...National security had been seriously compromised when Calais fell to the French in 1558...

The fear of 'an enemy within' had already been raised by the discovery of plots amongst England's Catholic community, encouraged by Spanish agents, to assassinate Elizabeth and place her cousin Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. Lord Burghley established a sophisticated intelligence network under the direction of Sir Francis Walsingham to gain information on England's enemies at home and abroad. Armed with sufficient information to convict and execute Mary in 1587, Walsingham then extended his network of spies to obtain detailed plans of a massive Spanish invasion, long feared since 1582.

Once more, naval dominance was the key to England's survival. Yet the discovery of the New World meant that much of the struggle took place on the high seas thousands of miles away. English raids on Spanish bases in the West Indies and attacks on treasure ships carrying bullion to Europe cut off a vital supply of resources, and helped to delay Spain's invasion plans and buy England some time to prepare.

England's only realistic chance of salvation lay in stopping a battle-hardened Spanish army from crossing the Channel. Consequently the English navy had to prevent the Armada making its rendezvous at Calais, and despite a fearsome battle from 19th July the majority of the Armada reached its intended destination. In desperation, English fireships were launched into the harbour at night, flushing the Armada back into open waters before the land troops had time to embark. At the Battle of Gravelines (29th July 1588) the armada was driven further around Britain's shores, and only 34 of 128 ships returned to Spain.

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The last invasion?

Despite renewed fears of Spanish attacks, particularly in 1595, no invasion ever materialised. By 1605 peace had been signed, and the next threat to English security materialised from erstwhile allies. Within 50 years, the Dutch had become commercial and maritime rivals in the New World. Three wars were fought in quick succession, and a Dutch raiding party that sailed into the Medway in June 1667 quickly jolted the nation out of its complacent attitude towards its closest neighbours.

The successful invasion of England provoked a reaction in Scotland and Ireland...

The Dutch returned in 1688, and the unthinkable finally happened: 14,000 troops landed in Devon at the invitation of disgruntled opponents of James II, and their leader William of Orange marched unopposed to 'seize' the throne. All the contemporary rhetoric portraying the coup as a 'Glorious Revolution' cannot disguise the fact that England had been invaded by a rival nation - a fact underlined by one of William's first moves as king, when he persuaded Parliament to pay the Dutch for the expenses incurred in the expedition.

The successful invasion of England provoked a reaction in Scotland and Ireland in support of the exiled Stuarts, who had taken refuge in France. William's harsh repression of the first Jacobite uprisings failed to solve the problem, and the union of Scotland and England in 1707 sparked a new wave of protest the following year. The Hanoverian succession in 1714 inspired a wider coalition of disgruntled forces, from disaffected Scottish Highlanders to English Tories opposed to the Whig-Hanoverian government. The '15 was eventually defeated, and the failure of the Stuarts to provide support from abroad was crucial.

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Strategic fortification

To prevent repetition, massive expenditure was outlaid on a network of roads in the Highlands to ensure rapid movement of troops. These measures were put to the test in 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie set out on an abortive raid to the Islands, which snowballed into a full-scale invasion. Once again, the failure to secure foreign support spelled the doom of the expedition, and reprisals were swift and brutal. A series of strategic forts were constructed to hold the Highlands as though they were conquered territory. Effectively, Britain's back gate had been slammed shut.

Britain assumed it was safe from invasion, even when the North American colonies were slipping away.

Britain assumed it was safe from invasion, even when the North American colonies were slipping away. The incursion of John Paul Jones at Whitehaven in 1778 therefore came as a huge shock. Although his raid was no more than a self-interested revenge attack by an American privateer, the vulnerability of English ports provoked a hysterical reaction. A hasty programme of repair and reconstruction to coastal forts failed to calm fears that America's allies, Spain and France, would also strike. However by 1789 the revolution across the Atlantic was to have a far deeper impact on English security.