In 1964 while in prison serving a 5 year sentence for sabotage, Nelson Mandela is put on trial for treason and attempting to over through the government.
The charges were brought forward after a cash of weapons were found at a Umkhonto we Sizwe’s ('Spear of the Nation's) hide out, which Mandela was the leader of. He was sentenced to life in prison, narrowly missing the death penalty. He was finally released on the 11th of February 1990 after serving 27 years in prison.
In 1665 Britain renamed the Dutch colony of New Netherlands to New York and created a municipal government.
After the First Anglo-Dutch War England established its self as a superior naval power over the Dutch. Charles II was invited back to England upon the death of Oliver Cromwell and the former republic of England was once again under a Monarch of Britain and Ireland, on the 29th of May 1660, and hostilities between the Dutch and Britain grew once more. On the 27th of August 1664 Britain increased the hostilities when four of their frigates sailed into the Dutch harbour of New Amsterdam and demanded the whole of New Netherlands surrender. The Dutch Director General of New Netherlands, Peter Stuyvesant, ceded the land to the invaders and on the 6th of September 1664 his lawyer, Johannes de Decker, signed the official articles of Capitulation giving control of New Netherlands to the British.
On the 12th of June 1665 Britain renamed set up government in the area and legally changed the entire area of New Netherland to New York, after King Charles II brother, the Duke of York (who would become King James II).
On the 4th of March 1665 War broke out once more and while the Dutch had created a new fleet supported by new trade roots the British were under much more financial constraints. In 1665 the Great Plague of London took a massive toll on the war effort and killed 100,000 Londoners. Further to this on the 2nd of September 1666 the “Great Fire of London” broke out and raged for three days. This again took a huge financial toll on the UK and led to the majority of the Capitals residents being made homeless.
Victory of the first conflict of the second Anglo-Dutch war went to Britain in the Battle of Lowestoft on the 13th of June 1665 but Britain could not keep up with the Dutch production of ships and their fleet kept growing. On the 1st of June 1666 the “Four Day Battle began and by the 4th the Dutch had set up a blockade of the Thames Estuary, trapping the Royal Navy inside. By the 25th of July 1666 the Royal Navy broke through the blockade in the Battle of North Foreland. Soon a year of peace and negotiations began which was drawn out by both sides attempting to broker a better deal. Finally on the 9th of June 1667 a Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames destroying the Royal Navy’s main Fleet as it was docked in Chatham. 13 British ships were destroyed and two, HMS Unity and HMS Royal Charles were captured by the Dutch. The defeat led to more favourable terms for the Dutch in the Treaty of Breda and was the worst defeat the Royal Navy had suffered.
Under the Treaty of Breda, Great Britain was allowed to keep the captured territory of New York while the Dutch would retain many of the lands they had claimed from the British including the island of Run and North Maluku.
