In 1605, England was a second-rate European power. There was neither a full-time navy, nor a standing army. For the first 30 years of the 17th century, English naval forces and military expeditions remained semi-private affairs, and campaigns against Spain and France in the 1620s and Scotland in 1639-40 were abysmal failures, due in large part to the lack of trained officers to lead them. By 1705, however, this situation had changed dramatically and England's professional army and navy were playing crucial roles in Europe and North America. British army and navy personnel, backed by well-established military and financial organizations at home and abroad, allowed the island nation to become a leading European nation state and world power.