The 1688 Invasion of Britain That's Been Erased from History

The 1688 Invasion of Britain That's Been Erased from History

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Crowds gathered on the white cliffs of the English coast to watch.

But they were not cheering with pride and pleasure - because the display of naval power and military might they were witnessing was not theirs.

This armada was not an English one. It was from Holland and it was about to invade these shores.

Tides of change: William of Orange launched a colossal armada to seize the throne from Catholic King James II

The year was 1688, a crucial one in our island history. The new king, James II, crowned jut three years earlier, was Roman Catholic, putting him at odds with the predominant Protestant faith of his subjects. And dangerously so.

Just a generation or two earlier, another king of England, Charles I, had fallen out with his people, and the result had been Civil War, ending with the monarch's head being chopped off.

Would the country be split in half again after only 40 years of peace? Would this dispute also have to be settled by war? And would James - Charles I's younger son - also have to be lopped off at the neck to save the nation?

The conventional answer to these questions is that the British cleverly saved themselves from a second disaster with a non-violent solution to the problem.

In what became known as the Glorious Revolution, James fled the country rather than fight as his father had done and, William of Orange, the elected ruler of the Dutch Republic and Protestant to his core, was invited to take over the throne.

But a new book by Professor Lisa Jardine, one of our most eminent academics, turns this picture of cosy regime change, handed down to us for the past 300-plus years, on its head.

For the truth is that this transition of power was not a matter of choice.

A warring William was coming, whether he was welcome or not - as that battle fleet massing out in the Channel showed all too clearly.

The Dutch leader had put to sea with 53 warships bristling with 1,700 cannon, a massive amount of firepower.

Behind came hundreds of transport ships carrying an army of 20,000 men, plus horses (7,000 of those), arms and equipment.

Ten fireships loaded with combustible materials were ready to be set ablaze and steered into the ranks of English ships if they dared oppose him.

This was a task force with only one intention - to conquer. No wonder the crowds on the English clifftops were silent.

They were watching the first invasion of this island since 1066

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