April 17 – Anniversary of the End of One of the World's Longest Wars!

nPostednApril 17, 2014

Thisnis an odd story!

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n“Peacenat last, peace at last!” one might sing as 335 years of war werenfinally ended on this date in 1986.

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nExceptnnot a single shot was fired during this “war”! Some say that thenwar lasted this long because there was never a peace treaty (untiln1986) – but others ask if there ever really was andeclaration of war, in the first place

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nI’mnall for bloodless wars, but I got to wondering what this was allnabout, especially when I heard that the war was between thenNetherlands and the Isles of Scilly. And I knew that the Isles ofnScilly were part of the United Kingdom.

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The Isles of Scilly,
looking much more tropical
than they really are!

nSo…thenDutch and the English waged a bloodless war for 355 years? Weirdernand weirder.

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nItnturns out that this “war” was declared as the result of a REALnwar—a bloody one—the Second English Civil War. In England, thenRoyalists (supporters of the king) and the Parliamentarians (alsoncalled the “Roundheads,” with the military led by OlivernCromwell) were fighting for power and control of the nation. ThenDutch wanted to keep their alliance with England so decided to backnthe side that they thought would win: the Parliamentarians. n

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nAndnthe Dutch were right; the Parliamentarians did win. n

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nInn1648, the Royalists had lost the mainland and had retreated to thenIsles of Scilly. These islands are located in the English Channel,noff the coast of Cornwall.

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I love Dutch names.
This is Admiral Maarten
Harpertszoon Tromp.

nThenDutch navy had suffered heavy losses from the Royalist navy, so inn1651 Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp went to Scilly, where thenRoyalist navy was now headquartered, and he demanded reparationn(money repaid for the Dutch ships and goods destroyed or taken). n

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nApparentlynTromp was told “no,” because he declared war on the Isles ofnScilly.

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nAndnthe letter announcing that Tromp had declared war on behalf of thenNetherlands was signed on this date (April 17) in 1651.

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nRemember,neven though the isles belonged to England, the Dutch were allies ofnthe group that at that point ruled England, and the isles were undernthe rule of the defeated English forces.

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nSoonnafter Tromp declared war, the Parliamentarians forced the Royal fleetnto surrender. The Isles of Scilly were then ruled by the Brits thatnwere the allies (friends) of the Dutch, so Tromp and the rest of thenDutch ships left without firing a shot.

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nThenproblem is, they ALSO never bothered to declare peace or sign a peacentreaty.

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The unofficial flag of
the Isles of Scilly

The flag of the Netherlands

nI wonder why the flags

nare so similar!?!

nApparently,nfor the past few centuries, stories told have been told and retold,nstories that claimed that the Isles of Scilla were still at war withnthe Netherlands. These stories began to be looked on as myths, and inn1985 a historian from the Isles of Scilly wrote to the Dutch Embassynin London to try to prove that the “war” didn’t, in fact, exist.nHowever, when the Embassy looked into the facts, the Dutch decidednthat the “myth” was true. So the British historian invited thenDutch ambassador to come to the islands and sign a peace treaty. Theyndecided to sign it on April 17 so that the “war” was exactly 335nyears long.

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nThenAmbassador joked that it must have been so terrible to live in Scillanduring those three centuries, knowing “we could have attacked at any moment.”

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n(Bynthe way, some historians argue that Tromp did not have a commissionnfrom his government to declare war on the Isles of Scilly, andndespite the fact that he SAID he declared war, he hadn’t reallynbecause he couldn’t.)

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nAlsonon this date: