Scilly Islands (England) 1651. On the verge of the end of the Second Civil War in England, the parliamentary party occupied almost the entire territory and this set of islands in the west of Cornwall became the last bastion of the monarchists.

The United Provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence following the battle against the Spaniards in the War of 80 (1568-1648). The English were allies of the Dutch in that war, so the Netherlands decided to support the parliamentarians who led Oliver Cromwell in the civil war in England. But to make this decision, the Scilly Islands were the only territory in the hands of the real parties, and it made no sense to declare war on the whole country. So the war was only declared to the islands and the Dutch fleet headed towards Scilly, ready to repay the aid received years ago.

But immediately after the declaration, in June 1651, the parliamentary fleet headed by Admiral Robert Blake forced the monarchs to surrender. Oliver Cromwell immediately decided to build a fortress on the island of Tresco (in the photo), a sign of the superiority of supporters of the parliamentary monarchy. Of course, the Dutch fleet withdrew as it had arrived, without firing a single shot. But they forgot to abandon their declaration of war.

In 1985, historian Roy Duncan was president of the Council of the Scilly Islands. He knew the “myth” of the Dutch Declaration of War, but he didn’t know if it was an official declaration, or a legend that was fed from mouth to mouth for centuries. He sent a letter to the London Embassy of the Netherlands to investigate whether the islands he represented were still at war. The Embassy was responsible for reviewing the documentation on the subject, and the historian replied that the statement was authentic and was still in force. Duncan invited Ambassador Rein Huydecoper to visit the islands and on 17 April 1986, after the official "beginning" of the war, the peace treaty was signed.

Officially, it's the longest war in history. And for some it may be the most useless, but, unlike others, in this war they did not kill anyone in vain.