, by
Adriaen Thomasz Key. Until the 16th century, the
Low Countries—corresponding roughly to the present-day
Netherlands,
Belgium, and
Luxembourg—consisted of a number of
duchies, counties, and
prince-bishoprics, almost all of which were under the supremacy of the
Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the
County of Flanders, most of which was under the
Kingdom of France. Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the
House of Burgundy and subsequently the
House of Habsburg. In 1549,
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the
Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the
Seventeen Provinces under his rule. In 1568, the Netherlands, led by
William I of Orange, together with
Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, and
Lamoral, Count of Egmont revolted against Charles's successor,
Philip II of Spain, because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces. This was the start of the
Eighty Years' War. During the initial phase of the war, the revolt was largely unsuccessful. Spain regained control over most of the rebelling provinces. This period is known as the "
Spanish Fury" due to the high number of massacres, instances of mass looting, and total destruction of multiple cities, in particular
Antwerp between 1572 and 1579. In 1579, a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the
Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the
Army of Flanders. This was followed in 1581 by the
Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II.
Dutch colonialism began at this point, as the Netherlands was able to capture a number of
Portuguese and
Spanish colonies, particularly in the
Asia-Pacific region. After the assassination of William of Orange on 10 July 1584, both
Henry III of France and
Elizabeth I of England declined offers of sovereignty. However, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a
protectorate of England (
Treaty of Nonsuch, 1585), and sent the
Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful, and with the
instruction of 12 April 1588, the United Provinces became a
republic. The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by Spain until the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Religious toleration and refugees . He was of
Portuguese-Jewish origin. An important factor in the growth of the Netherlands as an economic power was the influx of groups seeking
religious toleration of the Dutch Republic. In particular, it became the destination of
Portuguese and Spanish Jews fleeing the Inquisitions in Iberia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. and later, poorer
German Jews. The Portuguese Jewish community had many wealthy merchants who, both lived openly as Jews and participated in the thriving economy on a par with wealthy Dutch merchants. The Netherlands became home to many other notable refugees, including Protestants from Antwerp and
Flanders, which remained under
Spanish Catholic rule; French
Huguenots; and
English Dissenters, including the
Pilgrim Fathers. Many immigrants came to the cities of Holland in the 17th and 18th century from the Protestant parts of Germany and elsewhere. The number of first-generation immigrants from outside the Netherlands in Amsterdam was nearly 50% in the 17th and 18th centuries. Amsterdam, which was a hub of the
Atlantic world, had a population primarily of immigrants and others not considered Dutch, if one includes second and third generation immigrants. There were also migrants from the Dutch countryside. People in most parts of Europe were poor and many were unemployed. But in Amsterdam there was always work. Religious toleration was important, because a continuous influx of immigrants was necessary for the economy. Travellers visiting Amsterdam reported their surprise at the lack of control over the influx.
Economic growth , by
Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde The era of explosive economic growth is roughly coterminous with the period of social and cultural bloom that has been called the
Dutch Golden Age, and that actually formed the material basis for that cultural era. Amsterdam became the hub of world trade, the center into which staples and luxuries flowed for sorting, processing, and distribution, and then reexported around Europe and the world. During 1585 through 1622 there was the rapid accumulation of trade capital, often brought in by refugee merchants from Antwerp and other ports. The money was typically invested in high-risk ventures like pioneering expeditions to the
East Indies to engage in the
spice trade. These ventures were soon consolidated in the
Dutch East India Company (VOC). There were similar ventures in different fields however, like the trade on Russia and the
Levant. The profits of these ventures were ploughed back in the financing of new trade, which led to its exponential growth. Rapid industrialization led to the rapid growth of the nonagricultural labor force and the increase in real wages during the same time. In the half-century between 1570 and 1620 this labor supply increased 3 percent per annum, a truly phenomenal growth. Despite this, nominal wages were repeatedly increased, outstripping price increases. In consequence, real wages for unskilled laborers were 62 percent higher in 1615–1619 than in 1575–1579.
Amsterdam '' in the late 17th century: painting by
Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde By the mid-1660s
Amsterdam had reached the optimum population (about 200,000) for the level of trade, commerce and agriculture then available to support it. The city contributed the largest quota in taxes to the States of Holland which in turn contributed over half the quota to the States General. Amsterdam was also one of the most reliable in settling tax demands and therefore was able to use the threat to withhold such payments to good effect. Amsterdam was governed by a body of regents, a large, but closed, oligarchy with control over all aspects of the city's life, and a dominant voice in the foreign affairs of Holland. Only men with sufficient wealth and a long enough residence within the city could join the ruling class. The first step for an ambitious and wealthy merchant family was to arrange a marriage with a long-established regent family. In the 1670s one such union, that of the Trip family (the Amsterdam branch of the Swedish arms makers) with the son of Burgomaster Valckenier, extended the influence and patronage available to the latter and strengthened his dominance of the council. The oligarchy in Amsterdam thus gained strength from its breadth and openness. In the smaller towns family interest could unite members on policy decisions but contraction through intermarriage could lead to the degeneration of the quality of the members. In Amsterdam the network was so large that members of the same family could be related to opposing factions and pursue widely separated interests. The young men who had risen to positions of authority in the 1670s and 1680s consolidated their hold on office well into the 1690s and even the new century. Amsterdam's regents provided good services to residents. They spent heavily on the water-ways and other essential infrastructure, as well as municipal almshouses for the elderly, hospitals and churches. Amsterdam's wealth was generated by its commerce, which was in turn sustained by the judicious encouragement of entrepreneurs whatever their origin. This open door policy has been interpreted as proof of a tolerant ruling class. But tolerance was practiced for the convenience of the city. Therefore, the wealthy Sephardic Jews from Portugal were welcomed and accorded all privileges except those of citizenship, but the poor Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe were far more carefully vetted and those who became dependent on the city were encouraged to move on. Similarly, provision for the housing of Huguenot immigrants was made in 1681 when
Louis XIV's religious policy was beginning to drive these Protestants out of France; no encouragement was given to the dispossessed Dutch from the countryside or other towns of Holland. The regents encouraged immigrants to build churches and provided sites or buildings for churches and temples for all except the most radical sects and the Catholics by the 1670s (although even the Catholics could practice quietly in a chapel within the Beguinhof).
First Stadtholderless Period (1650–1675) ,
Grand Pensionary of Holland, by
Caspar Netscher During the wars a tension had arisen between the Orange-Nassau leaders and the patrician merchants. The former—the Orangists—were soldiers and centralizers who seldom spoke of compromise with the enemy and looked for military solutions. They included many rural gentry as well as ordinary folk attached to the banner of the
House of Orange. The latter group were the Republicans, led by the
Grand Pensionary (a sort of prime minister) and the
regents stood for localism, municipal rights, commerce, and peace. In 1650, the
stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange suddenly died; his son was a baby and the
Orangists were leaderless. The regents seized the opportunity: there would be no new stadtholder in Holland for 22 years.
Johan de Witt, a brilliant politician and diplomat, emerged as the dominant figure. Princes of Orange became the stadtholder and an almost hereditary ruler in 1672 and 1748. The Dutch Republic of the United Provinces was a true republic from 1650 to 1672 and 1702–1748. These periods are called the
First Stadtholderless Period and
Second Stadtholderless Period.
First and Second Anglo-Dutch wars The Dutch and English were major rivals in world trade and naval power. Halfway through the 17th century the
Dutch States Navy was the rival of the English
Royal Navy as the most powerful navy in the world. The Republic fought a series of three
naval wars against England from 1652 to 1674. In 1651, the
Parliament of England introduced the
Navigation Act, which restricted Dutch trade with English colonies. An incident at sea concerning the Act resulted in the First Anglo-Dutch War, which lasted from 1652 to 1654, ending in the
Treaty of Westminster (1654), which left the Navigation Act in effect. After the
Stuart Restoration in 1660,
Charles II tried to serve his dynastic interests by attempting to make
Prince William III of Orange, his nephew,
stadtholder of the Republic, using some military pressure. King Charles thought a naval war would weaken the Dutch traders and strengthen the English economy and empire, so the Second Anglo-Dutch War was launched in 1665. At first many Dutch ships were captured and the English scored great victories. However, the
Raid on the Medway, in June 1667, ended the war with a Dutch victory. The Dutch recovered their trade, while the English economy was seriously hurt and its treasury nearly bankrupt. The greatly expanded Dutch navy was for years after the world's strongest. The Dutch Republic was at the zenith of its power.
Franco-Dutch War and Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1702) from 1689 to 1702 after the
Glorious Revolution. The year 1672 is known in the Netherlands as the "Disaster Year" (
Rampjaar). England declared war on the Republic, (the
Third Anglo-Dutch War), followed by France,
Münster and Cologne, which had all signed alliances against the Republic. France, Cologne and Münster invaded the Republic. Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis, who had accomplished a diplomatic balancing act for a long time, were now the obvious scapegoats. They were lynched, and a new
stadtholder, William III, was appointed. An Anglo-French attempt to land on the Dutch shore was barely repelled in three desperate naval battles under command of
Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. The advance of French troops from the south was halted by a costly inundation of its own heartland, by breaching river dikes. With the aid of friendly German princes, the Dutch succeeded in fighting back
Cologne and
Münster, after which the peace was signed with both of them, although some territory in the east was lost forever. Peace was signed with England as well, in 1674 (
Second Treaty of Westminster). In 1678, peace was made with France at the
Treaty of Nijmegen, although the Spanish and German allies of the Dutch Republic felt betrayed by this. In 1688, at the start of the
Nine Years' War with France, the relations with England reached crisis level once again. Convinced that he needed English support against France and that he had to prevent a second Anglo-French alliance, Stadtholder
William III decided he had to take a huge gamble and invade England. To this end he secured the support from the Dutch States-General and from Protestant English nobles opposed to William's Catholic father-in-law
James II of England. This led to the
Glorious Revolution and cemented the principle of parliamentary rule and Protestant ascendency in England. James fled to France, and William ascended to the English throne as co-monarch with his wife
Mary II, James' eldest daughter. This manoeuvre secured England as a critical ally of the United Provinces in its ongoing war with
Louis XIV of France. William was the commander of the Dutch and English armies and fleets until his death in 1702. During William's reign as King of England, his primary focus was leveraging English manpower and finances to aid the Dutch against the French. The combination continued during the
War of the Spanish Succession after his death as the combined Dutch, English, and Imperial armies conquered Flanders and Brabant, and invaded French territory before the alliance collapsed in 1713 due to British political infighting.
Second Stadtholderless Period (1702–1747) , 1724. This period is known as the "Periwig Era". The
Second Stadtholderless Period () is the designation in Dutch
historiography of the period between the death of
stadtholder William III on 19 March 1702 and the appointment of
William IV, Prince of Orange as stadtholder and captain general in all provinces of the Dutch Republic on 2 May 1747. During this period the office of stadtholder was left vacant in the provinces of
Holland,
Zeeland, and
Utrecht, though in other provinces that office was filled by members of the House of Nassau-Dietz (later called Orange-Nassau) during various periods. During the period, the Republic lost its Great-Power status and its primacy in world trade, processes that went hand-in-hand, the latter causing the former. Though the economy declined considerably, causing deindustrialization and deurbanization in the maritime provinces, a
rentier-class kept accumulating a large capital fund that formed the basis for the leading position the Republic achieved in the international capital market. A military crisis at the end of the period caused the
Orangist revolution and the restoration of the Stadtholderate in all provinces.
Economic decline after 1730 The slow economic decline after 1730 was relative: other countries grew faster, eroding the Dutch lead and surpassing it. Wilson identifies three causes. Holland lost its world dominance in trade as competitors emerged and copied its practices, built their own ships and ports, and traded on their own account directly without going through Dutch intermediaries. Second, there was no growth in manufacturing, due perhaps to a weaker sense of industrial entrepreneurship and to the high wage scale. Third the wealthy turned their investments to foreign loans. This helped jump-start other nations and provided the Dutch with a steady income from collecting interest, but leaving them with few domestic sectors with a potential for rapid growth. After the Dutch fleet declined, merchant interests became dependent on the goodwill of Britain. The main focus of Dutch leaders was reducing the country's considerable budget deficits. Dutch trade and shipping remained at a fairly steady level through the 18th century, but no longer had a near monopoly and also could not match growing British and French competition. The Netherlands lost its position as the trading centre of Northern Europe to Britain. Although the Netherlands remained wealthy, investments for the nation's money became more difficult to find. Some investment went into purchases of land for estates, but most went to foreign bonds and Amsterdam remained one of Europe's banking capitals.
Culture and society , by
Hendrick Avercamp Dutch culture also declined both in the arts and sciences. Literature for example largely imitated English and French styles with little in the way of innovation or originality. The most influential intellectual was
Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), a Protestant refugee from France who settled in Rotterdam where he wrote the massive
Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (
Historical and Critical Dictionary, 1696). It had a major impact on the thinking of
The Enlightenment across Europe, giving an arsenal of weapons to critics who wanted to attack religion. It was an encyclopaedia of ideas that argued that most "truths" were merely opinions, and that gullibility and stubbornness were prevalent. Religious life became more relaxed as well. Catholics grew from 18% to 23% of the population during the 18th century and enjoyed greater tolerance, even as they continued to be outside the political system. They became divided by the feud between moralistic Jansenists (who denied free will) and orthodox believers. One group of Jansenists formed a splinter sect, the
Old Catholic Church in 1723. The upper classes willingly embraced the ideas of the Enlightenment, tempered by the tolerance that meant less hostility to organized religion compared to France. Dutch universities declined in importance, no longer attracting large numbers of foreign students. The Netherlands remained an important hub of intellectual exchange, creating reviews of foreign publications that made scholars aware of new works in French, German, and English. Dutch painting declined, no longer being innovative, with painters pursuing the styles of the old masters. Life for the average Dutchman became slower and more relaxed in the 18th century. The upper and middle classes continued to enjoy prosperity and high living standards. The drive to succeed seemed less urgent. Unskilled laborers remained locked in poverty and hardship. The large underclass of unemployed required government and private charity to survive.
The Orangist revolution (1747–1751) , stadholder from 1747 to 1751 CE , stadholder from 1751 to 1806, and
Wilhelmina of Prussia with three of their five children. From left to right: the future
William I of the Netherlands, Frederick, and Frederica Louise Wilhelmina. During
Anthonie van der Heim's tenure as
Grand Pensionary (1737–1746), the Dutch Republic was reluctantly drawn into the
War of Austrian Succession, despite efforts to remain neutral. French attacks on Dutch fortresses in the
Austrian Netherlands and occupation of the Dutch
Zeelandic Flanders led to the Republic joining the
Quadruple Alliance, which suffered a significant defeat at the
Battle of Fontenoy. The French invasion exposed the weaknesses of Dutch defenses, leading to memories of
"Disaster Year" of 1672 and widespread calls for the restoration of the
stadtholderate.
William IV, Prince of Orange, seized this opportunity to consolidate power and place loyal officials in strategic government positions to wrest control from the
regenten. The struggle involved religious, anti-Catholic, and democratic elements, as well as mob violence and political agitation. The war concluded with the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), and the French voluntarily retreated from the Dutch frontier. However, William IV died unexpectedly in 1751 at the age of 40.
Regency and indolent rule (1752–1779) His son,
William V, was 3 years old when his father died, and a long regency characterised by corruption and misrule began. His mother delegated most of the powers of the regency to Bentinck and her favorite,
Duke Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg. All power was concentrated in the hands of an unaccountable few, including the Frisian nobleman
Douwe Sirtema van Grovestins. Still a teenager, William V assumed the position of
stadtholder in 1766, the last to hold that office. In 1767, he married
Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the daughter of
Augustus William of Prussia, niece of
Frederick the Great. The position of the Dutch during the
American War of Independence (1775–1783) was one of
neutrality. William V, leading the pro-British faction within the government, blocked attempts by anti-Orangist, and later pro-French, elements to drag the government to war. However, things came to a head with the Dutch attempt to join the Russian-led
League of Armed Neutrality, leading to the outbreak of the disastrous
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1780. After the signing of the
Treaty of Paris (1783), the impoverished nation grew restless under William's rule. An English historian summed him up uncharitably as "a Prince of the profoundest lethargy and most abysmal stupidity." And yet he would guide his family through the difficult French-Batavian period and his son would be crowned king.
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784) by
Thomas Luny The
Fourth Anglo–Dutch War (1780–1784) was a conflict between the
Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the
American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that war. Although the Dutch Republic did not enter into a formal alliance with the United States and their allies, U.S. ambassador (and future President)
John Adams managed to establish diplomatic relations with the Dutch Republic, making it the second European country to diplomatically recognize the
Continental Congress in April 1782. In October 1782, a treaty of amity and commerce was concluded as well. Most of the war consisted of a series of largely successful British operations against Dutch colonial economic interests, although British and Dutch naval forces also
met once off the Dutch coast. The war ended disastrously for the Dutch and exposed the weakness of the political and economic foundations of the country. The
Treaty of Paris (1784), according to
Fernand Braudel, "sounded the knell of Dutch greatness."
Patriot rebellion and its suppression (1785–1795) at
Jutphaas on 9 May 1787. The pro-revolutionary Utrecht
Patriots are on the right; the troops of
stadholder William V, Prince of Orange on the left. (Painted by Jonas Zeuner, 1787) After the war with Great Britain ended disastrously in 1784, there was growing unrest and a rebellion by the anti-Orangist
Patriots. Influenced by the
American Revolution, the Patriots sought a more democratic form of government. The opening shot of this revolution is often considered to be the 1781 publication of a manifesto called
Aan het Volk van Nederland ("To the People of the Netherlands") by
Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, who would become an influential leader of the Patriot movement. Their aim was to reduce corruption and the power held by the
stadtholder,
William V, Prince of Orange. Support for the Patriots came mostly from the middle class. They formed
militias called
exercitiegenootschappen. In 1785, there was an open Patriot rebellion, which took the form of an armed insurrection by local militias in certain Dutch towns,
Freedom being the rallying cry.
Herman Willem Daendels attempted to organise an overthrow of various municipal governments (
vroedschap). The goal was to oust government officials and force new elections. "Seen as a whole this revolution was a string of violent and confused events, accidents, speeches, rumours, bitter enmities and armed confrontations", wrote French historian
Fernand Braudel, who saw it as a forerunner of the
French Revolution. The Patriot movement focused more on local political power, where they had no say in their towns' governance. Although they were able to curtail the power of the stadholder, and hold democratic elections in select towns, they were divided in their political vision, which was more local than national. Supporters were drawn from religious dissenters and Catholics in particular places, while pro-stadholder Orangists had more widespread geographical support of sections of the lower classes, the Dutch Reformed clergy, and the Jewish community. In 1785
the stadholder left The Hague and moved his court to
Nijmegen in
Guelders, a city remote from the heart of Dutch political life. In June 1787, his energetic wife
Wilhelmina (the sister of
Frederick William II of Prussia) tried to travel to
The Hague. Outside
Schoonhoven, she was stopped by Patriot militiamen and taken to a farm near
Goejanverwellesluis. She was forced to return to Nijmegen. She appealed to her brother for help, and he sent some 26,000 troops to invade, led by
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, to
suppress the rebellion. The Patriot militias could not contend with these forces, melting away. Dutch banks at this time still held much of the world's
capital. Government-sponsored banks owned up to 40% of Great Britain's
national debt and there were close connections to the
House of Stuart. The stadholder had supported British policies after the
American Revolution and in foreign policy, the stadholder was "little more than a pawn of the British and Prussians", so that Patriot pressure was ignored by William. This severe military response overwhelmed the Patriots and put the stadholder firmly back in control. A small unpaid Prussian army was billeted in the Netherlands and supported themselves by looting and extortion. The
exercitiegenootschappen continued urging citizens to resist the government. They distributed pamphlets, formed "Patriot Clubs" and held public
demonstrations. The government responded by pillaging those towns where opposition continued. Five leaders were sentenced to death, forcing them to flee. Lynchings also occurred. For a while, no one dared appear in public without an orange cockade to show their support for
Orangism. Many Patriots, perhaps around 40,000 in all, fled to Brabant, France (especially
Dunkirk and
St. Omer) and elsewhere. Before long the French became involved in Dutch politics and the tide turned toward the Patriots. The
French Revolution was popular, and numerous underground clubs were promoting it when in January 1795 the
French army invaded. The underground rose up, overthrew the municipal and provincial governments, and proclaimed the
Batavian Republic in Amsterdam. Stadtholder William V fled to England and the States General dissolved itself. ==Economy==