Anglo–Dutch wars

The Anglo–Dutch wars (Dutch: Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of four conflicts fought between the Dutch Republic and the states of England and Great Britain between 1652 and 1784. The first three wars occurred in the second half of the 17th century due to Anglo-Dutch tensions over trade and colonial expansion, while the fourth conflict was fought a century later. Almost all the battles were naval engagements.

England was successful in the first war, while the Dutch were successful in the second and third wars. However, in the century between the third and fourth war, the Royal Navy had become the most powerful maritime force in the world, while the Dutch States Navy had fallen to fourth position, behind the French and Spanish navies, and the fourth war was a profound humiliation for the Dutch. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, British and Dutch forces continued to engage in intermittent conflict, which resulted in Britain capturing most of the Dutch colonial empire and annihilating much of the Dutch navy.