English Attitudes to Europe in the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

FOR most of the period from the death of Elizabeth until the Revolution of 1688 England’s role in Europe was that of a peripheral power. She exerted comparatively little direct influence, less for example than Sweden and Turkey, and her policies were inconsistent, changing almost as often and as violently as the internal politics of the country. Obviously internal instability was largely responsible for external powerlessness, but there were other important factors which I wish to examine here. Because of the lack of informed opinion old attitudes persisted long after changing circumstances had made them obsolete; the ‘Protestant’ attitude to foreign affairs, which was dominant during most of the century, is the clearest example. The limited resources at the disposal of the Crown, combined with its insistence that, as foreign affairs were exclusively a matter for the prerogative, Parliament had no right to participate in the formulation of policies, or to receive confidential information, usually meant that an effective or credible foreign policy was impossible because of poverty. In particular, parliamentary and popular opposition to the raising of an army frequently hamstrung offensive action, and fostered suspicion at home to the point of precipitating major crises — as in 1625–8, 1666–7, 1673–4, 1678 and 1697–1700.