BERNARD S. CAPP -- Ph.D. – Professor at University of Warwick

Dear Jonathan,

It's an interesting thesis. My gut reaction would be that you are
probably right in some (perhaps many) instances, though not in all. In
recent times, personal and family motives may well have played a
significant role with George W Bush and the 2nd Iraq War, but I don't
think the thesis woiuld work for 1939 and the outbreak of WWII....

By contarst the Spanish war was certainly his doing. It was a strange mixture of old-fashoned religious ideology (down with the papal Antichrist and its Spanish champions) and pretty base materialistic motives. There is a contemporary record of a Council debate where they sat round debating who to go to war with, now that there was peace with the Dutch. Some said France, Cromwell insisted on
Spain. The thinking seemed to be that now we had a huge and expensive
navy, it might as well be put to good use rather than simply lying in
harbour; and Cromwell argued that Spanish war would pay for itself, if
the fleet could capture the Spanish plate fleets. Needless to say it
didn't work out that way. But in general terms this war fits your thesis
pretty well: Spain had offered no threat or provocation at all. Even
quite a few of the naval commanders demanded to to be reassured on what
grounds the war could be justified, and some resigned in protest.

Good luck with your project,

Best wishes

Bernard 

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