure to get associated with such an amazing blog. Regards.
Very interesting post
Thank you so much, Denise.
Do read my latest and internationally acclaimed article ’CHINA VS REST OF THE WORLD’
https://insightful.co.in/2020/05/15/china-vs-rest-of-the-world/