The Spanish Empire was one of the biggest European empires to ever be created. Spain had a lot of potential but did not have the ability to continue expanding their empire. In 1588 the decline of the Spanish empire began as the English defeated the “Invincible” Spanish Armada. This defeat was due to the failure of proper strategic planning. The leaders in these two countries had different techniques when it came to ruling their kingdoms. When comparing the two, Elizabeth I who was the Queen of England was a more organized and supportive ruler than Philip II the King of Spain. At the time of the battle, the Spanish were not well prepared and made many mistakes. And last but not least the terrible weather and bad luck had an impact on the outcome. …show more content…
Not only were they not fully prepared but bad luck was also a factor. Just when they set sail in April of 1588, terrible storms came along that destroyed most of their ships, which forced them to have to sail back to repair them. Because of this, the Armada didn’t officially set sail until July 19th 1588. Once they were on the sea, they finally realized that they were not as trained or skilled as the English. The Spanish had absolutely no clue how to reload their guns quickly as they were not taught how to do so, which made it evident that they were not trained properly. Due to archaeological evidence, there is proof that the guns of the Spaniards were a lot harder to quickly reload because the guns were not made properly. The cannon balls that were supposed to fit into the guns were either too big or too small. Later on, their bad luck continued as the bad weather reappeared again several times. This seemed to be a main factor that led the armada to difficulties. Not only did the stormy weather delay their invasion, it also made it much harder for them to find an area where they could unload and load soldiers on or off their ships. Another event that continues to support the fact that the Spanish had terrible luck was when they were supposed to pick soldiers up from the Spanish Netherlands. At that time the governor of the Spanish colony was the Duke of Parma. The Duke of Parma hated the fact that Medina Sidonia was the one leading the Armada, because he believed they would not succeed with his leadership. Therefore because of this, he purposely did not do anything to help them and sent the soldiers when it was too late as the English then started to attack the Spanish with fire ships. Fire ships are abandoned ships that are filled with pitch, brimstone, gun, powder and tar. They are then set on fire and sent towards the enemy. This tactic broke the formation of the Spaniards and caused them to