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:''"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 Low Countries") (''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden/Provinciën''; also 'Dutch Republic' or 'United Provinces' in short, ''Belgica Foederata'' in Latin) was a European republic between 1581 and 1795, in the same location as the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is the successor state.

Contents

History

Politics

Influence

Decline

See also

References

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. ''See Seventeen Provinces, for history and links to the earlier history of each of the provinces. For the southern provinces that did not secede from Spain in 1581, see the Spanish Netherlands.''
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 Catholic church. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War.
In 1579, a number of the northern 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), Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England both 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 was not 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 Holland 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 urbanised 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. The introduction to the Netherlands of this financial institution can be attributed to the Walloons, the French speaking Belgians., 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 principles still in place in our world today 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 Luik (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 dependency (of the episcopal seat of Utrecht) Overijssel and the free (i.e. never feudalised) provinces of Friesland and Groningen. Actually there was an eighth province, the dependency 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 Regent's 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.

Influence

Numerous historians and legal scholars have noted that the framers of the U.S. Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, which had successfully provided a workable governmental framework in that country for more than two centuries. 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.”

Decline

Long term rivalry between the Republican Party and the Royalist or Orangist Party sapped the strength and unity of the country. Johan de Witt and his Republican Party did reign supreme for a time at the middle of the Seventeenth century (The 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 Third Anglo-Dutch war, when France, Munster and Cologne were also ganging up against his country.
Wars to contain the expansionist policies of France in various coalitions, 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 land power.
Fierce competition for trade and colony, especially from England, furthered the economic downturn of the country. The three Anglo-Dutch Wars and the rise of Mercantile Protectionism 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.

See also

★ History of the Netherlands

★ Union of Utrecht

★ Eighty Years' War

★ Dutch Golden Age

★ List of Grand Pensionaries

★ Francis van Aarssens

References

Reynolds, Clark G. ''Navies in History''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
Israel, J.I. ''The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995