Dutch fleet left Danish waters in late October once this task had been almost completed, leaving De Ruyter with a small squadron until the terms peace was agreed. Second Anglo-Dutch War The First and Second Anglo-Dutch wars arose from a combination of commercial and maritime rivalry religious and political differences between England and the Netherlands, although conceding that the Third Anglo-Dutch War was less the result of commercial rivalry. Although Oliver Cromwell wished to prevent any member of the House of Orange becoming stadtholder or holding other public office in the Netherlands, whereas after the English Restoration, Charles II of England became king, and tried to promote his nephew, the later William III of Orange as a possible stadtholder, both represented English interference in Dutch affairs. Although the Second Anglo-Dutch War resulted from long-standing commercial tensions between England and the Netherlands that had escalated from 1664 following English provocations in North America and West Africa., diplomatic negotiations to avoid the outbreak of war failed, largely because a group of ambitious English politicians and naval officers frustrated these efforts to reach any accommodation between the parties. The war commenced with a declaration of war by the Dutch on 4 March 1665, which followed the provocation of English attacks on two Dutch convoys, one off Cadiz and the other in the English Channel. At the start of the war, both sides considered an early decisive battle was desirable, as English government finances could not sustain a long war, and an English blockade of Dutch ports and attacks on their merchant and fishing fleets would soon bring their economic ruin. After an early English blockade in April and May was broken off through its ships' lack of supplies, the Dutch were desperate to prevent a second blockade. The Grand Pensionary and leading Dutch politician, Johan de Witt and other members of the States-General, formed a commission to supervise Obdam, and gave him detailed instructions comprising 26 articles, ordering to attack the English aggressively when and where he could do them most damage. However, these instructions gave Obdam little guidance on how he should do so. The same instructions issued by the commission headed by de Witt insisted on specifying that the Dutch fleet's order of battle should involve its division into a seven squadrons with a total of 21 flag officers for political reasons. Each of the five Dutch admiralties had its own