The Netherlands and a Tiny Island Group Were Technically at War for 335 Years

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In 1651, Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp sailed to the Isles of Scilly seeking compensation for ships seized by Royalist forces sheltering there during the English Civil War. When none was forthcoming, he reportedly declared war on the islands. Within weeks, the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalists, the Dutch sailed home satisfied — and promptly forgot to sign a peace treaty. The Isles of Scilly were not technically a sovereign nation, so no official paperwork was ever filed to end the conflict. Decades turned into centuries, and the "war" became local folklore. In 1985, a historian on the island council named Roy Duncan wrote to the Dutch Embassy to investigate the rumour. After searching its records, the embassy confirmed: no peace treaty had ever been signed. On April 17, 1986, the Dutch Ambassador made a ceremonial visit to St. Mary's Island and formally signed a declaration of peace, ending a war in which not a single shot had been fired in 335 years. The ceremony was largely a publicity event; historians still debate whether Tromp's declaration was ever legally binding. The signed peace treaty is now on display in the Council Chambers on the island.