Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War

Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War
Isles of Scilly   Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
Date 30 March 1651 – 17 April 1986 Location Isles of Scilly Result Indecisive; peace treaty
Belligerents
Isles of Scilly United Kingdom	Republic of the Seven United Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands
Commanders and leaders
John Granville Roy Duncan	Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp Jonkheer Rein Huydecoper
Casualties and losses
None	None

The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War (Dutch: Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog) was an alleged theoretical state of war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (located off the southwest coast of England). The truth of this war ever existing is disputed. It is said to have been extended by the lack of a peace treaty for 335 years without a single shot being fired, which would make it one of the world's longest wars and a bloodless war. Despite the uncertain validity of the declaration of war, and thus uncertainty about whether or not a state of war ever actually existed in the first place, peace was finally declared in 1986, bringing an end to any hypothetical war that may have been legally considered to exist.

The origins of the war can be found in the English Civil War, fought between the Royalists and Parliamentarians from 1642 to 1651. Oliver Cromwell had fought the Royalists to the edges of the Kingdom of England. In the West of England this meant that Cornwall was the last Royalist stronghold. In 1648, Cromwell pushed on until mainland Cornwall was in the hands of the Parliamentarians.

The Royalist Navy was forced to retreat to the Isles of Scilly, which lay off the Cornish coast and were under the ownership of Royalist John Granville.

The navy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was allied with the Parliamentarians. The Netherlands had been assisted by the English under a number of rulers in the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), starting with Queen Elizabeth I of England. The Treaty of Münster (30 January 1648) had confirmed Dutch independence from Spain. The Netherlands sought to maintain their alliance with England and had chosen to ally with the side likely to win the Civil War.