Columnist perpetuated mistakes about history

I was happy to see Georgie Anne Geyer's effort to bring a little historical sense to the White House's recent comparison of the Spanish Armada of 1588 to the USS Carl Vinson. However, in her attempt to set the White House straight, Ms. Geyer needs to be careful not to perpetuate historical myths.

Ms. Geyer is correct to say that the Armada was a major Spanish debacle. But it hardly "marked the defeat of Catholic monarchical Spain." The defeat did not even end the war, which dragged on for almost another 20 years. Indeed, Spain remained one of Europe's most powerful nations for the rest of the 16th and much of the 17th centuries, controlling large sections of Europe (notably most of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and large sections of Italy, as well as parts of Germany and France).

Also Spain's overseas American and Asian territories remained largely intact, most of which were not lost until as late as the 19th century.

Nor did the English victory in 1588 mark "the rise of Protestant England as a world power and the primary power in the New World." England experienced serious social, economic and political problems for the rest of the century and fought a disruptive civil war over 50 years later. As far as the New World, England did not gain their first permanent foothold until its settlement at Jamestown in 1607, which was initially a disaster and took decades to be successful.

John Leazer

Mount Prospect