Everything about United Netherlands totally explained
» "United Netherlands" redirects here. For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands," see United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (or "of the Seven United Provinces") (
Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden/Provinciën; also
Dutch Republic or
United Provinces in short,
Foederatae Belgii Provinciae or
Belgica Foederata in Latin) was a
European
republic between 1581 and 1795, in about the same location as the modern Kingdom of the
Netherlands, which is the
successor state.
History
Before 1581, the area of the
Low Countries consisted of a number of
duchies,
counties, and independent
bishoprics, not all of them part of the
Holy Roman Empire. Today that area is divided between the
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Luxembourg and parts of
France and
Germany. The Low Countries in the 16th century roughly corresponded to the Seventeen Provinces covered by the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 of
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Through marriage, war or sale, these states all ended up in the hands of the
Habsburg emperor
Charles V and his son, king
Philip II of Spain. In 1568, the Netherlands, led by
William I of Orange, revolted against Philip II because of his efforts to modernize and
centralize the
devolved medieval government structures of the provinces, high taxes, and persecution of
Protestants by the government. This was the start of the
Eighty Years' War.
In 1579, a number of the northern provinces of the Netherlands signed the
Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defense against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the
Oath of Abjuration, the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II.
The United Provinces first tried to choose their own lord, and they asked the
Duke of Anjou (sovereign from 1581-1583) to rule them. Later, after the assassination of
William of Orange (
July 10,
1584), both
Henry III of France and
Elizabeth I of England declined the offer 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 wasn't a success, and in 1588 the provinces became a
Republic.
From an economic perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces completely out-performed all expectations; it was a surprise to many that a nation, not based on the church or on a single royal leader, could be so successful. This time period is known in the
Netherlands as the
Golden Age. The Dutch dominated
world trade in the 17th century, conquering a vast
colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of
merchantmen of all western nations. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region of Europe. The free trade spirit of the time — which some would argue was the
Protestant spirit of the time — received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern — much better functioning —
stock market in the Low Countries. They established a stock market first in
Rotterdam and later in
Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, the modernization of the financial institution took place, and the oldest stock market based on modern trading principles is found here. While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was quickly incorporated to the well-connected English, stimulating the English economic output.
The Republic of the United Provinces was officially recognized in the
Peace of Westphalia (1648), and lasted until
French revolutionary forces invaded in 1795 and set up a new
republic, called the
Batavian Republic, which would be replaced by the French-controlled
Kingdom of Holland.
The Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" are used. In 1815 it was rejoined with
Austrian Netherlands,
Luxemburg and
Liège (before that the 'Southern provinces') to become the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands, in order to create a strong
buffer state north of
France. After Belgium became independent, the state finally became known as the
Kingdom of the Netherlands, as it remains today.
Between 1590-1712, the Dutch also enjoyed having one of the strongest navies in the world. This allowed for their varied conquests, including breaking the Portuguese sphere of influence on the Indian Ocean and on the Orient.
Politics
The republic was a
confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so-called
Generality Lands. These latter were governed directly by the
States-General (
Staten-Generaal in Dutch), the confederal government. The States-General were seated in
The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces of the republic were, in official feudal order: the duchy of
Gelre, the counties of
Holland and
Zealand, the former bishopric of
Utrecht, the
lordship of
Overijssel and the free (for example never feudalised) provinces of
Friesland and
Groningen. Actually there was an eighth province, the lordship of
Drenthe, but this area was so poor it was exempt from paying confederal taxes and as a corollary was denied representation in the States-General. Each province was governed by the Provincial States; the main executive official was a
stadtholder (
stadhouder in Dutch). In theory the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the States of each province. However in practice the Princes of
Orange-Nassau, beginning with
William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces, and Zeeland and usually also Utrecht had the same stadtholder as Holland . There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Regents' supporters.
After the
Peace of Westphalia several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces. They were federally governed
Generality Lands (
Generaliteitslanden). They were
Staats-Brabant (present
North Brabant),
Staats-Vlaanderen (present
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen),
Staats-Limburg (around
Maastricht) and
Staats-Oppergelre (around
Venlo, after 1715).
The States-General of the United Provinces were in control of the
Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the
Dutch West India Company (WIC), although some shipping expeditions were initiated by some of the Provinces, mostly Holland and/or Zeeland.
Religion
The denomination linked closely to the official States, and adopted as de facto state religion, was the
Lower German Dutch Reformed Church, the later Reformed Church of the Netherlands. The public exercise of
Catholicism was strictly forbidden, Catholics were viewed by the government with suspicion and were supervised, Catholic chapels and road-side crosses were all destroyed, shrines demolished, and even in the southern and utmost eastern parts of the country, which remained almost entirely Catholic during the whole period of existence of the Dutch Republic, public servants had to be
Calvinist Protestants (or
Jewish) and take an oath which ordered them to act against the
"papist religion". However after the end of the 17th century the situation changed to a state of restricted toleration of Catholic worship, as long as it took place secretly in non-recognizable churches or in sheds. However until 1795 the Catholics of the Netherlands had to pay huge taxes and large sums of "recognition money" in order to make local government tolerate them. All ancient churches, monastery buildings and stripped cathedrals remained in the hands of the Protestants, even in entirely Catholic provinces and regions of the Netherlands.
Because of the enormous shortage of priests - most had fled, were expelled or defected to the Protestant religion - and the fact that the entire Dutch Republic's Catholics were very inefficiently governed by an
Apostolic Vicariate as the so-called
Dutch Mission, during the late 17th century and even onwards more and more badly catechized and economically discriminated Catholics in the north and west slowly fell away to the Protestant state church and even to
Anabaptist communities. In the provinces of Holland and Zeeland, the majority however had become officially Calvinist, but in 1648 some regions in the northern and western parts of the country, and many in the centre and the centre-east, had very confused but still mostly Roman Catholic populations. By this also can be explained why during the
Franco-Dutch War occupation (1670s) of huge parts of the Netherlands by Catholic troops of the
Prince-Bishopric of Münster and
France, and the temporary restoration of Catholicism in the parish churches and cathedrals, still huge masses of Dutch faithful attended the
celebrations of Mass conducted by foreign
priests, serving as
chaplains in the invading armies. However by 1795 Calvinist Protestant policies dominating the country for almost two hundred years, had left their marks: vast previously Catholic regions - even during the
Protestant Reformation - had been converted to Reformed Protestantism, while Catholic
shrines,
monasteries,
abbeys and other cultural institutions associated with the
papacy and Catholic doctrine, had been razed to the ground - mostly from 1630 to 1690.
The Dutch Republic didn't allow public exercise of
Anabaptism and
Lutheranism either, except in foreign embassies and in isolated villages, like
Giethoorn (Anabaptists) and among the German traders in major cities of the Republic. Public policy against non-Calvinist Protestants however was less harsh than policy towards native Dutch Catholics.
Influence
The framers of the
U.S. Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, though that influence was more as an example of things to avoid than of things to imitate. In addition, the
Oath of Abjuration, essentially the declaration of independence of the United Provinces, is strikingly similar to the later
American Declaration of Independence though concrete evidence that the former directly influenced the latter is absent.
John Adams went so far as to say that “the originals of the two Republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other.” The seven arrows in the lion's left claw in the Republic's coat of arms, representing the seven provinces, was a precedent for the thirteen arrows in the eagle's left claw in the
Great Seal of the United States.
Decline
Long term rivalry between the two main factions in Dutch society, the
Staatsgezinden (Republicans) and the
Prinsgezinden (Royalists or
Orangists) sapped the strength and unity of the country.
Johan de Witt and the Republicans did reign supreme for a time at the middle of the Seventeenth century (the
First Stadtholderless Period) until his overthrow and murder in 1672. Subsequently,
William III of Orange became stadtholder, after a stadtholderless era of 22 years, and the Orangists regained power; his first problem was to survive the
Franco-Dutch War (which was related to the
Third Anglo-Dutch war), when France, England,
Münster and
Cologne ganged up against his country.
Wars to contain the expansionist policies of France in various coalitions, after the
Glorious Revolution mostly including England, burdened the Republic with huge debts, although little of the fighting after 1673 took place on its own territory. The end of the
War of Spanish Succession in 1713 marked the end of the Republic as a major military power.
Fierce competition for trade and colonies, especially from England, furthered the economic downturn of the country. The three Anglo-Dutch Wars and the rise of
Mercantilism hurt Dutch shipping and commerce.
The establishment of the Bank of England, at a time when the Dutch were fighting against the French on Dutch soil, meant that money could be borrowed from London at lower interest rates, and at greater reliability and protection. Gradually, London displaced Amsterdam as the leading European financial centre.
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