Spanish Armada successful!

Just the fact THAT the Armada has landed would be significant enough. Once word gets out that you CAN actually land a fleet in Britain, there will be enough other nations who will want to try for their own, even before Hitler... hell, even before Napoleon.

Just imagine: For every time England sends an army into mainland Europe to fight, another European nation sends an army to England. Even if the ratio of English armies going to the continent and foreign armies going to England is more like 2:1, 3:1, even 5:1, suddenly England isn't that separated from the rest of Europe anymore. So the wars of the Spanish succession would become a lot more interesting.

...

You don't actually know much about the history of European warfare, do you?

Trust me, the Continental powers did not spend their many wars with the UK declaring "And of course, invading Britain is RIGHT OUT."

It is just that reality got in the way, just as it did for the Armada.

Actually, as it did for all THREE Armadas.
 
Space Oddity; said:
Trust me, the Continental powers did not spend their many wars with the UK declaring "And of course, invading Britain is RIGHT OUT."

It is just that reality got in the way, just as it did for the Armada.

Actually, as it did for all THREE Armadas.

My point exactly. After the Vikings and Normans there were lots of attempts to invade Britain. But always 'reality got in the way'.
But if -as is the premise of this thought game- the Armada DID succeed, even just for three months, that 'reality' is now in need for a reality check. It may require some serious Alien Space Bat Magic, but IF the Armada had succeeded, the Dutch, French or even the Austrian Habsburgers who inherited Antwerp from the Spanish could always try to use the same magic the Armada did.
 
My point exactly. After the Vikings and Normans there were lots of attempts to invade Britain. But always 'reality got in the way'.
But if -as is the premise of this thought game- the Armada DID succeed, even just for three months, that 'reality' is now in need for a reality check. It may require some serious Alien Space Bat Magic, but IF the Armada had succeeded, the Dutch, French or even the Austrian Habsburgers who inherited Antwerp from the Spanish could always try to use the same magic the Armada did.

Given that the Dutch quite famously did it, I don't see the big difference.

People who had a navy to match Britain tried invasion (to lesser or greater success), those who had a somewhat weaker navy threatened invasion to scare the Brits (And sometimes dumped rebels in Ireland). And the British fought back by trying to consistently beat continental navies.
 
My point exactly. After the Vikings and Normans there were lots of attempts to invade Britain. But always 'reality got in the way'.
But if -as is the premise of this thought game- the Armada DID succeed, even just for three months, that 'reality' is now in need for a reality check. It may require some serious Alien Space Bat Magic, but IF the Armada had succeeded, the Dutch, French or even the Austrian Habsburgers who inherited Antwerp from the Spanish could always try to use the same magic the Armada did.

This is building England/Britain into more than it was for much of history. Britain as the dominant naval power was really only true from the mid-18th century onward. The Dutch repeatedly defeated them on the high seas in the previous century, including once right in the Thames estuary. England in, say, 1670 did not have a reputation as an unstoppable naval force.

How many invasion attempts were there actually between 1066 and 1688? England's "invincible" streak was aided by the fact that for many centuries it was on the periphery of Europe, not that important a consideration for most Continental rulers. Paradoxically, countries started to take more of an interest in invading England/Britain when it became a threat to them - due to its navy.
 
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