How far was Philip II successful in achieving his aims in his Foreign Policy
How far was Philip II successful in achieving his aims in his Foreign Policy? Philip’s main aims in his Foreign Policy were to unify the Iberian Peninsula, prevent the spreading of Protestantism and defend the Catholic church in his empire, defend routes, both sea and land, to the Netherlands, and not to give up any of his land. It is questionable that Philip’s Foreign Policy was a failure; however he did have some successes during his reign. One of Philip’s major victories in France was the battle of St. Quentin in 1559; this was a huge success although Philip did not take advantage of this by continuing to defeat other parts of France like he should have done. Philip could have made a big step towards conquering France, instead the Treaty of Câteau – Cambrésis was signed later on that year, which showed the French just how dominant Spain was in Italy at the time. The Treaty was signed at a time when Philip was suffering from serious financial difficulties in the early years of his reign. Philip tried hard to maintain a peaceful relationship with France; he managed this when he married Elizabeth of Valois, giving him a tie with the French royals. ... Philip wanted peace with France as the war between them previously had cost Philip a lot of money, and Philip couldn’t afford any unnecessary wars; though felt that war was needed to achieve this in the long term. When Henry III was assassinated in 1589, Philip tried preventing Henry of Navarre, a protestant, from becoming king, so he secretly signed the Treaty of Jounville with the Catholic League against the French Protestants. ... Philip’s army achieved many victories, though Philip’s involvement with France in this case was a failure. ... Philip’s biggest religious failure in France was the Edict of Nantes which allowed religious toleration of French Protestantism in France. This was a big failure in his Foreign Policy, as one of his main aims was to stop the spread of Protestantism. Overall, France was a failure as Philip failed in his aims to prevent the spreading of Protestantism, and by signing the Edict of Nantes and allowing a Protestant king on the thrown he ensured that France was a failure in his Foreign Policy. Philip spent a lot of his money on his involvement with the Netherlands. ... Philip had a big army in the Netherlands to protect it from any invasions.