"War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear (known as ""Guerra del Asiento"" in Spain) was a conflict between Britain and Spain lasting from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, a captain of a British merchant ship. There is no evidence that supports the stories that the severed ear was exhibited before the British Parliament. The seeds of conflict began with the separation of an ear from Jenkins following the boarding of his vessel by Spanish coast guards"
"a conflict between Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748. Although the conflict officially ended in 1748, the main engagements were concluded by 1742. Although this article deals only with two such attacks by privateers on one side, privateering occurred on both sides during the conflict. The two pirate attacks on Fuerteventura in 1740 occurred within a month of one another. The first involved a band of 50 men who landed in the bay at Gran Tarajal and marched inland to the village of Tuineje. While they looted Tuineje, the pirates were unaware that the island militia were"
"both countries declared war on 23 October 1739, each side drawing up plans to establish trenches near Gibraltar. Seeing these first movements, Britain ordered Admiral Vernon to sail from Portobello and strengthen the squadron of Admiral Haddock who was already stationed in the Bay of Gibraltar. The passage of years failed to break the hostilities in the region. Then on 9 July 1746, King Philip V of Spain died in Madrid. His successor, Ferdinand VI, soon began negotiations with Britain on trade. The British Parliament was amenable to such negotiations, and even looked favourably upon lifting the British embargo on"
"British retaliated with vigour. The total number of captures by French and Spanish corsairs was in all probability larger than the list of British – as the French wit Voltaire drolly put it upon hearing his government's boast, namely, that more British merchants were taken because there were many more British merchant ships to take; but partly also because the British government had not yet begun to enforce the use of convoy so strictly as it did in later times. War on Spain was declared by Great Britain on 23 October 1739, which has become known as the War of"
"Nootka Crisis The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered by a series of events that took place during the summer of 1789 at Nootka Sound in present-day British Columbia, Canada. Spain seized some British commercial ships engaged in the fur trade at an uncolonized coastline area to which Spain claimed ownership. Britain rejected the Spanish claims and used its greatly superior naval power to threaten a war and win the dispute. Spain, a rapidly"
"Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729) The Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729 was a limited war that took place between Great Britain and Spain during the late 1720s, and consisted of a failed British attempt to blockade Porto Bello and a failed Spanish attempt to capture Gibraltar. It eventually ended with a return to the previous status quo ante bellum following the Treaty of Seville. During the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain lost Gibraltar to an Anglo-Dutch fleet and when the war finished in 1714, Spain was forced to accept the loss of Gibraltar in the Treaty of Utrecht. Despite this it was"
"France and Spain. Anglo-Spanish War (1762–63) The Anglo–Spanish War (Spanish: ""Guerra Anglo-Española"") was a military conflict fought between Britain and Spain as part of the Seven Years' War. It lasted from January 1762 until February 1763 when the Treaty of Paris brought it to an end. For most of the Seven Years' War Spain remained neutral, turning down both the French and British, but during the war's latter stages, the Spanish became alarmed at the threat posed by the British to their colonies as French losses mounted. In anticipation of the Spanish entering the war on the French side, the"
"Anglo-Spanish War (1762–63) The Anglo–Spanish War (Spanish: ""Guerra Anglo-Española"") was a military conflict fought between Britain and Spain as part of the Seven Years' War. It lasted from January 1762 until February 1763 when the Treaty of Paris brought it to an end. For most of the Seven Years' War Spain remained neutral, turning down both the French and British, but during the war's latter stages, the Spanish became alarmed at the threat posed by the British to their colonies as French losses mounted. In anticipation of the Spanish entering the war on the French side, the British attacked Spanish"
"Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660) The Anglo-Spanish War was a conflict between the English Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell and Spain, between 1654 and 1660. It was caused by commercial rivalry. Each side attacked the other's commercial and colonial interests in various ways such as privateering and naval expeditions. In 1655, an English amphibious expedition invaded Spanish territory in the Caribbean. The major land actions took place in the Spanish Netherlands. In 1657, England formed an alliance with France, merging the Anglo–Spanish war with the larger Franco-Spanish War. The war officially ended with two peace treaties which were signed at Madrid in 1667"
"Battle of the Black River The Battle of Black River was a series of conflicts between April and August 1782 during the American War of Independence. They were fought between British and Spanish forces for control of the Black River settlement, located on the Caribbean coast of present-day Honduras. Spanish forces forced out a small British garrison and most of the settlers in April 1782. The British responded in August, regrouping the settlers and reinforcing them with troops from Jamaica. They successfully recaptured the settlement from the disease-depleted Spanish force. Matías de Gálvez, the Captain General of Spanish Guatemala, was"
"too lenient by his superiors in London, and they were repudiated leading to the later discussions at Soissons, which lasted nearly a year. Despite the efforts of diplomats, a fresh war would break out between Britain and Spain in 1739, little more than a decade later. Treaty of El Pardo (1728) The Treaty of El Pardo (or Convention of El Pardo) was concluded between Great Britain and Spain in March 1728 at the El Pardo Palace in Madrid. It effectively brought an end to the Anglo-Spanish War (1727) by sorting out the main points of dispute between the two states"
"the conflict to an end in 1738. The growing tension between Britain and Spain came to a head in 1731 during an incident known as Jenkins' Ear, when a British merchant captain was captured for illegal trading off the coast of Cuba by a Spanish privateer, and in punishment for his alleged breach of the strict laws forbidding foreign commerce with Spanish colonies, he had an ear cut off. The incident shocked Britain, not so much because of its brutality, but because many saw it as an outrage that Spain should have the temerity to harm a British subject simply"
"(1618–1648). Originally a religious war, it was also a struggle for power in central Europe, particularly the French opposition to the Habsburg Holy Roman Empire. Eventually the pressure of the anti-Habsburg coalition of France, Sweden, and most Protestant German states contained their authority to the Austrian and Czech lands in 1648. In 1683, the Ottoman forces were beaten back from Vienna a second time and eventually, in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699), pushed back beyond Belgrade. When the main (Spanish) line of the Habsburgs died out in 1700, it precipitated the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714) between the Habsburgs and"
"and Britain known as the Nootka Crisis which nearly led to war. A major war over British Columbia with the British was peacefully resolved via the Nootka Convention, with both parties retaining their claims until a future solution could be finalized. In the early 19th century, Spain was weakened due to the Napoleonic Wars and the Spanish American Wars of Independence it had to fight in South America against Simon Bolivar and San Martin. Eventually, Spain felt that in its weakened state it might lose its North American territories to Britain. As a result of this, Spain decided to transfer"
"1792. Its personnel, livestock, cannons, and ammunition were transferred to Nuca. In 1789, at Santa Cruz de Nuca, a conflict occurred between the Spanish naval officer Esteban José Martínez and the British merchant James Colnett, triggering the Nootka Crisis, which grew into an international incident and the threat of war between Britain and Spain. The first Nootka Convention averted the war but left many specific issues unresolved. Both sides sought to define a northern boundary for New Spain. At Nootka Sound, the diplomatic representative of New Spain, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, proposed a boundary at the Strait"
"Battle of Getaria The Battle of Getaria or the Battle of Guetaria are the names given to a battle in the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59), which took place on 22 August 1638 at Getaria, northern Spain, when a French fleet under de Sourdis attacked and destroyed a Spanish fleet under Lope de Hoces. In June 1638 a large French army crossed the Pyrenees to besiege Fuenterrabía. The French army was accompanied by a fleet between 27 and 44 French warships under Henri de Sourdis, who had to stop any help reaching Fuenterrabia over the sea. De Hoces was ordered to attack"
"Utrecht. The British had long harboured ambitions in South America, considering the estuary of the Río de la Plata as the most favourable location for a British colony. The Napoleonic Wars played a key role in the Rio de la Plata conflict and since the beginning of the conquest of the Americas, England had been interested in the riches of the region. The Peace of Basel in 1795 ended the war between Spain and France. In 1796, by the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain joined France in its war with Britain, thus giving Britain cause for military action against"
"British admiral who devised the scheme, saw his 4,000 occupying troops capitulate to local guerrilla resistance, and more critically, an epidemic, forcing him to withdraw his fleet to British-owned Jamaica. In the War of the Austrian Succession, the British carried out unsuccessful attacks against Santiago de Cuba in 1741 and again in 1748. Additionally, a skirmish between British and Spanish naval squadrons occurred near Havana in 1748. The Seven Years' War, which erupted in 1754 across three continents, eventually arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. Spain's alliance with the French pitched them into direct conflict with the British, and in 1762"
"(1733–35). In 1748, after the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), Spain obtained the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla in northern Italy. The rule of the Spanish Bourbons continued under Ferdinand VI (1746–59) and Charles III (1759–88). Under the rule of Charles III and his ministers – Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marquis of Esquilache and José Moñino, Count of Floridablanca – the economy improved. Fearing that Britain's victory over France in the Seven Years' War (1756–63) threatened the European balance of power, Spain allied itself to France and invaded Portugal, a British ally, but suffered a series of military defeats"
"must prove fatal to her ... is this any longer a nation? Is this any longer an English Parliament, if with more ships in your harbours than in all the navies of Europe; with above two millions of people in your American colonies, you will bear to hear of the expediency of receiving from Spain an insecure, unsatisfactory, dishonourable Convention? Owing to public pressure, the British government was pushed towards declaring war with Spain in 1739. Britain began with a success at Porto Bello. However the war effort soon stalled, and Pitt alleged that the government was not prosecuting the"
"the Germanies in Valencia and Majorca, and the 1640 revolt in Catalonia known as the Reapers' War. This latter conflict embroiled Spain in a larger war with France as many Catalan nobles allied themselves with Louis XIII. The war continued until 1659 and ended with the Peace of the Pyrenees, which effectively partitioned Catalonia as the northern strip of the March came under French rule, while the rest remained under Spanish hegemony. The Catalan government took sides with the Habsburg pretender against the Bourbon one during the War of the Spanish Succession that started in 1705 and ended in 1714."
"in the Americas that had to be paid for and had catalysed the formation of an anti-British coalition in Europe. The British Government's attempt to levy new taxes on the Thirteen Colonies of British America led to the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1776. Spain declared war on Britain and started the Anglo-Spanish War and then tried to recover Gibraltar with French aid. The Great Siege of Gibraltar lasted from 24 June 1779 to 7 February 1783 and remains one of the longest sieges endured by the British Armed Forces, as well as being one of the"
"a long-term goal of Spain to recover both Gibraltar and the island of Menorca from the British. After the Treaty of Vienna in 1725, Spain had the support of Austria, and thought the time was right to try to recapture Gibraltar. As a reaction Britain signed the Treaty of Hanover with France and Prussia. Some historians put the beginning of the war in 1726, because in that year the Anglo-Spanish relation was already very tense. A British fleet was sent to the Spanish West Indies to disturb Spanish shipping, without actually starting a war. Britain had tried to use its"
"Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808) The Anglo-Spanish War was a conflict fought between 1796 and 1802, and again from 1804 to 1808, as part of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The war ended when an alliance was signed between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain, which was now under French invasion. In the War of the First Coalition, Spain declared war on the newly formed French Republic, joined the Coalition in attempting to restore the Bourbon Monarchy. The main Spanish general was Antonio Ricardos, however he failed to secure a decisive victory, despite initial successes. French forces"
"""Grand Assault"" of 18 September 1782. At three years and seven months, it is the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces and one of the longest sieges in history. In 1738 a dispute between Spain and Great Britain arose over commerce between Europe and the Americas. Initially, both sides intended to sign an agreement at the Spanish Royal Palace of El Pardo, but in January of the following year, the British Parliament rejected the advice of Foreign Minister Robert Walpole, a supporter of the agreement with Spain. A short time later, the War of Jenkins' Ear began, and"
"Spain asked for financial compensation, and in turn the British demanded annulment of the Visitation Right. In response, King Philip V of Spain annulled the ""asiento"" and had all British ships in Spanish harbours confiscated. The Convention of Pardo, an attempt to mediate the dispute, broke down. On 14 August, Britain recalled its ambassador to Spain and officially declared war on 23 October 1739. Despite the Pacte de Famille, France remained neutral. Walpole was deeply reluctant to declare war and reportedly remarked of the jubilation in Britain ""they are ringing their bells, soon they will be wringing their hands"". The"
"goods, while the South Sea Company would pay the Spanish Crown £68,000 in due proceeds from the Asiento. The South Sea Company refused to pay those proceeds and the King of Spain retained payment of the compensation until payment from the South Sea Company could be secured. The break up of relations between the South Sea Company and the Spanish Government was a prelude to the ""Guerra del Asiento"", as the first Royal Navy fleets departed in July 1739 for the Caribbean, prior to the declaration of war, which lasted from October 1739 until 1748. This war is known as"
"18 January 1762, Spain issued their own declaration of war against Britain. The British quickly captured Cuba and the Philippines in early 1762. Also in early 1762, William Lyttelton, the British governor and commander-in-chief of Jamaica, proposed a naval expedition to Nicaragua. The goal was to sail up the San Juan River to Lake Nicaragua and capture the town of Granada, which would effectively cut Spanish America in half as well as provide potential access to the Pacific Ocean. The first and greatest obstacle to success was to capture the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception. The conflict began in June"
"between Britain and Spain. The British challenged Spanish claims to allegedly ""un-colonized"" land on the Pacific coasts of North and South America. The first Nootka Convention (1790) gave both countries the right to settle along the Pacific coasts, interrupting the Spanish monopoly for the first time in over two centuries. The British quickly sponsored the Vancouver Expedition of exploration. Difficulties in implementing the terms led to a second, and then a third Nootka Convention (1794). The Nootka Sound controversy also played a part in the French Revolution. The Spanish Bourbon monarchy asked for French support in the dispute in the"
"Portuguese Restoration War The Portuguese Restoration War (; ) was the name given by nineteenth-century Romantic historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668. The period from 1640 to 1668 was marked by periodic skirmishes between Portugal and Spain, as well as short episodes of more serious warfare, much of it occasioned by Spanish and Portuguese entanglements with non-Iberian powers. Spain was involved in the Thirty Years' War until 1648 and the Franco–Spanish War until 1659, while Portugal was involved in the Dutch–Portuguese"
"Invasion of Georgia (1742) The 1742 Invasion of Georgia was a military campaign by Spanish forces, based in Florida, which attempted to seize and occupy disputed territory held by the British colony of Georgia. The campaign was part of a larger conflict which became known as the War of Jenkins' Ear. Local British forces under the command of the Governor James Oglethorpe rallied and defeated the Spaniards at the Battle of Bloody Marsh and the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, forcing them to withdraw. Britain's ownership of Georgia was formally recognized by Spain in the subsequent Treaty of Madrid. The"
"to Europe. Spain fought the Castilian War against the Bruneian Empire. Spanish forces attempted to conquer Cambodia in the Cambodian–Spanish War but were defeated. The Moros fought against the Spanish invasion for centuries in the Spanish–Moro conflict. The Igorot people resisted and fought against the Spanish. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) drew in Spain alongside most other European states. Spain entered the conflict with a strong position, but the ongoing fighting gradually eroded her advantages; first Dutch, then Swedish innovations had made the tercio more vulnerable, having less flexibility and firepower than its more modern equivalents. Nevertheless, Spanish armies continued"
"1641) and Sweden (August 1641) but by necessity its only contributions in the Thirty Years' War were in the field against Spain and against Dutch encroachments on the Portuguese colonies. The period from 1640 to 1668 was marked by periodic skirmishes between Portugal and Spain, as well as short episodes of more serious warfare, much of it occasioned by Spanish and Portuguese entanglements with non-Iberian powers. Spain was involved in the Thirty Years' War until 1648 and the Franco–Spanish War until 1659, while Portugal was involved in the Dutch–Portuguese War until 1663. In Spain, a Portuguese invasion force defeated the"