Abstract：The 17th Century Anglo-Dutch rivalry is a historical phenomenon that has long been focused by historians. For a long time, mercantilist explanations have dominated the research on this topic, while geopolitical factors have not received due attention. Although the maritime competition between England and the Netherlands has been a key issue in the competition, the research has been centered on the three Anglo-Dutch Wars, with less focus on incorporating a broader range of geopolitical factors into the research scope. In fact, the maritime struggle between England and the Netherlands is inseparable from the overall geopolitical environment of Europe. Examining the geopolitical game between the two states from the perspectives of diplomacy, domestic politics, and military, and integrating it into the mercantilist interpretive framework, can effectively broaden the research perspective. This paper investigates the 17th Century Anglo-Dutch struggle for the North Sea fisheries, focusing on two specific cases to explore the role of geopolitics in Anglo-Dutch competition.North Sea fisheries were a friction point that led to conflicts between England and the Netherlands in the 17th Century. Since the late Middle Ages, a special phenomenon had emerged in the European North Sea fisheries: England had the geographical advantage in fishery development, but the leadership had fallen into the hands of the Dutch. After the 17th Century, in order to promote the development of its naval power, England sought to seize the leadership in the North Sea fisheries. In view of the Dutch industrial advantage in the North Sea fisheries, the English government adopted a differentiated competition strategy, using its geographical advantage to compete with the Dutch. During the reign of Charles I, the English government exerted pressure on the Dutch through a fishing license system, but it failed due to the latter’s resistance. After the end of the English civil war, the dispute over the North Sea fisheries resurfaced, and with the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War, the English navy successfully disrupted the Dutch fishing order. Disrupting the fishing order with naval power was ultimately proven to be an effective means of weakening the Dutch North Sea fisheries. It was under the interference of foreign arms that the Dutch eventually lost their monopoly in the North Sea fisheries in the 18th Century.Overall, geopolitical factors had a profound impact on the competition between England and the Netherlands. These factors include three main aspects: the international structure, which set the fundamental framework; domestic politics, which dictated its strategic direction; and naval power, which determined the intensity of the contest. During the period of Charles I, England did not have an advantage in these three aspects, so the issuance of fishing licenses was quickly frustrated by the Dutch countermeasures. By the time of the First Anglo-Dutch War, England had established a powerful navy, with anti-Dutch forces dominating the political landscape and fewer restraining factors at the international level, which was the key to its successful disruption of Dutch fisheries. The course of the Anglo-Dutch rivalry also witnessed the shift of England’s foreign strategic focus from the European continent to sea.
陈剑. 北海渔业与17世纪英荷地缘政治博弈[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2025, 55(10): 81-93.
Chen Jian. North Sea Fisheries and Anglo-Dutch Geopolitical Game in the 17th Century. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2025, 55(10): 81-93.
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