147 Europe 1654 Part: 1

The first Anglo-Dutch War eventually came to a close in 1654. The war was ignited in May 1652 by skirmishes between Dutch and English fleets near the English coast. Subsequent major naval battles ensued, with Admiral Robert Blake securing a decisive English victory in June 1652. However, in a surprising turn of events during the Battle of Scheveningen, the Dutch gained the upper hand, creating a more balanced outcome compared to the historical timeline. Unfortunately, the final battle was not in favour of the Dutch because, influenced by the deviation in the current timeline, the Dutch opted to allocate more resources to the war in the middle stages, leading to an earlier exhaustion of its combat effectiveness before the final battle, which gave British a slight advantage.