The World's
Longest War Only
Ended in 1986
By Fiona Young-Brown
19 January 2016
A 19th-century map of the Scilly Isles. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons).
Some historians consider England’s Scilly conflict to be the longest war in
known history, dragging on for a staggering 335 years. Yet one side was not a
country in its own right, there were no casualties for the entire duration, and not
a single shot was fired. Neither side even remembered they were still at war
until someone checked the paperwork.
All of which begs the question: if war is declared but neither nation remembers,
does it still count?
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The Isles of Scilly are five inhabited islands and a multitude of other
uninhabited rocks off the coast of Cornwall at the southwestern tip of England.
With a population of roughly 2,000, the islands rely on fishing and tourism as
the main sources of income. It is doubtful that anyone would consider them an
international threat. Yet, somehow, they were at war with the Netherlands from
1651 until a mere 30 years ago.
To understand the origins of the 335-Years' War, we need to go back in English
history to the time of the Second Civil War (1642-1648), fought between Oliver
Cromwell’s Parliamentarians and the Royalists, better known as the
Roundheads and the Cavaliers. Cornwall was one of the last Royalist
strongholds, but in 1648, it too fell into Cromwell’s hands. Britain being an
island nation, it had one asset in its Navy, which had declared its support for the
Royalists. And so, as the Parliamentarians swept across the country, the Navy
was pushed further back until its only possible safe harbor was the Isles of
Scilly. At the time, the Isles were owned by Sir John Grenville, a close friend of
Prince Charles (later King Charles II), and therefore a staunch Royalist.
Meanwhile, across the English Channel, the Dutch were winning their
independence from Spain in the Eighty Years War. The English had been allies
with the Dutch since the war’s beginning, thanks to the protestant Queen
Elizabeth 1. As the Netherlands gained independence they naturally wanted to
maintain good relations with England, but with Civil War underway, they had to
decide whom to support. Since it looked as though the Parliamentarians would
overthrow the Royalists, the Dutch chose to ally with them. This included the
support of the Dutch Navy. The Royalist Navy, down in the Scilly Isles, put up
quite a strong resistance, seizing a number of Dutch ships and a great deal of
cargo.
In the spring of 1651, Admiral Maarten Tromp of the Dutch Navy landed to
demand reparations. Seeing that none were forthcoming, he reputedly declared
war on the Isles of Scilly.
A painting showing the Siege of the Schenkenschans, part of the 80 year war
between the Dutch and the Spanish. (Photo: Public Domain/WikiCommons).
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Within a matter of weeks, a final push by the Parliamentarians led to the
surrender of the remaining Royalist ships. The Dutch knew that they no longer
faced any sort of threat and set sail for home. It seems they forgot one minor
detail: the Scilly Isles weren’t technically a nation in their own right and so no
one remembered to make the peace.
Years turned into decades, turned into centuries, and the war with the Dutch fell
into local folklore. Generations passed on the tale that the islands remained at
war with the Netherlands. No officials seemed to know if it was true or not.
Finally in 1985, a member of the
island council and a keen local
historian, Roy Duncan, decided to
investigate the story for himself. He
wrote to the Dutch Embassy, asking
them to look into the matter. A
response came back: after much
searching, it seemed that no record
existed of a peace treaty ever being
signed. On April 17, 1986, the Dutch
Ambassador visited the Isles of Scilly
to sign said peace treaty, thereby
putting an end to what is now fondly
referred to as the 335-Years' War.
Whether the declaration of war was
legally binding remains in doubt to
this day. Some historians argue that
Tromp had no authority to declare
war, and was simply blustering in the
hopes of receiving compensation for
damaged and lost goods.
Admiral Maarten Tromp of the Dutch
Navy, who reputedly declared war on
the Isles of Scilly. (Photo: Public
Domain/WikiCommons).
Furthermore, even if his declaration
had merit, it surely would have been
resolved in the 1654 treaty between
England and the newly-formed
Netherlands.
The ceremony marking the signing of the peace treaty in 1986 was more of a
publicity move than it was an important event in international relations. Even
Duncan admitted that the issue of the war had been “a joke for many years”.
The signed declaration of peace remains on display in the Council Chambers in
Hugh Town on St. Mary’s Island, and a quirky incident of British history has
allowed the Isles of Scilly to lay claim to a place in the record books.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-worlds-longest-war-onlyended-in-1985
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