Elizabeth was facing many problems, and her reign wasn’t looking a long one, until she received a marriage proposal from the king of France. This proposal meant if she accepted that the threat of war with France was over, thus making England allies with France and giving us protection, also stopping the Scottish revolt as there source of power was France, and that meant less debt, but France was a rising protestant country and that could anger the Catholics and cause a revolt, also the land she lost such as Calais could be retrieved, and other new territory could be gained, also the country wouldn’t be happy if it was ruled by the French, but she could produce a heir to the throne. If Elizabeth did not accept and France continued the threat of war and proceeded Elizabeth did not have the funds to support a war and the French would dominate England, England was very susceptible to attack.
Elizabeth also received a marriage proposal from Philip of Spain, if she accepted the proposal, the benefits were that she could produce a heir to the throne, despite the fact he would have much Spanish influence upon him, the alliance with Spain would be strengthened and with the alliance came protection from France. Having another person to share power with Elizabeth would be good as two heads are better than one. There was much financial gain as Spain was one of the richest countries in the world. The country would be under male control, which would have been good for status, protestants would not be happy as Philip was very catholic. If she had declined the Catholics would not have been happy, as he was Catholic, the fact she was single status could be used as a weapon against her, there could’ve been a repeat of what happened with Mary and England might have been dragged into war.
There was a lack of resources in England, an alliance would ensure security, good trade, and sharing resources, but it could also upset other countries and cost trade, keeping France and Spain at war would keep enemies pre-occupied and there were possibilities England could get dragged in. She needed to keep a balance between the two. This could give her time to build up resources, which were desperately needed, as they were very low, also gain new trades. Elizabeth could have been seen as a troublemaker though and that could have been used as a pretext for invasion.
Some of her other options was to continue her war with France which was too costly and they couldn’t afford, but she would maintain national pride, could gain territory if they won but was difficult to control, if she was to make peace, it would make Elizabeth lose face at the start of her reign, but it would save resources and money, and give her time to focus on the many other problems England was facing, also improve relations with France and maintain power between France, Spain and England, England would appear of less of a threat to other countries though, which could provoke an invasion.
I think her best option was to marry Philip of Spain, he was a huge power in Europe and his influence could’ve ended the war with France and put lots of money into England, also it was a very rich country and could’ve had been great for trade plus resources, but the protestants of England would’ve been very upset and not liked his catholic influence plus the French would feel insulted, but I don’t see why she should marry someone who she is at war with. I believe Philip of Spain would have been her best choice.