ABSTRACT
Clausewitz said that war is diplomacy carried on by different means. A far-reaching plan for the amalgamation - or ‘coalition’, as it was called - of the two republics, which was adumbrated before the war, was not pursued by Oliver, but he does appear to have hoped for an offensive and defensive alliance. A commercial treaty was also concluded with Portugal, which had thrown off the yoke of Spain in 1640. It was completed in 1654 but not ratified until 1656, when Admiral Blake arrived with his fleet at Lisbon and made menacing gestures. Oliver Cromwell ordered the fleet under Blake and Montagu to remain at sea throughout the winter of 1656-7. The Commonwealth ruled by Oliver, who had virtually become king in 1657, was recognized throughout the world as a Great Power, which it certainly had not been after the failure of Charles I’s wars against Spain and France.
