Failure of Henry Viii's Foreign Policy

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Eleanor Waller History – Do you agree with the view that Henry VIII’s foreign policy in the years 1514-25 failed because he lacked the resources to fulfil his aims? I agree that the main reason for the failure of Henry VIII’s foreign policy is because he lacked resources to fulfil his aims. Source 4 and 6 both support the ideas that the lack of resources is to blame and the battle of Pavia and the second French War support this further. However, in Source 5 there are other reasons pointing towards the failure of the foreign policy but these reasons are not as significant as those found in sources 4 and 6. Source 4 agrees with the view that Henry VIII’s foreign policy failed because he lacked the resources to fulfil his aims. From source 4 we can learn that Henry’s allies proved to be dishonest and untrustworthy as they were bribed to go against the treaty they had made with England, “His allies proved unscrupulous and unreliable. Maxamilian and Ferdinand were bribed by the French to disown their treaty obligations to England, leaving Henry to fight alone”. Henry VIII struggled to fight alone and “accepted the fact that royal finances could not support a repetition of the campaign of 1513. So instead of overthrowing the King of France, Henry made peace with him. If the royal finances could afford to cover the costs of another campaign then Henry VIII’s foreign policy would have been a success, but as a result of a lack of resources, money in this case, Henry was unable to go ahead with a campaign to overthrow the King of France. ”. Source 4 therefore suggests that the failure of Henry VIII’s foreign policy was partly as a result of his allies proving to be unscrupulous, but mainly as a result of a lack of money. Source 6 also agrees that the failure of Henry VIII’s foreign policy is as a result of a lack of resources. This source described the resistance to the
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