Philip II of Spain’s father was a brilliant soldier and statesman named Charles V, and when he passed on, he left the world’s largest empire in the hands of his son. Philip had been trained since childhood in the arts of leadership and diplomacy. At age sixteen he was made Regent of Spain. His "marriage of conquest" was to the Queen of England, Mary Tudor (known to history as "Bloody Mary" for her butchery of Protestants). Philip was handed the world’s largest empire, encompassing the l
argest 
territory, the most colonies, the best ports, and access to more natural resources than any other country. But during his long reign, he would manage to squander away his position atop the world’s heap of power, and through his mistakes, allow a fledgling little island country led by an indecisive Queen to plant the seeds that would grow into world dominance.
What happened?
You might not be surprised to learn that it came down to leadership.
A quasi-war of sorts had been waged between England and Spain for decades. Queen Elizabeth’s "gentleman pirates," including Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Walter Raliegh, Martin Frobisher, and Charles Howard, had pecked and picked away at Spain’s holdings in the New World, and had managed to disrupt and even steal large amounts of South American treasure bound for Spain’s coffers. Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe and capture of one of Spain’s largest treasure galleons was only one example of the daring feats the English carried out at Spain’s expense. In the meantime, King Philip was behind numerous assassination attempts directly aimed at Queen Elizabeth, and the two countries were at war against each other for the religious choice of the people of the Netherlands.
When Queen Elizabeth sentenced Mary, Queen of Scots, to death for treason (a confirmed assassination attempt on Elizabeth), it brought the two countries to the edge of declared war. Philip began preparations to amass a large "armada" of ships that would sail in something called The Enterprise of England. The "Enterprise" was supposed to be a secret plan to attack the island of England itself, but the large-scale buildup of supplies and ships in Spain’s ports could hardly go unnoticed. Sir Francis Drake was able to delay the launch of the Armada by at least a year by attacking and destroying a major fleet of ships and supplies in the port of Cadiz.
Then, somehow, peace negotiations were proferred. Diplomats from both sides began testing the waters for terms of settlement. Queen Elizabeth, despite violent opposition from nearly every one of her advisors, was extremely interested in a peaceful settlement. England was a small island country, by no means able to match the enormous wealth and stature of Spain, and it had virtually no way to defend itself should armed forces actually land on her shores. Queen Elizabeth was also a bit of a realist, and she understood the enormous cost of fighting the world’s only Super Power in a protracted war. For these reasons, she was able to make huge concessions for the peace process as long as they didn’t compromise her principles and the things she had promised her people.
King Philip, however, was not disposed towards peace. He sat atop the World’s richest empire, its largest military, he held most of Europe under his control, he had recently annexed Portugal and with it enormous territory in the East Indies to add to his dominance in the West Indies. According to author Neil Hanson, "Philip’s correspondance shows that he gave not the slightest throught to any compromise. He could have had peace in the Netherlands on several occasions, but [as Philip said himself], ‘With regard to Holland and Zealand or any other province or towns, the first step must be for them to receive and maintain alone the exercises of the Catholic religion and to subject themselves to the Roman church, without tolerating the exercise of any other religion . . . There is to be no flaw, no change, no concession by convention or otherwise of liberty of conscience or religious peace, or anything of that sort.’"
Although Elizabeth was all for the concession of allowing religious tolerance, Philip was dead against any "liberty of conscience" whatsoever. It became a classic struggle of tyranny versus freedom of choice, of big versus small, Goliath pushing around David. Again, according to Hanson, "[the entire conflict] was partly about money . . . partly about political and dynastic imperatives, and partly about the loss of face that Philip had suffered through attacks on his own coast, but it was also genuinely driven by religious fundamentalism and Philip’s obsession with restoration of Europe to the Catholic faith. A flexible and pragmatic ruler in his youth, he was now a stubborn and dogmatic old man, brooding alone . . . . the only solution that would satisfy him would be the overthrow of Elizabeth and the total destruction of the Dutch rebellion."
Instead of negotiating for peace in good faith, Philip played games. In his own words: "I declare that my intention is that these negotiations shall never lead to any result, whatever conditions the English may offer. On the contrary, the only object is to deceive them and to cool them in their preparations for defense, by making them believe such preperations will not be necessary."
Analyzing the details of this history, we see that Philip’s fatal choice to launch the Armada against England came from the following four factors:
1. money
2. political and dynastic imperatives (nepotism and power)
3. the loss of face (pride)
4. religious fundamentalism (tyranny and the suppression of freedom)
The details of the Armada, its mammoth size, its incredible expense to Spain’s treasury, and its resulting failure, are story enough for a future post. But the launching and failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588 represented the "high water mark" in the world-dominance of Spain. Its cost, and its loss of prestige for Spain throughout the world, were blows too large from which to recover. Even though Philip had inhe
rited the world’s largest power from his father, he would hand it on as a much reduced, debt-ridden, and shrinking power. England, a tiny island country, would rise on the ashes of the fading Spain and over the course of time would rise to become the world’s largest empire, and it would hold that position for a long time until one of its former colonies, The United States of America, would gain that postion in the twentieth century. The entire period from the Armada in the sixteenth century to the beginning of World War I, with the American Revolution as the sole exception, would witness the rise and dominance of Great Britain as the world’s pre-eminent empire.
Leadership is critical to the success of any endeavor. Leaders lead best when motivated by visions that build up instead of destroy, that seek to help rather than hinder, and that become more concerned about what can be accomplished than by who can be oppressed. In the case of Philip II of Spain, his motivations were all wrong. Money, power, pride, and oppression of the freedoms of others became the seeds of his own destruction. At many points along the way he could have made an acceptable peace with a smaller, but stubbornly principled and belliegerent nation – but he would have nothing of it. It was all or nothing for Philip. He made his choice accordingly, and his empire dwindled to insignificance as a result. 
Remember the story of the Armada as you lead in your life. Be careful of your motivations. Never get suckered into believing that oppressing the freedoms of others, grabbing for money, fighting for power, or struggling to regain "lost" pride are worthy pursuits. Don’t get fooled into launching your own "Enterprise of England." If you do, you can rely on having to face a Sir Francis Drake, a Sir Walter Raliegh, or any number of individual privateers who will take to the waters to oppose you. And never underestimate the power of a storm or two to dash your ships on the rocky shores.
It’s much better to lead from a position of integrity, to fight for good, to stand for freedom, and to defend the individual and his or her rights. That’s the side on which all the heroes of history have found themselves. That’s the side on which the true leaders live!
Lead on, and if you lead for good, fear no Armada that comes against you!
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