In 1650 (the year that
stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange died) he was appointed leader of the deputation of
Dordrecht to the
States of Holland and West Friesland. In December 1650, De Witt became the
pensionary of Dordrecht as the successor of
Nicolaas Ruys. In 1652, at the age of 27, De Witt was faced with a mob of angry demonstrators of sailors and fishermen in the city of
Vlissingen. He held this position until July 1653 and was succeeded by
Govert van Slingelandt, a distant relative of his.
Elected Grand Pensionary ) In July 1653, the
States of Holland elected De Witt
Grand Pensionary. In making the appointment, De Witt relied on the express consent of Amsterdam headed by burgomaster and regent
Cornelis de Graeff. The States of Holland chose him with the express intercession of his later uncle De Graeff. Representing the province of Holland, De Witt tended to identify with the economic interests of shipping and trading in the United Provinces. These interests were largely concentrated in the province of Holland, and to a lesser degree in the province of Zeeland.
Political goals As leader of the
state-oriented party, Johan de Witt pursued the interests of the Dutch patricians and merchants. He had his most important goals formulated in 1662 by his like-minded
Pieter de la Court in the book
The Interest of Holland. They were: • Peaceful foreign policy, since every war weighed on the economy. De la Court went so far as to suggest replacing the lion in the Dutch coat of arms with a cat. • Greatest possible autonomy for Holland and distance from the other six provinces, since these were a burden on rich Holland. De la Court suggested digging a huge ditch to mark the separation, but this was meant to be satirical. • Permanent disempowerment of the Princes of Orange, since their dynastic ambitions ran counter to the sober interests of the merchants.
Relationship with Cornelis de Graeff At the height of the Dutch Golden Age, the
First Stadtholderless Period from 1650 to 1672, political power within Holland rested primarily with two
pro-state minded, republican, families. At Amsterdam, this lay with the brothers
Cornelis and
Andries de Graeff, and at The Hague with the brothers Johan and
Cornelis de Witt, leaders of the pro-state (republican) faction of Holland, reinforced by their close collaboration and mutual kinship. Domestically, Johan de Witt relied on political cooperation with the Dutch cities, and above all with Amsterdam. In doing so, De Witt recognized the political power of his uncle burgomaster Cornelis de Graeff, and did his best to accommodate Amsterdam's wishes. De Witt needed his political advice, the support of the Amsterdam government under De Graeff and his clientele, but he also enjoyed his clear mind and humane frankness. De Graeff combined a clear mind, extensive education and the ability to give and take. In one respect, however, he differed from his uncle, for although De Witt was a supporter of liberty like him, in contrast to him he clung to the extreme, which was to prove to be a fatal error in the
Rampjaar 1672. The relationship between these two distinct characters was a combination of close kinship and mutual respect. De Graeff was a political equal to De Witt like no other. From then on, De Graeff was at his side as an experienced and trusted councilman. De Witt's letters to De Graeff testify to the great trust that the nephew had in his uncle in political and family matters). That did not rule out a fight between the two. Nevertheless, the relationship remained excellent. De Witt understood the remark of
Cornelis de Vlaming van Oudshoorn, another Amsterdam burgomaster,
dat zonder den heer van Zuidpolsbroek [De Graeff]
in niets iets te doen was (that without the Lord of Zuid-Polsbroek nothing could be done anywhere).
Leading statesman '' by
Jan Asselijn is an allegory of De Witt protecting his country from its enemies De Witt's power base was the wealthy merchant and patrician class into which he was born. This class broadly coincided politically with the "
States faction", stressing Protestant religious moderation and pragmatic foreign policy defending commercial interests. The "
Orange faction", consisting of the middle class, preferred a strong leader from the Dutch
House of Orange as a counterweight against the rich upper-classes in economic and religious matters. Although leaders that did emerge from the House of Orange rarely were strict
Calvinists themselves, they tended to identify with Calvinism, which was popular among the middle classes in the United Provinces during this time.
William II of Orange was a prime example of this tendency among the leaders of the House of Orange to support Calvinism. William II was elected
stadholder in 1647 and continued to serve until his death in November 1650. Eight days after his death, William II's wife delivered a male heir, William of Orange. Many citizens of the United Provinces urged the election of the infant William III as a stadholder under a regency until he came of age. However, the Provinces, under the dominance of the province of Holland did not fill the office of stadholder. When Johan de Witt became de facto leader of the Dutch Republic in 1653, the state was at
war with England. The superior
English navy blockaded Dutch ports, which triggered a severe economic crisis. De Witt's priority was therefore a speedy peace agreement with England. The
Lord Protector of England,
Oliver Cromwell, demanded as a condition that the House of Orange should be permanently excluded from power in the Dutch Republic. Cromwell's motive was that the house supported his opponents, the
House of Stuart. De Witt knew that the other six Dutch provinces would not agree to such a dictate. But that changed the exemplary collaboration between De Witt and his influential later uncle Cornelis de Graeff, which was an important factor in the success of De Witt's policies and the revival of economic progress after the First Anglo-Dutch War. Together with his De Graeff, De Witt brought about peace with England with the
Treaty of Westminster in May 1654. As a result of the positive course of the war for the Netherlands, the Dutch leadership around De Witt, De Graeff, the army commander
Johann Wolfart van Brederode and Lieutenant Admiral
Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam urged the
Dutch States General to position themselves as a whole behind the secret
Act of Seclusion, which would exclude the young William III from the office of stadtholder. This resolution was drafted by De Graeff in collaboration with De Witt and diplomat
Hieronymus van Beverningh. and financed the wars of the republic under his brother-in-law De Witt. Despite all these quick political successes, De Witt always presented himself to the outside world as a humble civil servant who walked the streets of
The Hague without an escort and with only one servant. According to the English ambassador
Sir William Temple, he was outwardly "indistinguishable from the common man". He himself always emphasized that he had "no decisive vote, authority or power" in the Assembly of States of Holland. But the French ambassador reported to Paris that power in the Netherlands rested with "Monsieur de Witt". In 1657, De Witt and De Graeff mediated the "
Treaty of Raalte", in which William III passed the stadholdership of
Overijssel. On 25 September 1660, the
States of Holland under the prime movers of De Witt, De Graeff, his younger brother
Andries de Graeff, along with
Gillis Valckenier, resolved to take charge of William's education to ensure he would acquire the skills to serve in a future – although undetermined – state function. Influenced by the values of the Roman republic, De Witt did his utmost anyway to prevent any member of the House of Orange from gaining power, convincing many provinces to abolish the stadtholderate entirely. He bolstered his policy by publicly endorsing the theory of
republicanism. He allegedly contributed personally to the
Interest of Holland, a radical republican textbook published in 1662, by his supporter
Pieter de la Court. As a result, De Witt attracted the hatred of all supporters of the Oranges, who were mainly found among the common people.
War with England, conflict with France , by
Abraham Storck After the death of
Oliver Cromwell in 1658, the
English monarchy was restored in 1660 as
Charles II of England returned to power. This further deteriorated Anglo-Dutch relations, and five years later the
Second Anglo-Dutch War broke out. De Witt reformed the Dutch naval forces by building larger and more heavily armed warships modelled after the English navy. After an initial defeat at the
Battle of Lowestoft, he temporarily took command of the Dutch fleet himself. As a remedy for his seasickness,
Christiaan Huygens, the inventor of the pendulum clock, developed a special hammock that did not rock. At the end of 1665
Michiel de Ruyter took over command of the Dutch navy at De Witt's instigation. Further fighting in 1666 and a
massive plague and
devastating fire in
London caused severe economic difficulties in England. By 1667, the English were unable to put a new fleet to sea, De Witt took advantage of this by having the Dutch navy
sail up the
River Medway under the command of his brother
Cornelis de Witt. At
Chatham, Kent, the Dutch burnt several English warships anchored there. Dutch cannon fire was heard in London, causing panic to break out there. England then became ready for peace negotiations, in which De Witt was involved. The peace between the two states was sealed in 1667 with the
Peace of Breda. In 1667, with the support of
Gaspar Fagel,
Gillis Valckenier and his uncle
Andries de Graeff, De Witt issued the
Perpetual Edict, which abolished the governorship and thus the final overthrow of the House of Orange. and the incompatibility of a
stadtholdership with the
Captain Generalship of the Republic of the United Netherlands. As part of efforts by the States General to contest commercial superiority with England, the
Dutch States Army was greatly neglected. This was not without danger because French politics at that time was characterized by unbridled expansionism, which was reinforced by the formidable economic competition of the Dutch Republic. Johan de Witt tried to guarantee the safety of the Republic with a pro-French policy but did not want to agree with King
Louis XIV's plan to divide the
Spanish Netherlands. He preferred a Spanish-administered buffer zone on the southern border of the Republic to a border with powerful France. The
Triple Alliance was concluded on 23 January 1668 with England and Sweden. It stipulated that the three countries would support each other militarily if France attacked one of them. De Witt nevertheless did not want a break with Louis XIV. It was therefore agreed to urge Spain to cede a number of cities in the Spanish Netherlands to him. Only if Louis XIV rejected this and prolonged the
War of Devolution to take control of the whole area would the three countries take military force against France. Especially at De Witt's request, that last appointment was included in a secret clause because he did not want to offend the French. What De Witt did not know was that Charles II had only entered into the treaty to sever all Dutch-French ties for good. A month after its conclusion, he divulged the details of the secret clause to Louis XIV, who, eager for revenge, concluded the secret
Treaty of Dover with England, stipulating that the Dutch Republic would be attacked jointly. ==Death==