III

THE RIVALRY OP THE DUTCH, THE FRENCH AND THE ENGLISH, 1588-1763


The second period of European imperialism was filled with the
rivalries of the three nations which had in different degrees
contributed to the breakdown of the Spanish monopoly, the Dutch,
the French, and the English; and we have next to inquire how far,
and why, these peoples were more successful than the Spaniards in
planting in the non-European world the essentials of European
civilisation. The long era of their rivalry extended from 1588 to
1763, and it can be most conveniently divided into three sections.
The first of these extended from 1588 to about 1660, and may be
called the period of experiment and settlement; during its course
the leadership fell to the Dutch. The second extended from 1660 to
1713, and may be called the period of systematic colonial policy,
and of growing rivalry between France and England. The third, from
1713 to 1763, was dominated by the intense rivalry of these two
countries, decadent Spain joining in the conflict on the side of
France, while the declining power of the Dutch was on the whole
ranged on the side of Britain; and it ended with the complete
ascendancy of Britain, supreme at once in the West and in the
East.

(a) The Period of Settlement, 1588-1660