Page 206 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

172 JAN GUITE
this figure imo perspective ic mighc be mencioned rhar rbese five navies had had
a combined size of around 550000 cons a t tbc beginning of tbe eighteenth cemury,
wben tbe navies had expanded ro rake pare in the srruggle for hegemony in Europe.
RoughJy balf of tbe naval force in 1720 was Bdtisb while more than a fifrh be-
longed co che Netherlands. These two powers, .. the maritimc powcrs .. in conrcm-
porary diplomaric language, had gained command of che scas awund Europe during
cheir long srrugglc wich France from 1689 co 1713. Frencb naval power dee! i ned
dramacically afcer 1700 and by 1720 only 50000 rons of old warships remained.
The new Bourbon governmenr in Spain srarced a naval revival in 1714 but suffered
a severe serback when it rried co regain Spain's former position in lraly in 1718.
[n 1720 Spain had warships of only around 20000 rons while Porrugal, with a
navy of 35 000 t0 40000 cons, was not far behind France.
Up to the late 1730s che Ada mie powcrs d id noc initiate anyching which looks
like a race in naval armamene. While rrans-Adanric rrade increased and tbc colo-
nies Oourished, mosr of che European St!\tes did not commir addicional resources
co prorecr or increase rheir Atlantic interests. From 1720 ro 1740 the five navies
incrcased by abouc a quaner, ro around 470000 cons, stili less rhan their rora! size
in 1700. This growth is largely explained by an increase in che two Bourbon na-
vies. Boch France and Spain bad navies of arou.nd 90000 rons in 1740. Tbc French
expansion mainly cook piace in the early 1720s and ic merirs lirde commenc. France
was che grearest power in western Europe aod i c was natura! rhat rbis state should
bave a credible naval defence and a possibility of jncervenrion against medium-
rank powers. The French navy of rbe l720s and 1730s was far smaller than the
great barde Oeer char Louis XlV had builc up ro che l690s. le did nor represenr
an acrempc ro gain command of rhe seas in or outside Eucope.
Spanish nava.l expansion wàs more dramaric and represenred a new rrend.
l'rom che mid-sevcnreenth cenrury, Spain had been a smaU naval powcr and in the
early eighreench ccntury the navy almost disappeared. No w a fo.rmidable force was
suddenly creared. Spain had two maritimc commicmeocs in rbis period: ro defend
her America n colonies and rbe rrade roure between America and Spain and second,
ro regain rradirional Spanish influence in !taly. Both policies required subscantia.l
naval forces bu.r ir is signifìcanr rbac the greacesc incrcase in naval size rook piace
in the second balf of the 1720s, thar is during rhe years of quasi-war wirh Grear
Brirain. This shows chac Bricisb chrears io che Wesr lnd.ics were an importane fac-
cor behind che Spanish naval expansion.
Tbe rhree orher naval powers; Grcar Brirain, the Nethe.dands aod Porcugal.
only marginally changed tbc size of their navies in this period. Apparendy rhey
fclr no thrcar from che growing Bourbon navies and thcrc was n.or suffìciencly srrong
prcssure behind expansionisr policies co sustain naval growch. Policically, chcy had
a looscly knir defensive alliancc, creaced during the wars againsr Louis XlV. Porro-
gal had secured protection from Bricain againsc che Bourbon powers by opcning
her colonies co Bcitisb trade. During tbc eighree.nrb cenrury, British influence on