Military history of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
The Dutch-speaking people have a long history; the Netherlands as a nation-state
dates from 1568. Belgium (a country with a Dutch-like-speaking majority) became an independent state in 1830 when it seceded from the Netherlands.
During the ancient
and early medieval
periods, the Germanic tribes had no written language. What we know about their early military history comes from accounts written in Latin
and from archaeology. This causes significant gaps in the historic timeline. Germanic wars
against the Romans
are fairly well documented from the Roman perspective; however, Germanic wars against the early Celts remain mysterious because neither side recorded the events. Wars between the Germanic tribes in Northern Belgium
and the present day Netherlands, and various Celtic tribes that bordered their lands, are likely due to their geographical proximity.
in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia
. The tribes spread south, possibly motivated by the deteriorating climate of that area. They crossed the River Elbe
, most likely overrunning territories formerly occupied by Celtic people. In the East, other tribes, such as Goths
, Rugians
and Vandals
, settled along the shores of the Baltic Sea
pushing southward and eventually settling as far away as Ukraine
. The Angles
and Saxons
migrated to England. The Germanic peoples often had unsettled relationships with their neighbours and each other, leading to a period of over two millennia of military conflict over various territorial, religious, ideological and economic issues.
, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area which is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side" (Tacitus, Histories iv). This led to the Latin
name of Batavia for the area. The same name is used for several military units, originally raised among the Batavi.
They were mentioned by Julius Caesar
in his commentary Gallic Wars
, as living on an island formed by the Meuse River
after it is joined by the Waal, 80 Roman mile
s from the mouth of the river. He said there were many other islands formed by branches of the Rhine, inhabited by a "savage, barbarous nation", some of whom were supposed to live on fish and the eggs of sea-fowl.
Tacitus named the Mattiaci
as a similar tribe under homage, but on the other side of the Rhine. The areas inhabited by the Batavians were never occupied by the Romans
, as the Batavians were allies.
The Batavians incorrectly became regarded as the sole and eponymous ancestors of the Dutch
people. The Netherlands were briefly known as the Batavian Republic
. Moreover, during the time Indonesia
was a Dutch colony (the Dutch East Indies
), the capital (now Jakarta
) was named Batavia. If the ancestry of most native Dutch people were traced back to Germanic tribes, most would lead to the Franks
. Dutch
is in fact a Low Frankish language, and is the only language (together with Afrikaans
, which descends from Dutch itself) to be a direct descendant of Old Frankish
, the language of the Franks
.
Later, Tacitus described the Batavians as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic border wars, with cohorts under their own noble commanders transferred to Britannia
. He said they retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: "They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms", Tacitus remarked. Well regarded for their skills in horsemanship and swimming — for men and horses could cross the Rhine without losing formation, according to Tacitus. Dio Cassius
describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius
against the "barbarians" — the British Celts — at the battle of the River Medway
, 43:
The Batavians also provided a contingent for the Emperor's Imperial Horse Guard
.
(notably at Castlecary
and Carrawburgh
), in Germany, Yugoslavia
, Hungary, Romania
and Austria. After the 3rd century, however, the Batavians are no longer mentioned, and they are assumed to have merged with the neighbouring Frisian
and Frankish
people.
Until the Franks
defeated and pushed them back the Romans established two provinces in the area of the present-day Belgium and a part of the Netherlands. Both were outposts, especially above the Meuse
and apart from a few Roman legions sent there to protect the Empires borders, the Roman presence was limited. The provinces were called Gallia Belgica
named after the Belgae
, a group of Celtic tribes conquered by the Romans, and Germania Inferior
(inferior meaning 'low' in Latin
, and Germania referring to the area occupied by the Germanic tribes).
During the Batavian rebellion, which took place in the Roman province
of Germania Inferior
between 69 and 70 AD, the rebels led by Civilis
managed to destroy four legions
and inflict humiliating defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis
eventually defeated them. Following peace talks, the situation was normalized, but Batavia had to cope with humiliating conditions and a legion stationed permanently within her lands.
For more information see: The Batavian rebellion
. The confederation was formed out of Germanic tribes: Salians
, Sugambri, Chamavi
, Tencteri, Chattuarii
, Bructeri
, Usipetes, Ampsivarii
, Chatti
. They entered the late Roman Empire
from the present day Netherlands and northern Germany and conquered northern Gaul
where they were accepted as a foederati
and established a lasting realm
(sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia
, Rhineland
, Hesse
) and the whole of the Low Countries
, forming the historic kernel of the two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity
of the pagan Frankish king Clovis
was a crucial event in the history of Europe. Like the French and Germans, the Dutch also claim the military history of the Franks as their own.
Battle of Soissons
(486)
Battle of Tolbiac
(496)
Battle of Vouillé
(507)
Battle of Tours
(732)
Battle of Pavia
(773)
Saxon Campaigns
(773-804)
Siege of Paris
(885-886)
, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I
of the Merovingian Dynasty
, the first king of all the Franks. From 751, under the Carolingian Dynasty, it is known as the Carolingian Empire
. After the Treaty of Verdun
of 843 it was split into East, West and Middle Francia
. East Francia gave rise to the Holy Roman Empire
with Otto I the Great in 962.
Since the term "Empire" properly applies only to times after the coronation of Charlemagne
in 800, and since the unified kingdom was repeatedly split and re-united, most historians prefer to use the term Frankish Kingdoms or Frankish Realm to refer to the entirety of Frankish rule from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica
, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property
. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy
while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence, however, two dynasties
of leaders succeeded each other; first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
The Holy Roman Empire was a political conglomeration of land
s in Central Europe
and Western Europe
in the Middle Ages
and the early modern period. Emerging from the eastern part of the Frankish Empire
after its division in the Treaty of Verdun
(843), it lasted almost a millennium until its dissolution in 1806. By the 18th century, it still consisted of the larger part of modern Germany, Bohemia
(now Czech Republic
), Austria, Liechtenstein
, Slovenia
, Belgium, and Luxembourg
, as well as large parts of modern Poland and small parts of the Netherlands and Croatia
. Previously, it had included all of the Netherlands and Switzerland, parts of modern France and Italy. By the middle of the 18th century the Empire had been greatly reduced in power.
The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession
between the Netherlands and the Spanish king, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. The war resulted in the Seven United Provinces
being recognized as an independent state. The region now known as Belgium and Luxembourg
also became established as the Southern Netherlands
, part of the Seventeen Provinces
that remained under royal Habsburg
rule.
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, or the Dutch Republic, became a world power, through its merchant shipping and huge naval power, and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth. In the late 16th century military reform by Maurice of Orange laid the foundation for early modern battlefield tactics. The Dutch army between 1600 and 1648 was one of the most powerful in Europe, together with the English and French.
(Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), chartered in 1602, concentrated Dutch trade efforts under one directorate with a unified policy. In 1605 armed Dutch merchantmen captured the Portuguese
fort at Amboyna
in the Moluccas
, which was developed into the first secure base of the VOC. The Twelve Years' Truce
signed in Antwerp in 1609 called a halt to formal hostilities between Spain (which controlled Portugal and its territories at the time) and the United Provinces
. In the Indies, the foundation of Batavia formed the permanent center from which Dutch enterprises, more mercantile than colonial, could be coordinated. From it "the Dutch wove the immense web of traffic and exchange which would eventually make up their empire, a fragile and flexible one built, like the Portuguese empire, 'on the Phoenician model
'." (Braudel 1984, p. 215)
Over the next decades the Dutch captured the major trading ports of the East Indies: Malacca
in 1641; Achem (Aceh
) in the native kingdom of Sumatra
, 1667; Macassar
, 1669; and Bantam
itself, in 1682. At the same time connections in the ports of India provided the printed cotton
s that the Dutch traded for pepper
, the staple of the spice trade
.
The greatest source of wealth in the East Indies, Fernand Braudel
has noted, was the trade within the archipelago, what the Dutch called inlandse handel ('native trade'), where one commodity was exchanged for another, with profit at each turn, as silver
from the Americas was more desirable in the East than in Europe.
By concentrating on monopolies in the fine spices, Dutch policy encouraged monoculture
: Amboyna
for clove
s, Timor
for sandalwood
, the Bandas
for mace and nutmeg
, Ceylon for cinnamon
. Monoculture linked island economies to the mercantile system to provide the missing necessities of life.
The Dutch East India company's army was defeated by a Chinese Ming dynasty
army led by Koxinga
at the Siege of Fort Zeelandia
on Taiwan
. The Chinese used ships and naval bombardment with cannon to force a surrender. The expulsion of the Dutch ended their colonial rule over Taiwan.
The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden/Provinciën; also Dutch Republic or United Provinces in short) was a European republic
between 1581 (but was formally recognised in 1648) and 1795, which is now known as the Netherlands. From an economic and military perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces was extremely successful. This time period is known in the Netherlands as the Golden Age
. The free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern stock market
in the Low Countries. At first the Dutch had a very strong standing field army and large garrisons in their numerous fortified cities. From 1648 on however the Army was neglected; and for a few years even the Navy fell into neglect— until rivalry with England forced a large extension of naval forces.
The Anglo-Dutch Wars were fought in the 17th and 18th centuries between Britain
and the United Provinces for control over the seas and trade routes. They are known as the Dutch Wars in England and as the English Wars in the Netherlands.
against the Commonwealth of England
declared by the Rump Parliament
) was the Isles of Scilly
, off Cornwall. From these islands, governed by Sir John Grenville, and from other friendly ports, a section of the Royal Navy
that had mutinied to Charles' side operated in a piratical
way against shipping in the English channel.
The Dutch declared war against the Scillies as a legal fiction
which would cover a hostile response to the Royalist fleet. In July 1651, soon after the declaration of war, the Parliamentarian forces under Admiral Robert Blake
forced the Royalist fleet to surrender. The Netherlands fleet, no longer under threat, left without firing a shot. However, due to the obscurity of one nation's declaration of war against a small part of another, the Dutch forgot to officially declare peace.
In 1985, the historian
and Chairman of the Isles of Scilly Council Roy Duncan, wrote to the Dutch Embassy in London to dispose of the "myth" that the islands were still at war. But embassy staff found the myth to be accurate and Duncan invited Ambassador
Jonkheer
Rein Huydecoper to visit the islands and sign a peace treaty
. Peace was declared on April 17, 1986, a stunning 335 years after the war began.
in 1648 meant that the colonial possessions of the Portuguese
and Spanish Empire
s were effectively up for grabs. This brought the Commonwealth of England
and the United Provinces
of the Netherlands, former allies in the Thirty Years' War
, into conflict. The Dutch had the largest mercantile fleet of Europe, and a dominant position in European trade. They had annexed most of Portugal's territory in the East Indies
giving them control over the enormously profitable trade in spice
s. They were even gaining significant influence over England's maritime trade with her North American colonies
, profiting from the turmoil that resulted from the English Civil War
. However, the Dutch navy had been neglected during this time period, while Cromwell
had built a strong fleet.
In order to protect its position in North America and damage Dutch trade, in 1651 the Parliament
of the Commonwealth of England
passed the first of the Navigation Acts
, which mandated that all goods from her American colonies must be carried by English ships. In a period of growing mercantilism
this was the spark that ignited the first Anglo-Dutch war, the British seeking a pretext to start a war which led to sporadic naval engagements across the globe.
The English were initially successful, Admiral Robert Blake
defeating the Dutch Admiral Witte de With in the Battle of the Kentish Knock
in 1652. Believing that the war was all but over, the English divided their forces and in 1653 were routed by the fleet of Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp
at the Battle of Dungeness
in the English Channel
. The Dutch were also victorious at the Battle of Leghorn
and had effective control of both the Mediterranean and the English Channel
. Blake, recovering from an injury, rethought, together with George Monck
, the whole system of naval tactics, and in mid 1653 used the Dutch line of battle
method to drive the Dutch navy back to its ports in the battles of Portland
and the Gabbard
. In the final Battle of Scheveningen
on August 10, 1653 Tromp was killed, a blow to Dutch morale, but the British were forced to end their blockade of the Dutch coast. As both nations were by now exhausted, peace negotiations were started.
The war ended on 1654-04-05 with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster
, but the commercial rivalry was not resolved, the British having failed to replace the Dutch as the world's dominant trade nation.
. When Charles X of Sweden had been unable to continue his hold on Poland — partly because the Dutch fleet relieved the besieged city of Danzig in 1656 — he turned his attention on Denmark, invading that country from what is now Germany. He broke a new agreement with Frederick III of Denmark
and laid siege to Copenhagen
. To the Dutch the Baltic trade was vital, both in quantity and quality. The Dutch had been able to convince Denmark, by threat of force, to keep the Sound
tolls at a low level but they feared a strong Swedish empire would not be so complying. In 1658 they sent an expedition fleet of 75 ships, 3,000 cannon and 15000 troops; in the Battle of the Sound
it defeated the Swedish
fleet and relieved Copenhagen. In 1659 the Dutch liberated the other Danish Isles and the essential supply of grain, wood and iron from the Baltic was guaranteed once more.
After the English Restoration
, Charles II
tried to serve his dynastic interests by attempting to make Prince William III of Orange
, his nephew, stadtholder
of The Republic, using military pressure. This led to a surge of patriotism in England, the country being, as Samuel Pepys
put it, "mad for war".
This war, deliberately provoked by the English in 1664, witnessed several significant English victories in battle, (but also some Dutch ones such as the capture of the HMS Prince Royal during the Four Days Battle
in 1666 which was the subject of a famous painting by Willem van de Velde). However, the Raid on the Medway
(entailing the burning of part of the English fleet whilst docked at Chatham in June 1667 when a flotilla of ships led by Admiral de Ruyter
broke through the defensive chains guarding the Medway
and wrought havoc on the English ships as well as the capture of the Royal Navy
's flagship
HMS Royal Charles
) saw the war ended with a Dutch victory. For several years the greatly expanded Dutch Navy
was the most powerful navy in the world. The Republic was at the zenith of its power.
Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) was a war fought between France and a quadruple alliance
consisting of Brandenburg
, the Holy Roman Empire
, Spain, and the United Provinces
. The war ended with the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678); this granted France control of the Franche-Comté
(from Spain).
France led a coalition including Münster
and Great Britain. Louis XIV
was annoyed by the Dutch refusal to cooperate in the destruction and division of the Spanish Netherlands. As the Dutch army had been neglected, the French had no trouble by-passing the fortress of Maastricht
and then marching to the heart of the Republic, taking Utrecht
. Prince William III of Orange
is assumed to have had the leading Dutch politician Johan de Witt
deposed and murdered, and was acclaimed stadtholder
. The French were halted by inundations, the Dutch Water Line, after Louis tarried too much in conquering the whole of the Republic. He had promised the major Dutch cities to the British and tried to extort huge sums from the Dutch in exchange for a separate peace. The bishop of Münster laid siege to Groningen
but failed. 1672 is known as the rampjaar
("disaster year") in Dutch history, in which the country only nearly survived the combined English-French-German assault.
Soon after the second Anglo-Dutch War, the English navy was rebuilt. After the embarrassing events in the previous war, English public opinion was unenthusiastic about starting a new one. Bound by the secret Treaty of Dover Charles II was however obliged to assist Louis XIV
in his attack on The Republic in the Franco-Dutch War
. This he did willingly, having manipulated the French and Dutch into war. The French army being halted by inundations, and an attempt was made to invade The Republic by sea. Admiral Michiel de Ruyter
, gaining four strategic victories against the Anglo-French fleet, prevented invasion. After these failures the English parliament forced Charles to sign a peace in 1674.
Already, allies had joined the Dutch — the Elector
of Brandenburg
, the Emperor
, and Charles II of Spain
. Louis, despite the successful Siege of Maastricht
in 1673, was forced to abandon his plans of conquering the Dutch and revert to a slow, cautious war of attrition around the French frontiers. By 1678, he had managed to break apart his opponents' coalition, and managed to gain considerable territories by the terms of the Treaty of Nijmegen. Most notably, the French acquired the Franche-Comté
and various territories in the Netherlands from the Spanish. Nevertheless the Dutch had thwarted the ambitions of two of the major royal dynasties of the time: the Stuarts and the Bourbons.
repulsed a French force attempting to recapture the island of Tobago
. Heavy losses were suffered on both sides: one of the Dutch supply ships caught fire and exploded. The fire then quickly spread in the narrow bay causing several ships, among them the French flagship 'Glorieux', to catch fire and explode in turn which resulted in great loss of life on both sides. The French under d'Estrees retreated.
from 1688 to 1697, between France and the League of Augsburg — which, by 1689, was known as the "Grand Alliance
". The war was fought to resist French expansionism along the Rhine, as well as, on the part of England, to safeguard the results of the Glorious Revolution
from a possible French-backed restoration of James II
. In North America the war was known as King William's War
.
, and various of the German princes (including the Palatinate, Bavaria
, and Brandenburg
) to resist French expansionism in Germany. The alliance was joined by Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Provinces
.
France had expected a benevolent neutrality on the part of James II's England, but after James's deposition and replacement by his son-in-law William of Orange
, Louis's inveterate enemy, England declared war on France in May 1689, and the League of Augsburg became known as the "Grand Alliance", with England, Portugal, Spain, the United Provinces, and most of the German states joined together to fight France.
in August 1689, in which the French were defeated by an allied army under Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, the French under Marshal Luxembourg were successful at the Battle of Fleurus
in 1690, but Louis prevented Luxembourg from following up on his victory. The French were also successful in the Alps in 1690, with Marshal Catinat defeating the Duke of Savoy at the Battle of Staffarda
and occupying Savoy. The Turkish recapture of Belgrade
in October of the same year proved a boon to the French, preventing the Emperor from making peace with the Turks and sending his full forces west. The French were also successful at sea, defeating the Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head
, but failed to follow up on the victory by sending aid to the Jacobite forces in Ireland or pursuing control of the Channel.
The French followed up on their success in 1691 with Luxembourg's capture of Mons
and Halle
and his defeat of Waldeck at the Battle of Leuze
, while Marshal Catinat continued his advance into Italy, and another French army advanced into Catalonia, and in 1692 Namur
was captured by a French army under the direct command of the King, and the French beat back an allied offensive under William of Orange at the Battle of Steenkerque
.
was still suffering from the disorders of the reign of King Charles II
, which had been only in part corrected during the short reign of James II. The first squadrons were sent out late and in insufficient strength. The Dutch, crushed by the obligation to maintain a great army, found an increasing difficulty in preparing their fleet for action early. Louis XIV, with as yet inexhausted resources, had it within his power to strike first.
, and gained a success over the combined British and Dutch fleets on July 10, 1690 in the Battle of Beachy Head
, which was not followed up by vigorous action. During the following year, while James's cause was finally ruined in Ireland, the main French fleet was cruising in the Bay of Biscay
, principally for the purpose of avoiding battle. During the whole of 1689, 1690 and 1691, British squadrons were active on the Irish coast -helping to win the Williamite war in Ireland
for the allies. One raised the siege of Derry
in July 1689, and another convoyed the first British and Dutch forces sent over under the Duke of Schomberg
. Immediately after Beachy Head in 1690, a part of the Channel fleet carried out an expedition under the Earl of Marlborough
, which took Cork
and reduced a large part of the south of the island. William of Orange himself arrived in Ireland in 1690 with veteran Dutch and allied troops, defeating the James II
at the battle of the Boyne
-an engagement largely decided by Dutch infantry. The war was ended in Anglo-Dutch favour in 1691, when Dutch general Ginkel destroyed the Franco-Irish army at the Battle of Aughrim
.
In 1691, the French did little more than help to carry away the wreckage of their allies and their own detachments. In 1692 a vigorous but tardy attempt was made to employ their fleet to cover an invasion of England at the Battle of La Hougue. It ended in defeat, and the allies remained masters of the Channel. The defeat of La Hougue did not do so much harm to Louis's naval power, and in the next year, 1693, he was able to strike a severe blow at the Allies.
In this instance, the arrangements of the allied governments and admirals were not good. They made no effort to blockade Brest, nor did they take effective steps to discover whether or not the French fleet had left the port. The convoy was seen beyond the Scilly Isles
by the main fleet. But as the French admiral Tourville
had left Brest for the Straits of Gibraltar with a powerful force and had been joined by a squadron from Toulon
, the whole convoy was scattered or taken by him, in the latter days of June, near Lagos Bay
. Although this success was a very fair equivalent for the defeat at La Hogue, it was the last serious effort made by the navy of Louis XIV in this war. Want of money compelled him to lay his fleet up.
The allies were now free to make full use of their own, to harass the French coast, to intercept French commerce, and to cooperate with the armies acting against France. Some of the operations undertaken by them were more remarkable for the violence of the effort than for the magnitude of the results. The numerous bombardments of French Channel ports, and the attempts to destroy St Malo, the great nursery of the active French privateer
s, by infernal machines, did little harm. A British attack on Brest in June 1694 was beaten off with heavy loss, the scheme having been betrayed by Jacobite
correspondents. Yet the inability of the French king to avert these enterprises showed the weakness of his navy and the limitations of his power. The protection of British and Dutch commerce was never complete, for the French privateers were active to the end, but French commerce was wholly ruined.
of 1688 was the last successful invasion of England and ended the conflict by placing Prince William III of Orange
on the English throne as co-ruler with his wife Mary
. Though this was in fact a military conflict between Great Britain and The Republic, William invading the British Isles with a Dutch fleet and army, in English histories it is never described as such because he had strong support in England and was partly serving the dynastic interests of his wife.
The regime change
was a major contributing factor in the economic decline of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch merchant elite immediately began to use London as a new operational base. Dutch economic growth slowed. William ordered that any Anglo-Dutch fleet be under British command, with the Dutch navy having 60% of the strength of the British. From about 1720 Dutch wealth declined. Between 1740 and 1770 the Dutch Navy was neglected. Around 1780 the per capita gross national product of the Kingdom of Great Britain
surpassed that of the Dutch Republic.
The Dutch Republic, nominally neutral, had been trading with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War
, exchanging Dutch arms and munitions for American colonial wares (in contravention of the British Navigation Acts
), primarily through activity based in St. Eustatius, before the French formally entered the war. The British considered this trade to include contraband military supplies and had attempted to stop it, at first diplomatically by appealing to previous treaty obligations, interpretation of whose terms the two nations disagreed on, and then by searching and seizing Dutch merchant ships. The situation escalated when the British seized a Dutch merchant convoy sailing under Dutch naval escort
in December 1779, prompting the Dutch to join the League of Armed Neutrality
. Britain responded to this decision by declaring war on the Dutch in December 1780, sparking the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
.
The Dutch navy was by now only a shadow of its former self, having only about twenty ships of the line, so there were no large fleet battles. The English tried to reduce the Republic to the status of a British protectorate
, using Prussia
n military pressure and gaining factual control over most of the Dutch colonies, those conquered during the war given back at war's end. The Dutch then still held some key positions in the European trade with Asia, such as the Cape, Ceylon and Malacca
. The war sparked a new round of Dutch ship building (95 warships in the last quarter of the 18th century), but the British kept their absolute numerical superiority by doubling their fleet in the same time.
Against this background it is less surprising that, after the French Revolution
, when Napoleon invaded and occupied the Netherlands in 1795, the French encountered so little united resistance. William V of Orange fled to England. The Patriots proclaimed the short-lived Batavian Republic
, but government was soon returned to stabler and more experienced hands. In 1806 Napoleon restyled the Netherlands (along with a small part of what is now Germany) into the Kingdom of Holland
, with his brother Louis (Lodewijk) Bonaparte as king. This too was short-lived, however. Napoleon incorporated the Netherlands into the French empire
after his brother put Dutch interests ahead of those of the French. The French occupation of the Netherlands ended in 1813 after Napoleon was defeated, a defeat in which William V of Orange played a prominent role.
) designated the Netherlands as a republic
modeled after the French Republic, to which it was a vassal state
.
The Batavian Republic was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, a day after stadtholder
William V of Orange fled to England. The invading French revolutionary army
, however, found quite a few allies in Holland. Eight years before, the Orange faction had won the upper hand in a small, but nasty civil war only thanks to the military intervention of the King of Prussia
, brother-in-law of the stadtholder.
Many of the revolutionaries (see: Patriots (faction)
) had fled to France and now returned eager to realize their ideals.
In contrast to events in France, revolutionary changes in the Netherlands occurred comparatively peacefully. The country had been a republic
for two centuries and had a limited nobility. The guillotine
proved unnecessary to the new state. The old Republic had been a very archaic and ineffective political construction, still largely based on old feudal
institutions. Decision-making had proceeded very slowly and sometimes did not happen at all. The individual provinces had possessed so much power that they blocked many sensible innovations. The Batavian Republic marked the transition to a more centralised and functional government, from a loose confederation
of (at least nominally) independent provinces to a true unitary state
. Many of its innovations were retained in later times, such as the first official spelling standard of the Dutch language
by Siegenbeek (1804). Jews, Lutherans and Roman Catholics were given equal rights
. A Bill of Rights
was drafted.
The new Republic took its name from the Batavi, a Germanic tribe who had lived in the area of the Netherlands in Roman
times and who were then romantically regarded as the ancestors of the Dutch nation.
Again in contrast to France, the new Republic did not experience a reign of terror or become a dictatorship. Changes were imposed from outside after Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power. In 1805 Napoleon installed the shrewd politician Schimmelpenninck
as raadspensionaris ("Grand Pensionary
", i.e. president of the republic) to strengthen the executive branch. In 1806 Napoleon forced Schimmelpenninck to resign and declared his brother Louis Bonaparte
king
of the new Kingdom of Holland
.
The only signs of political instability were three coups d'état
. The first occurred in 1798, when the unitarian democrats were annoyed by the slow pace of democratic reforms. A few months later a second coup put an end to the dictatorship of the unitarians. The National Assembly, which had been convened in 1796, was divided by a struggle among the factions. The third coup occurred in 1801, when a French commander, backed by Napoleon, staged a conservative coup reversing the changes made after the 1798 coup. The Batavian government was more popular among the Dutch population than was the prince of Orange. This was apparent during the British-Russian invasion of 1799.
As a French vassal state, the Batavian Republic was an ally of France in its wars against Great Britain. This led to the loss of most of the Dutch colonial empire and a defeat of the Dutch fleet in the Battle of Camperdown
(Camperduin) in 1797. The collapse of Dutch trade caused a series of economic crises. Only in the second half of the 19th century would Dutch wealth be restored to its previous level.
continued from 1794 between France and the First coalition
.
The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking Holland in the middle of winter. The Dutch people were rather indifferent to the French call for revolution, as they had already been a republic for two centuries, nevertheless city after city was occupied by the French. The Dutch fleet was captured, and the stadtholder
fled to be replaced by the Batavian Republic
, and, as a vassal state of France, supported the French cause and signed the treaty of Paris, ceding the territories of Brabant
and Maastricht
to France on May 16.
With the Netherlands falling, Prussia
also decided to leave the coalition, signing the Peace of Basle on April 6, ceding the left bank of the Rhine to France. This freed Prussia to finish the occupation of Poland.
, Royaume de Hollande in French
) was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte
as a puppet kingdom
for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte
, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province
, Holland, was now taken for the whole country. Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations - he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's - and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810 after which the Netherlands were annexed
by France until 1813 when the French were defeated.
, Brunswick, and the Netherlands
and Nassau were about 67,000 men strong. (Of the 26 infantry brigade
s in Wellington's army, nine were British; of the 12 cavalry brigades, 7 were British. Half the 29 batteries
of guns were Hanoverian or Dutch).
At Waterloo, Wellington had the reinforced Hougomont farm, anchoring his right flank, and several other farms on his left. Napoleon faced his first major problem even before the battle began. Unsure of the Prussian Army's position since its flight from Ligny two days previously, Napoleon was all too aware of the need to begin the assault on Wellington's positions. The battle commenced at about 10:00 with an attack upon Hougoumont, but the main attack, with the most feared weapon of the era, the French field artillery
, was delayed for hours until the sodden ground from the previous night's downpour had dried out sufficiently to take the weight of the French ordnance. The mud also hindered infantry and cavalry as they trudged into position. When the French artillery eventually opened fire on Wellington's ridge at around 11:35, the expected impact on the Allied troops was diminished by the soft terrain that absorbed the impact of many of the cannon balls.
A crucial element of the French plan of battle was the expectation that Wellington would move his reserve to his right flank in defense of Hougomont. At one point, the French succeeded in breaking into the farm's courtyard before being repulsed, but their attacks on the farm were eventually unsuccessful, and Wellington did not need to use his reserve. Hougomont became a battle within a battle and, throughout that day, its defence continued to draw thousands of valuable French troops, under the command of Jérôme Bonaparte, into a fruitless attack while all but a few of Wellington's reserves remained in his centre.
At about 13:30, after receiving news of the Prussian advance to his right, Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to send d'Erlon's infantry forward against the allied flank near La Haye Sainte
. The attack centred on the Dutch 1st Brigade commanded by Major-General Willem Frederik van Bylandt
, which was one of the few units placed on the forward slope of the ridge. After suffering an intense artillery bombardment and exchanging volleys with d'Erlon's leading elements for some nine minutes, van Bylandt's outnumbered soldiers were forced to retreat over the ridge and through the lines of General Thomas Picton
's division. Picton's division moved forward over the ridgeline to engage d'Erlon. The British and Dutchmen were likewise mauled by volley-fire and close-quarter attacks, but Picton's soldiers stood firm, eventually breaking up the attack by charging the French columns.
Meanwhile, the Prussians began to appear on the field. Napoleon sent his reserve, Lobau's VI corps and 2 cavalry divisions, some 15,000 troops, to hold them back. With this, Napoleon had committed all of his infantry reserves, except the Guard.
Lacking an infantry reserve, as Napoleon was unwilling to commit the Guard at this stage of the battle, all that Ney could do was to try to break Wellington's centre with his cavalry. It struggled up the slope to the fore of Wellington's centre, where squares of Allied infantry awaited them.
The cavalry attacks were repeatedly repelled by the solid Allied infantry squares (four ranks deep with fixed bayonets - vulnerable to artillery or infantry, but deadly to cavalry), the harrying fire of British artillery as the French cavalry recoiled down the slopes to regroup, and the decisive counter-charges of the Allied Light Cavalry regiments and the Dutch Heavy Cavalry Brigade. After numerous fruitless attacks on the Allied ridge, the French cavalry was exhausted.
The Prussians were already engaging the Imperial Army's right flank when La Haye Sainte
fell to French combined arms (infantry, artillery and cavalry), because the defending King's German Legion
had run out of ammunition in the early evening. The Prussians had driven Lobau out of Plancenoit, which was on the extreme (Allied) left of the battle field. Therefore Napoleon sent his 10 battalion strong Young Guard to beat the Prussians back. But after very hard fighting the Young Guard was beaten back. Napoleon sent 2 battalions of Old Guard and after ferocious fighting they beat the Prussians out. But the Prussians had not been forced away far enough. Approximately 30,000 Prussians attacked Plancenoit again. The place was defended by 20,000 Frenchmen in and around the village. The Old Guard and other supporting troops were able to hold on for about one hour before a massive Prussian counter-attack kicked them out after some bloody street fighting lasting more than a half hour. The last to flee was the Old Guard who defended the church and cemetery. The French casualties at the end of the day were horrible.
With Wellington's centre exposed by the French taking La Haye Sainte
, Napoleon committed his last reserve, the undefeated Imperial Guard. After marching through a blizzard of shell and shrapnel, the already outnumbered 5 battalions of middle guard defeated the allied first line, including British, Brunswick and Nassau troops.
Meanwhile, to the west, 1,500 British Guards under Maitland
were lying down to protect themselves from the French artillery. They rose as one, and devastated the shocked Imperial Guard with volleys of fire at point-blank range. The French chasseurs deployed to answer the fire. After 10 minutes of exchanging musketry the outnumbered French began wavering. This was the sign for a bayonet charge. But then a fresh French chasseur battalion appeared on the scene. The British guard retired with the French in pursuit - though the French in their turn were attacked by fresh British troops of Adam's brigade.
The Imperial Guard fell back in disarray and chaos. A ripple of panic passed through the French lines - "La garde recule. Sauve qui peut!" ("The Guard retreats. Save yourself if you can!"). Wellington, judging that the retreat by the Imperial Guard had unnerved all the French soldiers who saw it, stood up in the stirrups of Copenhagen (his favourite horse), and waved his hat in the air, signalling a general advance. The long-suffering Anglo-Dutch infantry rushed forward from the lines where they had been shelled all day, and threw themselves upon the retreating French.
.
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
, Herman Willem Daendels
(1762–1818), fortified the island of Java against possible British attack. In 1810 a strong British East India Company
expedition under Gilbert Elliot, first earl of Minto, governor-general of India, conquered the French islands of Bourbon (Réunion
) and Mauritius
in the Indian Ocean
and the Dutch East Indian possessions of Ambon
and the Molucca Islands. Afterward it moved against Java, captured the port city of Batavia (Jakarta
) in August 1811, and forced the Dutch to surrender at Semarang
on September 17, 1811. Java, Palembang
(in Sumatra
), Macassar
(Makasar, Celebes
), and Timor
were ceded to the British. Appointed lieutenant governor of Java, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) ended Dutch administrative methods, liberalized the system of land tenure, and extended trade. In 1816, the British returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the Dutch as part of the accord ending the Napoleonic Wars
.
troops from 1821 to 1837 in West Sumatra
, Indonesia
.
In the 1820s, the Dutch were yet to consolidate their possessions in some parts of the Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia) after re-acquiring it from the British. At the same time, a conflict broke out in West Sumatra between the so called adat and padri factions. Although both Minangkabaus and Muslims, they differ in values: the Adats were Minangkabau traditionalists while the Padris were Islamist-reformists. The Padris sought to reform un-Islamic traditions, such as cockfighting and gambling.
led by the illustrious Prince Diponegoro
. The trigger was the Dutch decision to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his own parent's tomb. Among its causes was a sense of betrayal by the Dutch felt by members of the Javanese aristocratic families, as they were no longer able to rent land at high prices. There were also some problems with the succession of the throne in Yogyakarta: Diponegoro was the oldest son, but as his mother was not the queen, he did not have any right to succeed his father.
The troops of Prince Diponegoro were very successful in the beginning, controlling the middle of Java and besieging Yogyakarta. Furthermore the Javenese population was supportive of Prince Diponegoro's cause, whereas the Dutch colonial authorities were initially very indecisive.
However, as the Java war prolonged, Prince Diponegoro had difficulties in maintaining the numbers of his troops.
The Dutch colonial army however was able to fill its ranks with troops from Sulawesi
and later on with troops from the Netherlands. The Dutch commander, general De Cock, was able to end the siege of Yogyakarta on September 25, 1825.
Prince Diponegoro started a fierce guerilla war and it was not until 1827 that the Dutch army gained the upper hand.
It is estimated that 200,000 died over the course of the conflict, 8,000 being Dutch. The rebellion finally ended in 1830, after Prince Diponegoro was tricked into entering Dutch custody near Magelang
, believing he was there for negotiations for a possible cease-fire, and exiled to Manado
on the island of Sulawesi
.
that began with a riot in Brussels
in August 1830 and eventually led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium (William I
, king of the Netherlands, would refuse to recognize a Belgian state until 1839, when he had to yield under pressure by the Treaty of London
).
and Leuven
. Only the appearance of a French army under Marshal Gérard
caused the Dutch to retreat. The victorious initial campaign gave the Dutch an advantageous position in subsequent negotiations. William stubbornly pursued the war, bungled, ineffectual and expensive as its desultory campaigns were, until 1839.
on Aceh on March 26, 1873; the apparent immediate trigger for their invasion was discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United States in Singapore
during early 1873. An expedition under Major General Köhler was sent out in 1874, which was able to occupy most of the coastal areas. It was the intention of the Dutch to attack and take the Sultan's palace, which would also lead to the occupation of the entire country. The Sultan requested and possibly received military aid from Italy and the United Kingdom in Singapore: in any case the Aceh army was rapidly modernized, and Aceh soldiers managed to kill Köhler (a monument of this achievement has been built inside Grand Mosque of Banda Aceh). Köhler made some grave tactical errors and the reputation of the Dutch was severely harmed.
A second expedition led by General Van Swieten managed to capture the kraton (sultan's palace
): the Sultan had however been warned, and had escaped capture. Intermittent guerrilla warfare continued in the region for ten years, with many victims on both sides. Around 1880 the Dutch strategy changed, and rather than continuing the war, they now concentrated on defending areas they already controlled, which were mostly limited to the capital city (modern Banda Aceh
), and the harbour town of Ulee Lheue. On October 13, 1880 the colonial government declared the war as over, but continued spending heavily to maintain control over the areas it occupied.
War began again in 1883, when the British ship Nisero was stranded in Aceh, in an area where the Dutch had little influence. A local leader asked for ransom
from both the Dutch and the British, and under British pressure the Dutch were forced to attempt to liberate the sailors. After a failed Dutch attempt to rescue the hostage
s, where the local leader Teuku Umar
was asked for help but he refused, the Dutch together with the British invaded the territory. The Sultan gave up the hostages, and received a large amount in cash in exchange.
The Dutch Minister of Warfare Weitzel now again declared open war on Aceh, and warfare continued, with little success, as before. The Dutch now also tried to enlist local leaders: the aforementioned Umar was bought with cash, opium
, and weapons. Umar received the title panglima prang besar (upper warlord
of the government).
Umar called himself rather Teuku Djohan Pahlawan (Johan the heroic). On January 1, 1894 Umar even received Dutch aid to build an army. However, two years later Umar attacked the Dutch with his new army, rather than aiding the Dutch in subjugating inner Aceh. This is recorded in Dutch history as "Het verraad van Teukoe Oemar" (the treason
of Teuku Umar).
In 1892 and 1893, Aceh remained independent, despite the Dutch efforts. Major J.B. van Heutsz, a colonial military leader, then wrote a series of articles on Aceh. He was supported by Dr Snouck Hurgronje of the University of Leiden, then the leading Dutch expert on Islam. Hurgronje managed to get the confidence of many Aceh leaders and gathered valuable intelligence
for the Dutch government. His works remained an official secret for many years. In Hurgronje's analysis of Acehnese society, he minimised the role of the Sultan and argued that attention should be paid to the hereditary chiefs, the Ulee Balang, who he felt could be trusted as local administrators. However, he argued, Aceh's religious leaders, the ulema
, could not be trusted or persuaded to cooperate, and must be destroyed.
This advice was followed: in 1898 Van Heutsz was proclaimed governor
of Aceh, and with his lieutenant, later Dutch Prime Minister
Hendrikus Colijn
, would finally conquer most of Aceh. They followed Hurgronje's suggestions, finding cooperative uleebelang that would support them in the countryside. Van Heutsz charged Colonel Van Daalen with breaking remaining resistance. Van Daalen destroyed several villages, killing at least 2,900 Acehnese, among which were 1,150 women and children. Dutch losses numbered just 26, and Van Daalen was replaced by Colonel Swart. By 1904 most of Aceh was under Dutch control, and had an indigenous government that cooperated with the colonial state. Estimated total casualties on the Aceh side range from 50,000 to 100,000 dead, and over a million wounded.
were more prepared for the previous than the present war, for the Dutch not even that was true. Of all the major participants they were by far the most poorly equipped, not even attaining World War I standards. However, the German invaders in May 1940 adjusted their forces accordingly, and the Dutch army in the Battle of the Netherlands
was largely intact when it surrendered on May 14 — after just five days of fighting — to save the major Dutch cities from further bombardment.
The Dutch empire continued the fight, but the Netherlands East Indies (later Indonesia) was invaded by Japan in 1942. In the climactic Battle of the Java Sea
, the larger part of the Dutch navy was destroyed. The Dutch contribution to the war effort was then limited to the merchant fleet (providing the bulk of allied merchant shipping in the Pacific war), several aircraft squadrons, some naval vessels and a motorised infantry brigade raised by enlisting Dutch emigrants.
. As a result the home forces were much neglected and had to rearm by begging for (or simply taking) surplus allied equipment, as the RAM tank
. In 1949 Bernard Montgomery judged the Royal Netherlands Army
as simply "unfit for battle".
In the early fifties however, the Dutch fully participated in the NATO build-up of conventional forces. US financial support paying half of the equipment budget made it possible to create a modern defence force. Afraid that the USA might give up Europe immediately after a Soviet attack, the Dutch strongly reinforced the Rhine position by means of the traditional Dutch defensive weapon: water. Preparations were made to completely dam the major Rhine effluent
rivers, forcing the water into the northern IJssel
branch and thereby creating an impassable mudbarrier between Lake IJssel
and the Ruhr Area
. The Dutch navy was also expanded with an aircraft carrier
, two cruisers, twelve destroyers and eight submarines.
In the sixties, the Navy again began to produce modern vessels of its own design and expanded slowly, however nuclear propulsion was refused by the USA. The Army replaced most of its motorised units by mechanised ones, introducing thousands of AFV
s into the Infantry and the Artillery. Conventional firepower was neglected however as it was intended to engage in nuclear war immediately.
In the seventies, it was hoped that the strategy of flexible response
would allow for a purely conventional defence. Digital modelling by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
showed that successful conventional defence was feasible and indeed likely, provided that conventional firepower would be improved. Whereas the British, French, Belgians and Canadians reduced their forces in this decade, the Dutch government therefore decided to go along with the German and American policy of force enlargement. As a result in the mid-eighties the Dutch heavy units equalled the British in number and the Dutch Corps sector at the Elbe
was the only one to have its own reserve division; it was conceived as to be able to hold an attack by nine reinforced Soviet divisions, or about 10,000 AFVs including materiel reserves. These facts were obscured somewhat by international press attention to the relaxation of discipline, part of a deliberate policy to better integrate the forces into the larger society. At the same time the Navy had over thirty capital vessels and the Air Force about 200 tactical planes.
When the Warsaw Pact
and the Soviet Union itself collapsed, the Dutch reduced their forces considerably and integrated their army with the German; but also created a new airborne brigade, replaced the conscript army by a fully professional one and bought hundreds of light AFVs for use in peace missions. Modernising of naval and air forces, less drastically reduced, continues.
recognized the opportunity presenting itself and declared independence from Dutch colonial rule. With the assistance of indigenous army units created by the Japanese, an independent Republic of Indonesia with Sukarno as its president was proclaimed on August 17, 1945.
The Netherlands, only very recently freed from German occupation itself, initially lacked the means to respond, allowing Republican forces to establish de facto
control over parts of the huge archipelago, particularly in Java and Sumatra
. On the other, in the less densely populated outer islands, no effective control was established by either party, leading at times to chaotic conditions.
, was killed as he pushed for an ultimatum stipulating that the Indonesians surrender their weapons or face a major assault. In retaliation, 10 November 1945, Surabaya was attacked by British forces, leading to a bloody street-to-street battle.
Lasting three weeks, the battle of Surabaya
was the bloodiest single engagement in the war and demonstrated the determination of the Indonesian nationalist forces. It made the British reluctant to be drawn into another when their resources in southeast Asia were stretched following the Japanese surrender.
, in which the 'United States of Indonesia' were proclaimed, a semi-autonomous federal state keeping as its head the Queen of the Netherlands.
Both sides increasingly accused each other of violating the agreement, and as consequence the hawkish forces soon won out on both sides. A major point of concern for the Dutch side was the fate of members of the Dutch minority in Indonesia, most of whom had been held under deplorable conditions in concentration camps by the Japanese. The Indonesians were accused (and guilty) of not cooperating in liberating these prisoners.
' to downplay the extent of the operations. There were atrocities and violations of human rights
in many forms by both sides in the conflict. Some 6,000 Dutch and 150,000 Indonesians are estimated to have been killed.
Although the Dutch and their indigenous allies managed to defeat the Republican Army in almost all major engagements and during the second campaign even to arrest Sukarno himself, Indonesian forces continued to wage a major guerrilla war under the leadership of General Sudirman who had escaped the Dutch onslaught.
A few months before the second Dutch offensive, communist elements within the independence movement had staged a failed coup, known as Madiun Affair
, with the goal of seizing control of the republican forces.
funds, which were vital to the Dutch rebuild after the Second World War, the Netherlands government was forced back into negotiations, and after the Round Table conference in The Hague, the Dutch finally recognised Indonesian independence on December 27, 1949. An exception was made for Netherlands New Guinea
(currently known as West Irian Jaya), which remained under Dutch control. In 1962, in an attempt to increase pressure on the Dutch, Indonesia launched a campaign of infiltration by commandos coming in by sea and air, which were all beaten back by the Dutch forces, although these were not serious invasions. After large pressure from mainly the United States (again about the Marshall Plan) the Dutch finally gave custody over New Guinea to the UN, which in 1963 gave New Guinea to Indonesia.
In the following decades, a diplomatic row between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands persisted over the officially recognized date of Indonesian independence. Indonesians commemorate the anniversary of Sukarno's proclamation (August 17, 1945) as their official holiday.
The Netherlands, having taken in a number of loyalist exiles who (for various reasons) viewed Sukarno's government as illegitimate, would only recognize the date of the final Dutch capitulation to Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This changed in 2005 when the Dutch Foreign Minister
, Bernard Bot, made several well-publicized goodwill gestures: officially accepting Indonesian independence as beginning on August 17, 1945; expressing regret for suffering caused by the fighting during the war; and attending the 60th anniversary commemoration of Sukarno's independence proclamation, part of the first Dutch delegation to do so.
and South Korea
. When it began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the division of Korea
. The war was one of the first major armed clashes of the Cold War
. The principal combatants were North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China
, and later combat advisors, aircraft pilots, and weapons from the Soviet Union; against South Korea, supported principally by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Philippines
and many other nations sent troops under the aegis of the United Nations
(UN), including the Netherlands, who sent over 3,000 troops.
The Netherlands Detachment United Nations was established on October 15, 1950 and out of a total number of 16,225 volunteers, 3,418 men were accepted and sent to Korea. Most Netherlands army troops were assigned to the "Netherlands Battalion", attached to the 38th Infantry Regiment
of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division. Dutch casualties included 116 men killed in action, 3 missing in action and 1 who died as a prisoner of war.
Several vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy
were deployed to Korean waters including the destroyers Evertsen, Van Galen and Piet Hein
and the frigates Johan Maurits van Nassau, Dubois
and van Zijll (not all at the same time). Their duties included patrolling Korean waters, escorting other ships and supporting ground troops with naval artillery
fire.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
was an armed conflict that took place between March 1992 and November 1995. The war involved several ethnically defined factions within Bosnia and Herzegovina, each of which claimed to represent one of the country's constitutive peoples.
The United Nations Protection Force
(UNPROFOR) was the primary UN peacekeeping force in Croatia
and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars
. They served between February 1992 and March 1995. The Dutch Army contribution was known as ‘Dutchbat’. UNPROFOR was replaced by a NATO-led multinational force, IFOR
in December 1995.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force
deployed 12 F-16s as part of Operation Deny Flight
, NATO's enforcement of the Bosnian no-fly zone between April 1993 and December 1995 http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/denyflight/DenyFlightFactSheet.htm. The Royal Netherlands Air Force also deployed 18 F-16s as part of Operation Deliberate Force, a NATO air campaign conducted to undermine the military capability of Bosnian Serbs who threatened or attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia http://www.afsouth.nato.int/factsheets/DeliberateForceFactSheet.htm.
One of the most controversial chapters of the Bosnian war and the Netherlands's involvement in the conflict was the Srebrenica massacre
that took place in July 1995, where at least 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered after the town of Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces.
Srebrenica was supposed to be a UN-designated safe area, and Dutch troops under the command of Colonel Thom Karremans
were tasked to protect Srebrenica's safe haven status. From the outset, both parties to the conflict violated the 'safe area' agreement. Dutchbat troops had arrived in January 1995 and watched the situation deteriorate rapidly in the months after their arrival. The already meagre resources of the civilian population dwindled further and even the UN forces started running dangerously low on food, medicine, fuel and ammunition. Eventually, the UN peacekeepers had so little fuel that they were forced to start patrolling the enclave on foot; Dutchbat soldiers who went out of the area on leave were not allowed to return and their number dropped from 600 to 400 men. With only machinegun-equipped, light armor (Dutch parliament refused to deploy tanks), UNHQ's refusal to commit air support when it was needed, a passive, politically motivated Dutch high command and malfunctioning US supplied anti tank weapons (they would kill the operator on launch), the Dutchbat soldiers present could only wait and watch. Bosnian Serb forces soon took over the town and the massacre soon followed. One Dutch soldier was killed by a grenade lobbed from a column of a retreating Bosniak soldiers; he was the only fatal Dutch casaulty in Srebrenica.
Thom Karremans, the UN, the Netherlands army and the Dutch government soon came under fierce criticism for their handling of the crisis. In 2002, a report by the Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
concluded that the "humanitarian motivation and political ambitions drove the Netherlands to undertake an ill-conceived and virtually impossible peace mission" and that Dutchbat was ill-equipped to carry out such a mission. The report led to the resignation of the Second cabinet of Wim Kok
. The report did not satisfy those that believed the Netherlands bore greater responsibility in not preventing the massacre. http://www.un.org/News/ossg/srebrenica.pdf http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=165055&apc_state=henitri2004 http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,327526,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1923884.stm
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation between March 24 and June 10, 1999 as a result of the breakdown of security and deteriorating human rights situation in Kosovo
. The Netherlands contributed several ships and aircraft to the NATO force in the region. On March 26, 1999, a Yugoslav MiG-29 was shot down by a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16. At its height in 1999, the Netherlands provided 2,000 troops for KFOR, that entered Kosovo to establish and maintain a secure environment.
. The ‘War on Terrorism’ (in its current context) is the name given by the George W. Bush administration
to the efforts launched in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks
on New York
and Washington, D.C. by al-Qaeda
.
, also known as the 'Coalition' or 'US-led coalition', refers to the nations whose governments have military personnel in Iraq. The first Balkenende cabinet
supported the USA and the UK in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
. An independent contingent of 1,345 troops (including 650 Dutch Marines
, CH-47 Chinook
helicopters, military police, a logistics team, a commando squad, and a field hospital and Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64 attack helicopters in support) based in Samawah
(Southern Iraq), that started deploying in 2003 after the initial invasion, left Iraq in June 2005. Netherlands lost two soldiers in separate insurgent attacks.
In January 2010, PM Balkenende found himself in dire straits after the publication of the final report of the 10 months inquiry by the Davids Commission.
Willibrord Davids was the chairman of this special committee of inquiry, charged by the Dutch government in 2009 with investigating the decision-making by the Dutch government in 2003 on the political support for the war in Iraq, which was supported then by the Dutch government following intelligence from Britain and the US. This was the first ever independent legal assessment of the invasion decision. The commissioners included the former president of the Hoge Raad (Dutch supreme court), a former judge of the European Court of Justice
, and two legal academics. Balkenende had so far resisted calls for a formal parliamentary inquiry
into the decision to back the war.
According to the report, the Dutch cabinet had failed to fully inform the Dutch House of Representatives about its support that the military action of the allies against Iraq "had no sound mandate under international law" and that the United Kingdom was instrumental in influencing the Dutch decision to back the war.
It also emerged that the British government had refused to disclose a key document requested by the Dutch panel, a letter to Balkenende from Tony Blair
in which was asked for the support. This letter was said to be handed over in a "breach of diplomatic protocol" and on the basis that it was for Balkenende's eyes only.
The letter was not sent as a note verbale
as is the normal procedure – instead it was a personal message from Blair to Balkenende, and had to be returned and not stored in the Dutch archives.
The details of the Dutch inquiry's findings and the refusal of the British government to disclose the letter were likely to increase international scrutiny on the Chilcot inquiry.
Balkenende reacted that he had fully informed of the lower house of parliament with regard to support for the invasion and that the repeated refusal by Saddam Hussain to respect UN resolutions and to co-operate with UN weapons inspectors had justified the invasion.
The Partij van de Arbeid (Dutch Labour Party), part of Balkenende's ruling coalition, demanded a new statement from the PM.
as well as Dutch naval frigates to police the waters of the Middle East/Indian Ocean
. Starting in 2006, the Netherlands deployed further troops and helicopters to Afghanistan as part of a new security operation in the south of the country. Dutch ground and air forces totalled almost 2,000 personnel during 2006, taking part in combat operations alongside British and Canadian forces as part of NATO's ISAF
force in the south. Most of the troops operated in the Uruzgan Province as part of a 3-D strategy (defense, development, diplomacy).
On November 1, 2006 Dutch Major-General Ton Van Loon took over NATO Regional Command South in Afghanistan for a six months period from the Canadians. http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/6_1_1.asp?id=1275 See the Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006
and Battle of Chora
articles for further details. The Royal Netherlands Army
Commando
Captain Marco Kroon
was the first individual recipient of the Military William Order (the highest Dutch award for valour under fire, comparable to the Victoria Cross
and the Medal of Honor
) since 1955 for actions in Uruzgan, Afghanistan
.
Domestically, the participation was unpopular and controversial leading the government in 2007 to announce their withdrawal set for 2010. In response to requests of the American government to continue to stay in Afghanistan in 2009, the Dutch government was reported to explore new missions in Afghanistan, however, this action led to disagreements within the government culminating in its collapse in February 2010. On August 1, 2010 the Dutch military formally declared its withdrawal from its four-year mission in Afghanistan; all 1,950 soldiers are expected to be back in the Netherlands by September.
, The Dutch
: Battle of Lowestoft
). At the end the Dutch naval onslaught proved to be too strong for the English. Dutch naval dominance, together with the Great fire of London
and the spread of the black death
, eventually led to the Glorious Revolution
in which the English monarch was replaced by the Dutchman William of Orange
who had landed together with a Dutch army on English soil; it was to be the last successful invasion
of England. In the end however, this seemingly ultimate victory would prove to mark the downfall of Dutch naval power. William III made London the new major trading city of the world, and he placed the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under English command (even though the Dutch fleet was numerically almost equal and better trained). This was to be the beginning of English worldwide naval dominance.
Despite all this rivalry, it should be remembered that England and the Netherlands had most of their conflicts in a rather limited period of time, between 1652 and 1688, and that for most of their history they were allies against Spain and France.
. Traditionally however there had never been much conflict between France and the Northern Netherlands. At first France and The Republic were allies against Spain. This changed in 1668 and between 1672 and 1713 there was a period of very intense warfare. In the early 18th century both nations were financially exhausted, to the benefit of England. They were careful not to repeat that mistake and, apart from the events in 1747, kept their peace. Nevertheless before the French revolution, the Netherlands were a source of much irritation to the Kings of France. For example: The Netherlands were a republic at that time, something which was unheard of in the 16th and 17th century, when all but a few countries in the entire world were ruled by nobility. Louis XIV had a personal antipathy against the egalitarian Dutch; on the other hand both peoples felt a mutual admiration: the Dutch for French culture; the French for Dutch trade and industry. When revolutionary French troops smashed the old Dutch regime in 1794, many Dutch welcomed this as a liberation from outdated institutions. Imperial France briefly annexed the Netherlands for a period of nearly three years during the Napoleontic wars, only to find themselves facing Dutch troops at the battle of Waterloo.
. In fact the army of 18th century Prussia was modeled after that of the Dutch republic. Though the Dutch stayed neutral during World War I, they leaned somewhat to the German side (also due to the fact that The Netherlands was caught in the British blockade of Germany
). This was shown when after the war had ended, the Dutch granted asylum to Wilhelm II, the German emperor, despite appeals to extradite him by the Allies. However it were the Allies who had plans to invade the Netherlands. That was not only because of the Dutch trade with Germany during that period of war (they also traded with the Allies), but another important factor was that the Allies saw a way to get behind the German lines and end the war more quickly. But when the Netherlands fell to the Blitzkrieg of 1940 this all changed. The Netherlands, unable to offer heavy resistance except in some isolated spots, were quickly occupied by the numerically and technically superior German army for a period of five years.
There are also other reasons why the Dutch wanted to stay neutral against Germany. Not only was there intensive trade between the two countries for over centuries even before the actual country of Germany began to exist in 1871, the Dutch also had a long history with Germany. In fact, the Dutch William of Orange-Nassau was born in Germany, and the Dutch royal family always had good connections with the elite German families. An example of this can be seen in the husbands of Queen Wilhelmina's husband Prince Hendrik, Queen Juliana's Prince Bernhard and Queen Beatrix's Prince Claus were all Germans.
, the Habsburg ruler who was Lord of the Netherlands but foremost King of Spain, so for a period of 80 years Spain was the main opponent. The Dutch made most of their colonial conquest against the Portuguese though, Portugal also being under Spanish rule. The war resulted in a Dutch victory — though also in a division of the Low Countries. The Netherlands were officially recognised and as the Spanish Empire
was dangerously weakened, Dutch policy from 1648 was to prevent its total collapse by French and British attacks.
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
dates from 1568. Belgium (a country with a Dutch-like-speaking majority) became an independent state in 1830 when it seceded from the Netherlands.
During the ancient
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
and early medieval
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
periods, the Germanic tribes had no written language. What we know about their early military history comes from accounts written in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and from archaeology. This causes significant gaps in the historic timeline. Germanic wars
Germanic Wars
The Germanic Wars is a name given to a series of wars between the Romans and various Germanic tribes between 113 BCE and 439 CE. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings and later Germanic invasions in the Roman Empire that started in the late 2nd...
against the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
are fairly well documented from the Roman perspective; however, Germanic wars against the early Celts remain mysterious because neither side recorded the events. Wars between the Germanic tribes in Northern Belgium
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and the present day Netherlands, and various Celtic tribes that bordered their lands, are likely due to their geographical proximity.
Ancient times
Germanic tribes are thought to have originated during the Nordic Bronze AgeNordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...
in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. The tribes spread south, possibly motivated by the deteriorating climate of that area. They crossed the River Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, most likely overrunning territories formerly occupied by Celtic people. In the East, other tribes, such as Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, Rugians
Rugians
"Rugi" redirects here. For the Romanian villages by this name, see Păltiniş, Caraş-Severin and Turcineşti.The Rugii, also Rugians, Rygir, Ulmerugi, or Holmrygir were an East Germanic tribe migrated from southwest Norway to Pomerania around 100 AD, and from there to the Danube River valley...
and Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, settled along the shores of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
pushing southward and eventually settling as far away as Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
and Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
migrated to England. The Germanic peoples often had unsettled relationships with their neighbours and each other, leading to a period of over two millennia of military conflict over various territorial, religious, ideological and economic issues.
- Germanic tribes often fought both against and for the Roman Empire.
- On Christmas Day 406, with the freezing of the Rhine, FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, Allemanni, BurgundiansBurgundiansThe Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
, SuebiSuebiThe Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c...
and VandalsVandalsThe Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
crossed the Rhine from present day Germany into GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. The Franks later expelled the Goths from Aquitaine and absorbed the Burgundians. They were later to give their name to modern France. - In 455, under the leadership of their King Gaiseric, the Vandals seized Rome, plundering it for 15 days (and henceforth giving their name to wanton destruction).
- From 772 to 814, the Frankish King CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
held the Carolingian EmpireCarolingian EmpireCarolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
, an empire which contained nearly all of the following modern day countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France (except Brittany), Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy north from below Rome, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and parts of Spain (northeast), Czech Republic (west), Hungary (west) and Croatia (northwest).
The Batavi
The Batavi (Batavians) were a Germanic tribe, originally part of the ChattiChatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area which is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side" (Tacitus, Histories iv). This led to the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name of Batavia for the area. The same name is used for several military units, originally raised among the Batavi.
They were mentioned by Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
in his commentary Gallic Wars
Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Gallic Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the...
, as living on an island formed by the Meuse River
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
after it is joined by the Waal, 80 Roman mile
Mile
A mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
s from the mouth of the river. He said there were many other islands formed by branches of the Rhine, inhabited by a "savage, barbarous nation", some of whom were supposed to live on fish and the eggs of sea-fowl.
Tacitus named the Mattiaci
Mattiaci
The Mattiaci were an ancient Germanic tribe. They were possibly a branch of the Chatti, their Germanic neighbors to the east. The Mattiaci were settled on border of the Roman Empire on the right side of the Rhine in the area of present-day Wiesbaden , the southern Taunus, and the Wetterau.Tacitus...
as a similar tribe under homage, but on the other side of the Rhine. The areas inhabited by the Batavians were never occupied by the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, as the Batavians were allies.
The Batavians incorrectly became regarded as the sole and eponymous ancestors of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
people. The Netherlands were briefly known as the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
. Moreover, during the time Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
was a Dutch colony (the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
), the capital (now Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
) was named Batavia. If the ancestry of most native Dutch people were traced back to Germanic tribes, most would lead to the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
is in fact a Low Frankish language, and is the only language (together with Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, which descends from Dutch itself) to be a direct descendant of Old Frankish
Old Frankish
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
, the language of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
.
Military units of the Batavi
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
. He said they retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: "They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms", Tacitus remarked. Well regarded for their skills in horsemanship and swimming — for men and horses could cross the Rhine without losing formation, according to Tacitus. Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius
Aulus Plautius
Aulus Plautius was a Roman politician and general of the mid-1st century. He began the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and became the first governor of the new province, serving from 43 to 47.-Career:...
against the "barbarians" — the British Celts — at the battle of the River Medway
Battle of the Medway
The Battle of the Medway took place in 43 AD on the River Medway in the lands of the Iron Age tribe of the Cantiaci, now the English county of Kent...
, 43:
- The barbarians thought that Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge, and consequently bivouacked in rather careless fashion on the opposite bank; but he sent across a detachment of Batavians, who were accustomed to swim easily in full armour across the most turbulent streams. [...] Thence the Britons retired to the river Thames at a point near where it empties into the ocean and at flood-tide forms a lake. This they easily crossed because they knew where the firm ground and the easy passages in this region were to be found; but the Romans in attempting to follow them were not so successful. However, the Batavians swam across again and some others got over by a bridge a little way up-stream, after which they assailed the barbarians from several sides at once and cut down many of them. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 60:20)
The Batavians also provided a contingent for the Emperor's Imperial Horse Guard
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
.
The Batavian Legacy
Numerous altars and tombstones of the Batavi, dating to the 2nd century and 3rd century, have been found along Hadrian's WallHadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
(notably at Castlecary
Castlecary
Castlecary is a small village on the border between the North Lanarkshire and Falkirk council areas in Scotland. It is close to the new town of Cumbernauld....
and Carrawburgh
Carrawburgh
Carrawburgh is a settlement in Northumberland. In Roman times, it was the site of a 3½ acre auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall called Brocolitia, Procolita, or Brocolita This name is probably based on the Celtic name for the place, and one possible translation put forward is 'badger holes'...
), in Germany, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Hungary, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Austria. After the 3rd century, however, the Batavians are no longer mentioned, and they are assumed to have merged with the neighbouring Frisian
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
and Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
people.
The Romans
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
defeated and pushed them back the Romans established two provinces in the area of the present-day Belgium and a part of the Netherlands. Both were outposts, especially above the Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and apart from a few Roman legions sent there to protect the Empires borders, the Roman presence was limited. The provinces were called Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of Gallia Belgica, the Belgae, consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes...
named after the Belgae
Belgae
The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul, on the west bank of the Rhine, in the 3rd century BC, and later also in Britain, and possibly even Ireland...
, a group of Celtic tribes conquered by the Romans, and Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
(inferior meaning 'low' in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and Germania referring to the area occupied by the Germanic tribes).
During the Batavian rebellion, which took place in the Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
between 69 and 70 AD, the rebels led by Civilis
Civilis
Civilis may refer to:*Gaius Julius Civilis, the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69*Tiberius Claudius Civilis*Civilis , a vicarius of Roman Britain in 368...
managed to destroy four legions
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
and inflict humiliating defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis
Quintus Petillius Cerialis
Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus was a Roman general and administrator who served in Britain during Boudica's rebellion and who went on to participate in the civil wars after the death of Nero. He later defeated the rebellion of Julius Civilis and returned to Britain as its governor.His...
eventually defeated them. Following peace talks, the situation was normalized, but Batavia had to cope with humiliating conditions and a legion stationed permanently within her lands.
For more information see: The Batavian rebellion
Batavian rebellion
The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD. It was an uprising against Roman rule by the Batavians and other tribes in the province and in Gaul...
The Franks
The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federationsConfederations of Germanic tribes
The following are some historical Germanic Confederations:*230 BC - Bastarnae, a mixture of Germanic tribes, at the Black Sea; they participated in the siege of Olbia in 220 BC....
. The confederation was formed out of Germanic tribes: Salians
Salian Franks
The Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the area above the Rhine. The Merovingian kings responsible for the conquest of Gaul were Salians. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as...
, Sugambri, Chamavi
Chamavi
The Chamavi were a Germanic tribe of Late Antiquity and the European Dark Age. They first appear under that name in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that, for most of their history, existed along the North bank of the Lower Rhine in the region today called Hamaland after...
, Tencteri, Chattuarii
Chattuarii
The Chattuarii or Attoarii were a Germanic tribe of the Franks. They lived originally east of the northern Rhine and west of the Chatti. Their land was south of the Bructeri. Some of them settled in the pagus attuariorum south of Langres in the 3rd century...
, Bructeri
Bructeri
The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD....
, Usipetes, Ampsivarii
Ampsivarii
The Ampsivarii, sometimes referenced by modern writers as Ampsivari , were a Germanic tribe mentioned by ancient authors....
, Chatti
Chatti
The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
. They entered the late Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
from the present day Netherlands and northern Germany and conquered northern Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
where they were accepted as a foederati
Foederati
Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire...
and established a lasting realm
Realm
A realm is a dominion of a monarch or other sovereign ruler.The Old French word reaume, modern French royaume, was the word first adopted in English; the fixed modern spelling does not appear until the beginning of the 17th century...
(sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
, Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
) and the whole of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, forming the historic kernel of the two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
of the pagan Frankish king Clovis
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
was a crucial event in the history of Europe. Like the French and Germans, the Dutch also claim the military history of the Franks as their own.
Battle of Soissons
Battle of Soissons (486)
The Battle of Soissons in the year 486 was fought between the Frankish forces under Clovis I, and the Gallo-Roman Kingdom of Soissons under Syagrius...
(486)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the last Roman army in Gaul.
Battle of Tolbiac
Battle of Tolbiac
The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks under Clovis I and the Alamanni, traditionally set in 496. The site of "Tolbiac", or "Tulpiacum" is usually given as Zülpich, North Rhine-Westphalia, about 60km east of the present German-Belgian frontier, which is not implausible...
(496)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Alamanni tribe.
Battle of Vouillé
Battle of Vouillé
The Battle of Vouillé or Vouglé was fought in the northern marches of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, Vienne near Poitiers , in the spring of 507 between the Franks commanded by Clovis and the Visigoths of Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain.Clovis and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire agreed...
(507)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Visigoths under Alaric IIAlaric IIAlaric II, also known as Alarik, Alarich, and Alarico in Spanish and Portuguese or Alaricus in Latin succeeded his father Euric on December 28, 484, in Toulouse. He established his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour in Aquitaine...
, the conqueror of Spain. (As a result of these victories, the domains of Clovis quadruple)
Battle of Tours
Battle of Tours
The Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...
(732)
- One of the most celebrated victories in Western history, the Franks under Charles 'the Hammer' MartelCharles MartelCharles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
defeated a large Islamic invading force. Historians have debated whether it had the enormous significance that is often claimed, but it was nonetheless a huge symbolic victory http://history-world.org/Battle%20Of%20Tours.htm.
Battle of Pavia
Battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...
(773)
- The Franks under CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
defeat the LombardsLombardsThe Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
, led by the Frankish king DesideriusDesideriusDesiderius was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy...
, in Italy.
Saxon Campaigns
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
(773-804)
- The Franks under Charlemagne repeatedly subdue over three decades of Saxon insurrections.
Siege of Paris
Siege of Paris (885-886)
The Siege of Paris of 885 to 886 was a Viking siege of Paris, then capital of the kingdom of the West Franks. It was, in hindsight, the most important event of the reign of the Emperor Charles the Fat and a turning point in the fortunes of the Carolingian dynasty and the history of France.The...
(885-886)
- With 200 men defending Paris, the Western Franks manage to halt and, when outside help arrived, defeat a Viking invasion force of 30,000.
The Frankish Empire (481 - 843)
The Frankish Empire was the territory of the FranksFranks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
of the Merovingian Dynasty
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...
, the first king of all the Franks. From 751, under the Carolingian Dynasty, it is known as the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
. After the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun was a treaty between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms...
of 843 it was split into East, West and Middle Francia
Middle Francia
Middle Francia was an ephemeral Frankish kingdom created by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which divided the Carolingian Empire among the sons of Louis the Pious...
. East Francia gave rise to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
with Otto I the Great in 962.
Since the term "Empire" properly applies only to times after the coronation of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in 800, and since the unified kingdom was repeatedly split and re-united, most historians prefer to use the term Frankish Kingdoms or Frankish Realm to refer to the entirety of Frankish rule from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Holy Roman Empire (843 - 1648)
Res publica
Res publica is a Latin phrase, loosely meaning "public affair". It is the root of the word republic, and the word commonwealth has traditionally been used as a synonym for it; however translations vary widely according to the context...
, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence, however, two dynasties
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
of leaders succeeded each other; first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
s in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and the early modern period. Emerging from the eastern part of the Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire
Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century...
after its division in the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun was a treaty between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms...
(843), it lasted almost a millennium until its dissolution in 1806. By the 18th century, it still consisted of the larger part of modern Germany, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
(now Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
), Austria, Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Belgium, and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, as well as large parts of modern Poland and small parts of the Netherlands and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Previously, it had included all of the Netherlands and Switzerland, parts of modern France and Italy. By the middle of the 18th century the Empire had been greatly reduced in power.
The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
between the Netherlands and the Spanish king, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. The war resulted in the Seven United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
being recognized as an independent state. The region now known as Belgium and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
also became established as the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
, part of the Seventeen Provinces
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France , and a small part of Western Germany.The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by...
that remained under royal Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
rule.
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, or the Dutch Republic, became a world power, through its merchant shipping and huge naval power, and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth. In the late 16th century military reform by Maurice of Orange laid the foundation for early modern battlefield tactics. The Dutch army between 1600 and 1648 was one of the most powerful in Europe, together with the English and French.
The main battles of the Eighty Years' War
- April 23, 1568 Battle of RheindalenBattle of RheindalenThe Battle of Dahlen was fought on April 23, 1568, between a Dutch rebel army led by Joost de Soete, Lord of Villers, and a Spanish army commanded by Sancho Dávila y Daza. As a part of William of Orange's planned invasion, the Dutch rebels were trying to conquer the town of Roermond when the...
(Often regarded as a mere skirmish)
- The Dutch geuzenGeuzenGeuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
under the command of the Lord of Villers, Joost de SoeteJoost de SoeteJoost de Soete or de Zoete, Lord of Villers or Villiers, was a Dutch nobleman and military commander who fought in the early years of the Eighty Years' War....
, are defeated by a Spanish Garrison.- May 23, 1568 Battle of HeiligerleeBattle of HeiligerleeThe Battle of Heiligerlee was fought between Dutch rebels and the Spanish army of Friesland. This was the first Dutch victory during the Eighty Years' War....
- May 23, 1568 Battle of Heiligerlee
- Dutch victory. After a successful ambush the Dutch killed about 2,000 Spanish troops, while losing 50 men (Including one of its commanders, Adolf of Nassau) of its own.
- July 21, 1568 Battle of JemmingenBattle of JemmingenAfter the Battle of Heiligerlee Louis of Nassau failed to capture the city Groningen. Louis was driven away by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and defeated at the Battle of Jemmingen on 21 July 1568.-Forces:The Spanish army consisted of 12,000 infantry , 3,000 cavalry, and some cannon...
- July 21, 1568 Battle of Jemmingen
- Decisive Spanish victory. Louis of NassauLouis of NassauLouis of Nassau was the third son of William, Count of Nassau and Juliana of Stolberg, and the younger brother of Prince William of Orange Nassau....
failed to capture the city of Groningen. Louis was chased by the Duke of Alva and defeated at the Battle of JemmingenBattle of JemmingenAfter the Battle of Heiligerlee Louis of Nassau failed to capture the city Groningen. Louis was driven away by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and defeated at the Battle of Jemmingen on 21 July 1568.-Forces:The Spanish army consisted of 12,000 infantry , 3,000 cavalry, and some cannon...
by the larger and better equipped Spanish army.- December 11, 1572 – July 13, 1573 Siege of HaarlemSiege of HaarlemThe siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From December 11, 1572 to July 13, 1573 an army of Philip II of Spain laid bloody siege to the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, whose loyalties had begun wavering during the previous summer...
- December 11, 1572 – July 13, 1573 Siege of Haarlem
- Surrender of Dutch troops after a bloody siege by Spanish troops.
- June 1574 - October 3, 1574 Siege of LeidenSiege of LeidenThe Siege of Leiden occurred during the Eighty Years' War in 1573 and 1574, when the Spanish attempted to capture the rebellious city of Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands, and ultimately failed.-Background:...
- June 1574 - October 3, 1574 Siege of Leiden
- Dutch victory. During the siege 6,000 of the 18,000 inhabitants of Leiden died. The siege ended because geuzenGeuzenGeuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
opened the dikes surrounding the city causing the Spanish troops to flee.- April 14, 1574 Battle of MookerheydeBattle of MookerheydeThe Battle of Mookerheyde was a battle of the Eighty Years' War fought on 14 April 1574 near the village Mook and the river Meuse.In the winter months of on 1574, William the Silent's brothers, Louis and Henry of Nassau, raised a mercenary army in Germany of 6500 infantry and 3000 cavalry, and led...
- April 14, 1574 Battle of Mookerheyde
- Decisive Spanish victory. The Dutch army, though more numerous, was defeated because a large amount of the, unpaid, mercenaries fled before and during the battle. Both Dutch commanders, Louis of NassauLouis of NassauLouis of Nassau was the third son of William, Count of Nassau and Juliana of Stolberg, and the younger brother of Prince William of Orange Nassau....
and Henry of Nassau were killed.- January 31, 1578 Battle of GemblouxBattle of GemblouxThe Battle of Gembloux marked a terrible defeat for the Protestant rebels fighting against Spain in the Eighty Years' War. On 31 January 1578, an advance force of 1,200 cavalrymen from the main Spanish army of 20,000 men attacked the retreating Dutch army of around 20,000 men...
- January 31, 1578 Battle of Gembloux
- Decisive Spanish victory. After the battle, the Spanish commander John of Austria executed over 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war.
- July 1584 - August 17, 1585 Siege of Antwerp
- Spanish victory. The siege lasted over a year despite 60,000 of the 100,000 inhabitants leaving the city before the Spanish troops arrived.
- September 22, 1586 Battle of ZutphenBattle of ZutphenThe Battle of Zutphen was a confrontation of the Eighty Years' War on 22 September 1586, near Zutphen , the Netherlands. It was fought between forces of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, aided by the English, against the Spanish, who sought to regain the northern Netherlands.Important...
- September 22, 1586 Battle of Zutphen
- Spanish victory.
- January 24, 1597 Battle of TurnhoutBattle of Turnhout (1597)The Battle of Turnhout, 1597 occurred during the Eighty Years' War where Turnhout was in the border area between the Northern and Southern Netherlands. Though the town had not been walled, Turnhout was an important strategic town...
- January 24, 1597 Battle of Turnhout
- Decisive Dutch victory. Fifteen cavalryCavalryCavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
units and several hundred Dutch infantryInfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
soldiers defeated a Spanish army of over 5000 men.- July 2, 1600 Battle of NieuwpoortBattle of NieuwpoortThe Battle of Nieuwpoort, between a Dutch army under Maurice of Nassau and Francis Vere and a Spanish army under Albert of Austria, took place on 2 July 1600 near the present-day Belgian city Nieuwpoort.-Campaign:...
- July 2, 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort
- Dutch victory. The Dutch army originally was on a mission to capture the raiderDunkirkersDuring the Dutch Revolt the Dunkirkers or Dunkirk Privateers, were commerce raiders in the service of the Spanish Monarchy. They were also part of the Dunkirk fleet, which consequently was a part of the Spanish Monarchy's Flemish fleet ...
port of Dunkirk but was intercepted en route by a Spanish army, resulting in the battle.- July 5, 1601 – September 16, 1604 Siege of OstendSiege of OstendThe Siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and one of the longest sieges in history. It is remembered as the bloodiest battle of the war, and culminated in a Spanish victory...
- July 5, 1601 – September 16, 1604 Siege of Ostend
- Spanish victory. Although eventually victorious, around 55,000 Spanish soldiers died during the siege and this was an important factor during the negotiations for the twelve-year truceTwelve Years' TruceThe Twelve Years' Truce was the name given to the cessation of hostilities between the Habsburg rulers of Spain and the Southern Netherlands and the Dutch Republic as agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609. It was a watershed in the Eighty Years' War, marking the point from which the independence of the...
(1609–1621) between Spain and the Netherlands. The siege was one of the longest in the entire Eighty Years' War.- April 25, 1607 Battle of GibraltarBattle of GibraltarThe naval Battle of Gibraltar took place on 25 April 1607 during the Eighty Years' War when a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar. During the four hours of action, most of the Spanish fleet was destroyed....
- April 25, 1607 Battle of Gibraltar
- Decisive Dutch victory. A Dutch fleet attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet anchored in the Bay of GibraltarBay of GibraltarThe Bay of Gibraltar is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay...
. At a cost of 100 men, including the commanding admiral Jacob van Heemskerck, the Dutch killed 4,000 Spanish sailors and their commanding officer.- August 28, 1624 – June 5, 1625 Siege of Breda
- Spanish victory after a siege of 11 months.
- 1629 Siege of 's-HertogenboschSiege of 's-HertogenboschThe Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch was in 1629 an action of the Eighty Years' War in which a Dutch Republican army captured the city of 's-Hertogenbosch which had been loyal to the King of Spain since 1579 and thus part of the Spanish Netherlands.-Background:...
- 1629 Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch
- Dutch victory.
- October 31, 1639 Battle of the DownsBattle of the DownsThe naval Battle of the Downs took place on 31 October 1639 , during the Eighty Years' War, and was a decisive defeat of the Spanish, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, by the United Provinces, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.- Background :The entry of France in the Thirty...
- October 31, 1639 Battle of the Downs
- Decisive Dutch victory. Dutch ships led by Maarten TrompMaarten TrompMaarten Harpertszoon Tromp was an officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy. His first name is also spelled as Maerten.-Early life:...
attacked the Spanish fleet; 60 of the 77 Spanish warships are destroyed and 15,200 Spanish sailors are reportedly killed (a figure modern historians find dubious), at a cost of 1,000 men killed and several ships torched.
The Dutch in the East Indies
The Dutch East India CompanyDutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), chartered in 1602, concentrated Dutch trade efforts under one directorate with a unified policy. In 1605 armed Dutch merchantmen captured the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
fort at Amboyna
Amboyna
Amboyna can refer to:* Ambon, Maluku, a city in Indonesia* Ambon Island, sometimes named Amboyna, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia* Amboyna burl of Pterocarpus trees* Amboyna , a moth genus* Amboyna , a play by John Dryden...
in the Moluccas
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
, which was developed into the first secure base of the VOC. The Twelve Years' Truce
Twelve Years' Truce
The Twelve Years' Truce was the name given to the cessation of hostilities between the Habsburg rulers of Spain and the Southern Netherlands and the Dutch Republic as agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609. It was a watershed in the Eighty Years' War, marking the point from which the independence of the...
signed in Antwerp in 1609 called a halt to formal hostilities between Spain (which controlled Portugal and its territories at the time) and the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. In the Indies, the foundation of Batavia formed the permanent center from which Dutch enterprises, more mercantile than colonial, could be coordinated. From it "the Dutch wove the immense web of traffic and exchange which would eventually make up their empire, a fragile and flexible one built, like the Portuguese empire, 'on the Phoenician model
Thalassocracy
The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea, such as Athens or the Phoenician network of merchant cities...
'." (Braudel 1984, p. 215)
Over the next decades the Dutch captured the major trading ports of the East Indies: Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
in 1641; Achem (Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
) in the native kingdom of Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, 1667; Macassar
Macassar
-Places:*Makassar, a city in Indonesia**Makassar Strait, a strait in Indonesia*Macassar, Western Cape, a town in South Africa*Macassar Village, Western Cape, an informal settlement in South Africa*Macassar, Mozambique, a village in north-eastern Mozambique...
, 1669; and Bantam
Bantam (city)
Bantam in Banten province near the western end of Java was a strategically important site and formerly a major trading city, with a secure harbor on the Sunda Strait through which all ocean-going traffic passed, at the mouth of Banten River that provided a navigable passage for light craft into...
itself, in 1682. At the same time connections in the ports of India provided the printed cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
s that the Dutch traded for pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, the staple of the spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
.
The greatest source of wealth in the East Indies, Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel
Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects, each representing several decades of intense study: The Mediterranean , Civilization and Capitalism , and the unfinished Identity of France...
has noted, was the trade within the archipelago, what the Dutch called inlandse handel ('native trade'), where one commodity was exchanged for another, with profit at each turn, as silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
from the Americas was more desirable in the East than in Europe.
By concentrating on monopolies in the fine spices, Dutch policy encouraged monoculture
Monoculture
Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. It is also known as a way of farming practice of growing large stands of a single species. It is widely used in modern industrial agriculture and its implementation has allowed for large harvests from...
: Amboyna
Amboyna
Amboyna can refer to:* Ambon, Maluku, a city in Indonesia* Ambon Island, sometimes named Amboyna, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia* Amboyna burl of Pterocarpus trees* Amboyna , a moth genus* Amboyna , a play by John Dryden...
for clove
Clove
Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world...
s, Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
for sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
, the Bandas
Banda Islands
The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The main town and administrative centre is Bandanaira, located on the island of the same name. They rise...
for mace and nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...
, Ceylon for cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
. Monoculture linked island economies to the mercantile system to provide the missing necessities of life.
The Dutch East India company's army was defeated by a Chinese Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
army led by Koxinga
Koxinga
Koxinga is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong , a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa .A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of...
at the Siege of Fort Zeelandia
Siege of Fort Zeelandia
The Siege of Fort Zeelandia , which took place in 1661 and 1662, ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island...
on Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. The Chinese used ships and naval bombardment with cannon to force a surrender. The expulsion of the Dutch ended their colonial rule over Taiwan.
Wars of the Dutch Republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
between 1581 (but was formally recognised in 1648) and 1795, which is now known as the Netherlands. From an economic and military perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces was extremely successful. This time period is known in the Netherlands as the Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
. The free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
in the Low Countries. At first the Dutch had a very strong standing field army and large garrisons in their numerous fortified cities. From 1648 on however the Army was neglected; and for a few years even the Navy fell into neglect— until rivalry with England forced a large extension of naval forces.
The Anglo-Dutch Wars were fought in the 17th and 18th centuries between Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and the United Provinces for control over the seas and trade routes. They are known as the Dutch Wars in England and as the English Wars in the Netherlands.
Scilly "War" (1651-1986)
In 1651, one of the last possessions held by the English Royalists (partisans of Charles II of EnglandCharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
against the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
declared by the Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....
) was the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
, off Cornwall. From these islands, governed by Sir John Grenville, and from other friendly ports, a section of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
that had mutinied to Charles' side operated in a piratical
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
way against shipping in the English channel.
The Dutch declared war against the Scillies as a legal fiction
Legal fiction
A legal fiction is a fact assumed or created by courts which is then used in order to apply a legal rule which was not necessarily designed to be used in that way...
which would cover a hostile response to the Royalist fleet. In July 1651, soon after the declaration of war, the Parliamentarian forces under Admiral Robert Blake
Robert Blake (admiral)
Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
forced the Royalist fleet to surrender. The Netherlands fleet, no longer under threat, left without firing a shot. However, due to the obscurity of one nation's declaration of war against a small part of another, the Dutch forgot to officially declare peace.
In 1985, the historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Chairman of the Isles of Scilly Council Roy Duncan, wrote to the Dutch Embassy in London to dispose of the "myth" that the islands were still at war. But embassy staff found the myth to be accurate and Duncan invited Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
Jonkheer
Jonkheer
Jonkheer is a Dutch honorific of nobility.-Honorific of nobility:"Jonkheer" or "Jonkvrouw" is literally translated as "young lord" or "young lady". In medieval times such a person was a young and unmarried son or daughter of a high ranking knight or nobleman...
Rein Huydecoper to visit the islands and sign a peace treaty
Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
. Peace was declared on April 17, 1986, a stunning 335 years after the war began.
The first Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)
The collapse of Spanish power at the end of the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
in 1648 meant that the colonial possessions of the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
and Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
s were effectively up for grabs. This brought the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
and the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
of the Netherlands, former allies in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, into conflict. The Dutch had the largest mercantile fleet of Europe, and a dominant position in European trade. They had annexed most of Portugal's territory in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
giving them control over the enormously profitable trade in spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s. They were even gaining significant influence over England's maritime trade with her North American colonies
British colonization of the Americas
British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
, profiting from the turmoil that resulted from the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. However, the Dutch navy had been neglected during this time period, while Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
had built a strong fleet.
In order to protect its position in North America and damage Dutch trade, in 1651 the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of the Commonwealth of England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
passed the first of the Navigation Acts
Navigation Acts
The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, a process which had started in 1651. Their goal was to force colonial development into lines favorable to England, and stop direct colonial trade with the...
, which mandated that all goods from her American colonies must be carried by English ships. In a period of growing mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
this was the spark that ignited the first Anglo-Dutch war, the British seeking a pretext to start a war which led to sporadic naval engagements across the globe.
The English were initially successful, Admiral Robert Blake
Robert Blake (admiral)
Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
defeating the Dutch Admiral Witte de With in the Battle of the Kentish Knock
Battle of the Kentish Knock
The Battle of the Kentish Knock was a naval battle between the fleets of the Dutch Republic and England, fought on 8 October 1652 New Style, during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea about thirty kilometres east of the mouth of the river Thames...
in 1652. Believing that the war was all but over, the English divided their forces and in 1653 were routed by the fleet of Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp
Maarten Tromp
Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp was an officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy. His first name is also spelled as Maerten.-Early life:...
at the Battle of Dungeness
Battle of Dungeness
The naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 10 December 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.- Background :...
in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. The Dutch were also victorious at the Battle of Leghorn
Battle of Leghorn
The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 14 March 1653, during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn , Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch fleet under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron under Captain Henry Appleton...
and had effective control of both the Mediterranean and the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. Blake, recovering from an injury, rethought, together with George Monck
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...
, the whole system of naval tactics, and in mid 1653 used the Dutch line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
method to drive the Dutch navy back to its ports in the battles of Portland
Battle of Portland
The naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle took place during 28 February-2 March 1653 , during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp...
and the Gabbard
Battle of the Gabbard
The naval Battle of the Gabbard, also known as the Battle of Gabbard Bank, the Battle of the North Foreland or the second Battle of Nieuwpoort took place on 2–3 June 1653 according to the Old Style of Julian calendar then used in England during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the Gabbard...
. In the final Battle of Scheveningen
Battle of Scheveningen
The Battle of Scheveningen was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War...
on August 10, 1653 Tromp was killed, a blow to Dutch morale, but the British were forced to end their blockade of the Dutch coast. As both nations were by now exhausted, peace negotiations were started.
The war ended on 1654-04-05 with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster (1654)
The Treaty of Westminster was signed on 8 May 1654, which ended the First Anglo-Dutch War . Based on the terms of the accord, the United Provinces recognized Oliver Cromwell's Navigation Acts, which required that imports to the Commonwealth of England must be carried in English ships, or ships from...
, but the commercial rivalry was not resolved, the British having failed to replace the Dutch as the world's dominant trade nation.
Battles
- May 29, 1652 Battle of Goodwin SandsBattle of Goodwin SandsThe naval Battle of Goodwin Sands , fought on 29 May 1652 , was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.- Background :The English Parliament had passed the first of the Navigation...
- Draw, moral English victory
- August 26, 1652 Battle of PlymouthBattle of PlymouthThe Battle of Plymouth was a naval battle in the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place on 26 August 1652 and was a short battle, but had the unexpected outcome of a Dutch victory over England. General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked an outward bound convoy of the Dutch...
- Minor Dutch victory
- October 8, 1652 Battle of the Kentish KnockBattle of the Kentish KnockThe Battle of the Kentish Knock was a naval battle between the fleets of the Dutch Republic and England, fought on 8 October 1652 New Style, during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea about thirty kilometres east of the mouth of the river Thames...
- English victory
- December 10, 1652 Battle of DungenessBattle of DungenessThe naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 10 December 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.- Background :...
- Dutch victory
- March 14, 1653 Battle of LeghornBattle of LeghornThe naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 14 March 1653, during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn , Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch fleet under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron under Captain Henry Appleton...
- Dutch victory
- February 28 till March 2, 1653 Battle of PortlandBattle of PortlandThe naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle took place during 28 February-2 March 1653 , during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp...
- English victory, but moral victory for the Dutch as their fleet escaped certain destruction.
- June 13, 1653 Battle of the GabbardBattle of the GabbardThe naval Battle of the Gabbard, also known as the Battle of Gabbard Bank, the Battle of the North Foreland or the second Battle of Nieuwpoort took place on 2–3 June 1653 according to the Old Style of Julian calendar then used in England during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the Gabbard...
- English victory
- August 8–10, 1653 Battle of ScheveningenBattle of ScheveningenThe Battle of Scheveningen was the final naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War...
- English tactical victory, strategic Dutch victory
Dutch-Swedish War (1657–1660)
The Dutch-Swedish War, 1657–1660, was a Dutch intervention in the Northern WarsNorthern Wars
Northern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...
. When Charles X of Sweden had been unable to continue his hold on Poland — partly because the Dutch fleet relieved the besieged city of Danzig in 1656 — he turned his attention on Denmark, invading that country from what is now Germany. He broke a new agreement with Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
and laid siege to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. To the Dutch the Baltic trade was vital, both in quantity and quality. The Dutch had been able to convince Denmark, by threat of force, to keep the Sound
Sound (geography)
In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....
tolls at a low level but they feared a strong Swedish empire would not be so complying. In 1658 they sent an expedition fleet of 75 ships, 3,000 cannon and 15000 troops; in the Battle of the Sound
Battle of the Sound
The naval Battle of the Sound took place on 8 November 1658 during the Second Northern War, near the Sound or Oresund, just north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Sweden had defeated Denmark and an army under Charles X of Sweden had Copenhagen itself under siege...
it defeated the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
fleet and relieved Copenhagen. In 1659 the Dutch liberated the other Danish Isles and the essential supply of grain, wood and iron from the Baltic was guaranteed once more.
The second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
tried to serve his dynastic interests by attempting to make Prince William III of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
, his nephew, stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
of The Republic, using military pressure. This led to a surge of patriotism in England, the country being, as Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
put it, "mad for war".
This war, deliberately provoked by the English in 1664, witnessed several significant English victories in battle, (but also some Dutch ones such as the capture of the HMS Prince Royal during the Four Days Battle
Four Days Battle
The Four Days Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo–Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar then used in England off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.In June 1665 the English had soundly...
in 1666 which was the subject of a famous painting by Willem van de Velde). However, the Raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
(entailing the burning of part of the English fleet whilst docked at Chatham in June 1667 when a flotilla of ships led by Admiral de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
broke through the defensive chains guarding the Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
and wrought havoc on the English ships as well as the capture of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
HMS Royal Charles
HMS Royal Charles (1655)
Royal Charles was an 80-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the English Navy. She was originally called the Naseby, built by Peter Pett, and launched at Woolwich dockyard in 1655, for the navy of the Commonwealth of England, and named in honour of Oliver Cromwell's decisive 1645...
) saw the war ended with a Dutch victory. For several years the greatly expanded Dutch Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
was the most powerful navy in the world. The Republic was at the zenith of its power.
Battles
- June 13, 1665 Battle of LowestoftBattle of LowestoftThe naval Battle of Lowestoft took place on 13 June 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size commanded by James Stuart, Duke of York forty...
- Dutch catastrophic defeat, arguably the worst defeat in Dutch naval historyRoyal Netherlands NavyThe Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
- June 1 till June 4, 1666 Four Days BattleFour Days BattleThe Four Days Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo–Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar then used in England off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.In June 1665 the English had soundly...
- Dutch victory.
- August 4 and 5, 1666 St James' Day Battle
- English victory, but the main body of the Dutch fleet escaped, while the Dutch rear beat its counterpart.
- June 1667 Raid on the MedwayRaid on the MedwayThe Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
- Decisive Dutch victory, the worst defeat in the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's history.
The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) and the third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)
Quadruple Alliance
The term "Quadruple Alliance" refers to several historical military alliances; none of which remain in effect.# The Quadruple Alliance of August 1673 was an alliance between the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, in...
consisting of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, Spain, and the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. The war ended with the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678); this granted France control of the Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
(from Spain).
France led a coalition including Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
and Great Britain. Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
was annoyed by the Dutch refusal to cooperate in the destruction and division of the Spanish Netherlands. As the Dutch army had been neglected, the French had no trouble by-passing the fortress of Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
and then marching to the heart of the Republic, taking Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. Prince William III of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
is assumed to have had the leading Dutch politician Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid 17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age...
deposed and murdered, and was acclaimed stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
. The French were halted by inundations, the Dutch Water Line, after Louis tarried too much in conquering the whole of the Republic. He had promised the major Dutch cities to the British and tried to extort huge sums from the Dutch in exchange for a separate peace. The bishop of Münster laid siege to Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
but failed. 1672 is known as the rampjaar
Rampjaar
The rampjaar was the year 1672 in Dutch history. In that year,the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was after the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and the Third Anglo-Dutch War attacked by England, France, and the prince-electors Bernhard von Galen, bishop of Münster and Maximilian Henry of...
("disaster year") in Dutch history, in which the country only nearly survived the combined English-French-German assault.
Soon after the second Anglo-Dutch War, the English navy was rebuilt. After the embarrassing events in the previous war, English public opinion was unenthusiastic about starting a new one. Bound by the secret Treaty of Dover Charles II was however obliged to assist Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in his attack on The Republic in the Franco-Dutch War
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
. This he did willingly, having manipulated the French and Dutch into war. The French army being halted by inundations, and an attempt was made to invade The Republic by sea. Admiral Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
, gaining four strategic victories against the Anglo-French fleet, prevented invasion. After these failures the English parliament forced Charles to sign a peace in 1674.
Already, allies had joined the Dutch — the Elector
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, the Emperor
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, and Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
. Louis, despite the successful Siege of Maastricht
Siege of Maastricht
The Siege of Maastricht was one of the key elements in King Louis XIV's plans to attack the Netherlands, in order to revenge the humiliating conditions enforced on him by the Triple Alliance when he tried to fully conquer the Spanish Netherlands...
in 1673, was forced to abandon his plans of conquering the Dutch and revert to a slow, cautious war of attrition around the French frontiers. By 1678, he had managed to break apart his opponents' coalition, and managed to gain considerable territories by the terms of the Treaty of Nijmegen. Most notably, the French acquired the Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
and various territories in the Netherlands from the Spanish. Nevertheless the Dutch had thwarted the ambitions of two of the major royal dynasties of the time: the Stuarts and the Bourbons.
Battles
- June 7, 1672 Battle of SolebayBattle of SolebayThe naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.-The battle:...
- Tactical draw, Dutch strategic victory.
- June 2, 1673 First Battle of SchooneveldBattle of SchooneveldThe Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
- Dutch minor victory.
- June 14, 1673 Second Battle of SchooneveldBattle of SchooneveldThe Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the fleet of the United Provinces, commanded by Michiel de Ruyter.The...
- Dutch minor victory.
- August 11, 1673 Battle of TexelBattle of TexelThe naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets and was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War , during which Louis XIV of France invaded the...
- Tactical draw, huge Dutch strategic victory.
Action of March 1677
The Action of March 1677 was a maritime battle that took place in March 1677 in the West Indies when a Dutch fleet under Jacob BinckesJacob Binckes
Jacob Binckes was a Dutch commodore. As a captain he was part of the first of two Dutch invasions of England in 1667 in the Raid on the Medway in the Second Anglo-Dutch War....
repulsed a French force attempting to recapture the island of Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
. Heavy losses were suffered on both sides: one of the Dutch supply ships caught fire and exploded. The fire then quickly spread in the narrow bay causing several ships, among them the French flagship 'Glorieux', to catch fire and explode in turn which resulted in great loss of life on both sides. The French under d'Estrees retreated.
Nine Years' War (1688–1697)
The Nine Years' War was a major war fought in Europe and AmericaColonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...
from 1688 to 1697, between France and the League of Augsburg — which, by 1689, was known as the "Grand Alliance
Grand Alliance
The Grand Alliance was a European coalition, consisting of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England, the Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, the Palatinate of the Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain and Sweden...
". The war was fought to resist French expansionism along the Rhine, as well as, on the part of England, to safeguard the results of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
from a possible French-backed restoration of James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. In North America the war was known as King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
.
The League of Augsburg
The League of Augsburg was formed in 1686 between the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold ILeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, and various of the German princes (including the Palatinate, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, and Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
) to resist French expansionism in Germany. The alliance was joined by Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Provinces
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
.
France had expected a benevolent neutrality on the part of James II's England, but after James's deposition and replacement by his son-in-law William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
, Louis's inveterate enemy, England declared war on France in May 1689, and the League of Augsburg became known as the "Grand Alliance", with England, Portugal, Spain, the United Provinces, and most of the German states joined together to fight France.
Campaign in the Netherlands
In the war's principal theatre, in continental Europe, the early military campaigns, which mostly occurred in the Spanish Netherlands, were generally successful for France. After a setback at the Battle of WalcourtBattle of Walcourt
The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging...
in August 1689, in which the French were defeated by an allied army under Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, the French under Marshal Luxembourg were successful at the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War. In a bold envelopment the Duc de Luxembourg, commanding Louis XIV’s army of some 35,000 men, soundly defeated Prince Waldeck’s Allied force of approximately 38,000 men comprising mainly Dutch, German, and...
in 1690, but Louis prevented Luxembourg from following up on his victory. The French were also successful in the Alps in 1690, with Marshal Catinat defeating the Duke of Savoy at the Battle of Staffarda
Battle of Staffarda
The Battle of Staffarda was fought during Nine Years' War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy, on 18 August 1690. The engagement was the first major encounter in the Italian theatre since Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, had joined the Grand Alliance in opposition to France earlier that...
and occupying Savoy. The Turkish recapture of Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in October of the same year proved a boon to the French, preventing the Emperor from making peace with the Turks and sending his full forces west. The French were also successful at sea, defeating the Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head
Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
The Battle of Beachy Head was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war...
, but failed to follow up on the victory by sending aid to the Jacobite forces in Ireland or pursuing control of the Channel.
The French followed up on their success in 1691 with Luxembourg's capture of Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
and Halle
Halle, Belgium
Halle , is a Belgian city and municipality in the district Halle-Vilvoorde of the province Flemish Brabant. The city is located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal and on the Flemish side of the language border that separates Flanders and Wallonia...
and his defeat of Waldeck at the Battle of Leuze
Battle of Leuze
The Battle of Leuze took place on 18 September 1691, and was a famous French cavalry victory in the Nine Years' War, against a superior allied force....
, while Marshal Catinat continued his advance into Italy, and another French army advanced into Catalonia, and in 1692 Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
was captured by a French army under the direct command of the King, and the French beat back an allied offensive under William of Orange at the Battle of Steenkerque
Battle of Steenkerque
The Battle of Steenkerque was fought on August 3, 1692, as a part of the Nine Years' War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg against a joint English-Scottish-Dutch-German army under Prince William of Orange...
.
Early French dominance
When the war began in 1689, the British AdmiraltyAdmiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
was still suffering from the disorders of the reign of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, which had been only in part corrected during the short reign of James II. The first squadrons were sent out late and in insufficient strength. The Dutch, crushed by the obligation to maintain a great army, found an increasing difficulty in preparing their fleet for action early. Louis XIV, with as yet inexhausted resources, had it within his power to strike first.
English and Dutch resurgence
A large French fleet entered the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, and gained a success over the combined British and Dutch fleets on July 10, 1690 in the Battle of Beachy Head
Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
The Battle of Beachy Head was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war...
, which was not followed up by vigorous action. During the following year, while James's cause was finally ruined in Ireland, the main French fleet was cruising in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
, principally for the purpose of avoiding battle. During the whole of 1689, 1690 and 1691, British squadrons were active on the Irish coast -helping to win the Williamite war in Ireland
Williamite war in Ireland
The Williamite War in Ireland—also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland and in Irish as Cogadh an Dá Rí —was a conflict between Catholic King James II and Protestant King William of Orange over who would be King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
for the allies. One raised the siege of Derry
Siege of Derry
The Siege of Derry took place in Ireland from 18 April to 28 July 1689, during the Williamite War in Ireland. The city, a Williamite stronghold, was besieged by a Jacobite army until it was relieved by Royal Navy ships...
in July 1689, and another convoyed the first British and Dutch forces sent over under the Duke of Schomberg
Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
Friedrich Hermann , 1st Duke of Schomberg , KG , was a marshal of France and a General in the English and Portuguese Army....
. Immediately after Beachy Head in 1690, a part of the Channel fleet carried out an expedition under the Earl of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, which took Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
and reduced a large part of the south of the island. William of Orange himself arrived in Ireland in 1690 with veteran Dutch and allied troops, defeating the James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
at the battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
-an engagement largely decided by Dutch infantry. The war was ended in Anglo-Dutch favour in 1691, when Dutch general Ginkel destroyed the Franco-Irish army at the Battle of Aughrim
Battle of Aughrim
The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobites and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 , near the village of Aughrim in County Galway....
.
In 1691, the French did little more than help to carry away the wreckage of their allies and their own detachments. In 1692 a vigorous but tardy attempt was made to employ their fleet to cover an invasion of England at the Battle of La Hougue. It ended in defeat, and the allies remained masters of the Channel. The defeat of La Hougue did not do so much harm to Louis's naval power, and in the next year, 1693, he was able to strike a severe blow at the Allies.
In this instance, the arrangements of the allied governments and admirals were not good. They made no effort to blockade Brest, nor did they take effective steps to discover whether or not the French fleet had left the port. The convoy was seen beyond the Scilly Isles
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
by the main fleet. But as the French admiral Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville was a French naval commander who served under King Louis XIV. He was made Marshal of France in 1693.-Military career:...
had left Brest for the Straits of Gibraltar with a powerful force and had been joined by a squadron from Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, the whole convoy was scattered or taken by him, in the latter days of June, near Lagos Bay
Battle of Lagos (1693)
The Battle of Lagos was a sea battle during the Nine Years' War on 1693-06-27 , when a French fleet under Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke...
. Although this success was a very fair equivalent for the defeat at La Hogue, it was the last serious effort made by the navy of Louis XIV in this war. Want of money compelled him to lay his fleet up.
The allies were now free to make full use of their own, to harass the French coast, to intercept French commerce, and to cooperate with the armies acting against France. Some of the operations undertaken by them were more remarkable for the violence of the effort than for the magnitude of the results. The numerous bombardments of French Channel ports, and the attempts to destroy St Malo, the great nursery of the active French privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s, by infernal machines, did little harm. A British attack on Brest in June 1694 was beaten off with heavy loss, the scheme having been betrayed by Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
correspondents. Yet the inability of the French king to avert these enterprises showed the weakness of his navy and the limitations of his power. The protection of British and Dutch commerce was never complete, for the French privateers were active to the end, but French commerce was wholly ruined.
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
The Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688 was the last successful invasion of England and ended the conflict by placing Prince William III of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
on the English throne as co-ruler with his wife Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
. Though this was in fact a military conflict between Great Britain and The Republic, William invading the British Isles with a Dutch fleet and army, in English histories it is never described as such because he had strong support in England and was partly serving the dynastic interests of his wife.
The regime change
Regime change
"Regime change" is the replacement of one regime with another. Use of the term dates to at least 1925.Regime change can occur through conquest by a foreign power, revolution, coup d'état or reconstruction following the failure of a state...
was a major contributing factor in the economic decline of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch merchant elite immediately began to use London as a new operational base. Dutch economic growth slowed. William ordered that any Anglo-Dutch fleet be under British command, with the Dutch navy having 60% of the strength of the British. From about 1720 Dutch wealth declined. Between 1740 and 1770 the Dutch Navy was neglected. Around 1780 the per capita gross national product of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
surpassed that of the Dutch Republic.
The Dutch Republic, nominally neutral, had been trading with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, exchanging Dutch arms and munitions for American colonial wares (in contravention of the British Navigation Acts
Navigation Acts
The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, a process which had started in 1651. Their goal was to force colonial development into lines favorable to England, and stop direct colonial trade with the...
), primarily through activity based in St. Eustatius, before the French formally entered the war. The British considered this trade to include contraband military supplies and had attempted to stop it, at first diplomatically by appealing to previous treaty obligations, interpretation of whose terms the two nations disagreed on, and then by searching and seizing Dutch merchant ships. The situation escalated when the British seized a Dutch merchant convoy sailing under Dutch naval escort
Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
The Affair of Fielding and Bylandt refers to a brief naval engagement off the Isle of Wight on 31 December 1779 between a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding, and a naval squadron of the Dutch Republic, commanded by rear-admiral Lodewijk van Bylandt, escorting a Dutch convoy...
in December 1779, prompting the Dutch to join the League of Armed Neutrality
First League of Armed Neutrality
The first League of Armed Neutrality was an alliance of European naval powers between 1780 and 1783 which was intended to protect neutral shipping against the British Royal Navy's wartime policy of unlimited search of neutral shipping for French contraband...
. Britain responded to this decision by declaring war on the Dutch in December 1780, sparking the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War 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...
.
The Dutch navy was by now only a shadow of its former self, having only about twenty ships of the line, so there were no large fleet battles. The English tried to reduce the Republic to the status of a British protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
, using Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n military pressure and gaining factual control over most of the Dutch colonies, those conquered during the war given back at war's end. The Dutch then still held some key positions in the European trade with Asia, such as the Cape, Ceylon and Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
. The war sparked a new round of Dutch ship building (95 warships in the last quarter of the 18th century), but the British kept their absolute numerical superiority by doubling their fleet in the same time.
Battles
- August 5, 1781 Battle of Dogger BankBattle of Dogger Bank (1781)The naval Battle of the Dogger Bank took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, part of the American War of Independence, in the North Sea...
- Indecisive outcome. No ships were lost on either side; this alone meant a moral victory for the Dutch.
Batavian Republic and French rule
- For more detailed discussions, see the Batavian RepublicBatavian RepublicThe Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
and the Kingdom of HollandKingdom of HollandThe Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
.
Against this background it is less surprising that, after the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, when Napoleon invaded and occupied the Netherlands in 1795, the French encountered so little united resistance. William V of Orange fled to England. The Patriots proclaimed the short-lived Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
, but government was soon returned to stabler and more experienced hands. In 1806 Napoleon restyled the Netherlands (along with a small part of what is now Germany) into the Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
, with his brother Louis (Lodewijk) Bonaparte as king. This too was short-lived, however. Napoleon incorporated the Netherlands into the French empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
after his brother put Dutch interests ahead of those of the French. The French occupation of the Netherlands ended in 1813 after Napoleon was defeated, a defeat in which William V of Orange played a prominent role.
Batavian Republic (1795–1806)
From 1795 to 1806, the Batavian Republic (Bataafse Republiek in DutchDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) designated the Netherlands as a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
modeled after the French Republic, to which it was a vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
.
The Batavian Republic was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, a day after stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
William V of Orange fled to England. The invading French revolutionary army
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, however, found quite a few allies in Holland. Eight years before, the Orange faction had won the upper hand in a small, but nasty civil war only thanks to the military intervention of the King of Prussia
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II was the King of Prussia, reigning from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.-Early life:...
, brother-in-law of the stadtholder.
Many of the revolutionaries (see: Patriots (faction)
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
) had fled to France and now returned eager to realize their ideals.
In contrast to events in France, revolutionary changes in the Netherlands occurred comparatively peacefully. The country had been a republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
for two centuries and had a limited nobility. The guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
proved unnecessary to the new state. The old Republic had been a very archaic and ineffective political construction, still largely based on old feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
institutions. Decision-making had proceeded very slowly and sometimes did not happen at all. The individual provinces had possessed so much power that they blocked many sensible innovations. The Batavian Republic marked the transition to a more centralised and functional government, from a loose confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
of (at least nominally) independent provinces to a true unitary state
Unitary state
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate...
. Many of its innovations were retained in later times, such as the first official spelling standard of the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
by Siegenbeek (1804). Jews, Lutherans and Roman Catholics were given equal rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
. A Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
was drafted.
The new Republic took its name from the Batavi, a Germanic tribe who had lived in the area of the Netherlands in Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
times and who were then romantically regarded as the ancestors of the Dutch nation.
Again in contrast to France, the new Republic did not experience a reign of terror or become a dictatorship. Changes were imposed from outside after Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power. In 1805 Napoleon installed the shrewd politician Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck , Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic and an investor in the Holland Land Company....
as raadspensionaris ("Grand Pensionary
Grand Pensionary
The Grand Pensionary was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland...
", i.e. president of the republic) to strengthen the executive branch. In 1806 Napoleon forced Schimmelpenninck to resign and declared his brother Louis Bonaparte
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
king
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
of the new Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
.
The only signs of political instability were three coups d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. The first occurred in 1798, when the unitarian democrats were annoyed by the slow pace of democratic reforms. A few months later a second coup put an end to the dictatorship of the unitarians. The National Assembly, which had been convened in 1796, was divided by a struggle among the factions. The third coup occurred in 1801, when a French commander, backed by Napoleon, staged a conservative coup reversing the changes made after the 1798 coup. The Batavian government was more popular among the Dutch population than was the prince of Orange. This was apparent during the British-Russian invasion of 1799.
As a French vassal state, the Batavian Republic was an ally of France in its wars against Great Britain. This led to the loss of most of the Dutch colonial empire and a defeat of the Dutch fleet in the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
(Camperduin) in 1797. The collapse of Dutch trade caused a series of economic crises. Only in the second half of the 19th century would Dutch wealth be restored to its previous level.
Occupation of the Netherlands / French Revolutionary campaign of 1795
The French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
continued from 1794 between France and the First coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
.
The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking Holland in the middle of winter. The Dutch people were rather indifferent to the French call for revolution, as they had already been a republic for two centuries, nevertheless city after city was occupied by the French. The Dutch fleet was captured, and the stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
fled to be replaced by the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
, and, as a vassal state of France, supported the French cause and signed the treaty of Paris, ceding the territories of Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
and Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
to France on May 16.
With the Netherlands falling, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
also decided to leave the coalition, signing the Peace of Basle on April 6, ceding the left bank of the Rhine to France. This freed Prussia to finish the occupation of Poland.
The Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)
The Kingdom of Holland 1806-1810 (Koninkrijk Holland in DutchDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Royaume de Hollande in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
as a puppet kingdom
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, Holland, was now taken for the whole country. Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations - he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's - and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810 after which the Netherlands were annexed
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
by France until 1813 when the French were defeated.
Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815
The battle was to involve 73,000 French soldiers; while the Allied army from Britain, HanoverHouse of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, Brunswick, and the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
and Nassau were about 67,000 men strong. (Of the 26 infantry brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s in Wellington's army, nine were British; of the 12 cavalry brigades, 7 were British. Half the 29 batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
of guns were Hanoverian or Dutch).
The Battle
At Waterloo, Wellington had the reinforced Hougomont farm, anchoring his right flank, and several other farms on his left. Napoleon faced his first major problem even before the battle began. Unsure of the Prussian Army's position since its flight from Ligny two days previously, Napoleon was all too aware of the need to begin the assault on Wellington's positions. The battle commenced at about 10:00 with an attack upon Hougoumont, but the main attack, with the most feared weapon of the era, the French field artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....
, was delayed for hours until the sodden ground from the previous night's downpour had dried out sufficiently to take the weight of the French ordnance. The mud also hindered infantry and cavalry as they trudged into position. When the French artillery eventually opened fire on Wellington's ridge at around 11:35, the expected impact on the Allied troops was diminished by the soft terrain that absorbed the impact of many of the cannon balls.
A crucial element of the French plan of battle was the expectation that Wellington would move his reserve to his right flank in defense of Hougomont. At one point, the French succeeded in breaking into the farm's courtyard before being repulsed, but their attacks on the farm were eventually unsuccessful, and Wellington did not need to use his reserve. Hougomont became a battle within a battle and, throughout that day, its defence continued to draw thousands of valuable French troops, under the command of Jérôme Bonaparte, into a fruitless attack while all but a few of Wellington's reserves remained in his centre.
La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road. It has changed very little since it played a very important part in the battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815...
. The attack centred on the Dutch 1st Brigade commanded by Major-General Willem Frederik van Bylandt
Willem Frederik van Bylandt
Willem Frederik count of Bylandt or Bijlandt was a Dutch lieutenant-general who as a major-general commanded a Belgian-Dutch infantry brigade at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo.-Family Life:Bylandt was the son of major-general Alexander count of Bylandt and Anne, baroness Van...
, which was one of the few units placed on the forward slope of the ridge. After suffering an intense artillery bombardment and exchanging volleys with d'Erlon's leading elements for some nine minutes, van Bylandt's outnumbered soldiers were forced to retreat over the ridge and through the lines of General Thomas Picton
Thomas Picton
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB was a Welsh British Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general...
's division. Picton's division moved forward over the ridgeline to engage d'Erlon. The British and Dutchmen were likewise mauled by volley-fire and close-quarter attacks, but Picton's soldiers stood firm, eventually breaking up the attack by charging the French columns.
Meanwhile, the Prussians began to appear on the field. Napoleon sent his reserve, Lobau's VI corps and 2 cavalry divisions, some 15,000 troops, to hold them back. With this, Napoleon had committed all of his infantry reserves, except the Guard.
Lacking an infantry reserve, as Napoleon was unwilling to commit the Guard at this stage of the battle, all that Ney could do was to try to break Wellington's centre with his cavalry. It struggled up the slope to the fore of Wellington's centre, where squares of Allied infantry awaited them.
The cavalry attacks were repeatedly repelled by the solid Allied infantry squares (four ranks deep with fixed bayonets - vulnerable to artillery or infantry, but deadly to cavalry), the harrying fire of British artillery as the French cavalry recoiled down the slopes to regroup, and the decisive counter-charges of the Allied Light Cavalry regiments and the Dutch Heavy Cavalry Brigade. After numerous fruitless attacks on the Allied ridge, the French cavalry was exhausted.
The Prussians were already engaging the Imperial Army's right flank when La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road. It has changed very little since it played a very important part in the battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815...
fell to French combined arms (infantry, artillery and cavalry), because the defending King's German Legion
King's German Legion
The King's German Legion was a British Army unit of expatriate German personnel, 1803–16. The Legion achieved the distinction of being the only German force to fight without interruption against the French during the Napoleonic Wars....
had run out of ammunition in the early evening. The Prussians had driven Lobau out of Plancenoit, which was on the extreme (Allied) left of the battle field. Therefore Napoleon sent his 10 battalion strong Young Guard to beat the Prussians back. But after very hard fighting the Young Guard was beaten back. Napoleon sent 2 battalions of Old Guard and after ferocious fighting they beat the Prussians out. But the Prussians had not been forced away far enough. Approximately 30,000 Prussians attacked Plancenoit again. The place was defended by 20,000 Frenchmen in and around the village. The Old Guard and other supporting troops were able to hold on for about one hour before a massive Prussian counter-attack kicked them out after some bloody street fighting lasting more than a half hour. The last to flee was the Old Guard who defended the church and cemetery. The French casualties at the end of the day were horrible.
With Wellington's centre exposed by the French taking La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte
La Haye Sainte is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road. It has changed very little since it played a very important part in the battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815...
, Napoleon committed his last reserve, the undefeated Imperial Guard. After marching through a blizzard of shell and shrapnel, the already outnumbered 5 battalions of middle guard defeated the allied first line, including British, Brunswick and Nassau troops.
Meanwhile, to the west, 1,500 British Guards under Maitland
Peregrine Maitland
Sir Peregrine Maitland, KCB, GCB was a British soldier and colonial administrator who played first-class cricket from 1798 to 1808....
were lying down to protect themselves from the French artillery. They rose as one, and devastated the shocked Imperial Guard with volleys of fire at point-blank range. The French chasseurs deployed to answer the fire. After 10 minutes of exchanging musketry the outnumbered French began wavering. This was the sign for a bayonet charge. But then a fresh French chasseur battalion appeared on the scene. The British guard retired with the French in pursuit - though the French in their turn were attacked by fresh British troops of Adam's brigade.
The Imperial Guard fell back in disarray and chaos. A ripple of panic passed through the French lines - "La garde recule. Sauve qui peut!" ("The Guard retreats. Save yourself if you can!"). Wellington, judging that the retreat by the Imperial Guard had unnerved all the French soldiers who saw it, stood up in the stirrups of Copenhagen (his favourite horse), and waved his hat in the air, signalling a general advance. The long-suffering Anglo-Dutch infantry rushed forward from the lines where they had been shelled all day, and threw themselves upon the retreating French.
Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810–1811)
The Anglo-Dutch Java War in 1810-1811 was a war between Great Britain and the Netherlands fought entirely on the Island of Java in colonial IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811....
(1762–1818), fortified the island of Java against possible British attack. In 1810 a strong British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
expedition under Gilbert Elliot, first earl of Minto, governor-general of India, conquered the French islands of Bourbon (Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
) and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and the Dutch East Indian possessions of Ambon
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
and the Molucca Islands. Afterward it moved against Java, captured the port city of Batavia (Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
) in August 1811, and forced the Dutch to surrender at Semarang
Semarang
- Economy :The western part of the city is home to many industrial parks and factories. The port of Semarang is located on the north coast and it is the main shipping port for the province of Central Java. Many small manufacturers are located in Semarang, producing goods such as textiles,...
on September 17, 1811. Java, Palembang
Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...
(in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
), Macassar
Macassar
-Places:*Makassar, a city in Indonesia**Makassar Strait, a strait in Indonesia*Macassar, Western Cape, a town in South Africa*Macassar Village, Western Cape, an informal settlement in South Africa*Macassar, Mozambique, a village in north-eastern Mozambique...
(Makasar, Celebes
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
), and Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
were ceded to the British. Appointed lieutenant governor of Java, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) ended Dutch administrative methods, liberalized the system of land tenure, and extended trade. In 1816, the British returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the Dutch as part of the accord ending the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
The Padri War (1821–1837)
The Padri War also called Minangkabau War is the name given to the skirmishes fought by the DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
troops from 1821 to 1837 in West Sumatra
West Sumatra
West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
In the 1820s, the Dutch were yet to consolidate their possessions in some parts of the Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia) after re-acquiring it from the British. At the same time, a conflict broke out in West Sumatra between the so called adat and padri factions. Although both Minangkabaus and Muslims, they differ in values: the Adats were Minangkabau traditionalists while the Padris were Islamist-reformists. The Padris sought to reform un-Islamic traditions, such as cockfighting and gambling.
Java War (1825–1830)
The Java War was fought in Java between 1825 and 1830. It started as a rebellionRebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
led by the illustrious Prince Diponegoro
Diponegoro
Diponegoro , also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. He played an important role in the Java War...
. The trigger was the Dutch decision to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his own parent's tomb. Among its causes was a sense of betrayal by the Dutch felt by members of the Javanese aristocratic families, as they were no longer able to rent land at high prices. There were also some problems with the succession of the throne in Yogyakarta: Diponegoro was the oldest son, but as his mother was not the queen, he did not have any right to succeed his father.
The troops of Prince Diponegoro were very successful in the beginning, controlling the middle of Java and besieging Yogyakarta. Furthermore the Javenese population was supportive of Prince Diponegoro's cause, whereas the Dutch colonial authorities were initially very indecisive.
However, as the Java war prolonged, Prince Diponegoro had difficulties in maintaining the numbers of his troops.
The Dutch colonial army however was able to fill its ranks with troops from Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
and later on with troops from the Netherlands. The Dutch commander, general De Cock, was able to end the siege of Yogyakarta on September 25, 1825.
Prince Diponegoro started a fierce guerilla war and it was not until 1827 that the Dutch army gained the upper hand.
It is estimated that 200,000 died over the course of the conflict, 8,000 being Dutch. The rebellion finally ended in 1830, after Prince Diponegoro was tricked into entering Dutch custody near Magelang
Magelang
Magelang is one of the largest cities of the 1,130 km² Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. It is also the largest town in the Kedu Plain between Mount Merbabu and Mount Sumbing in Central Java, Indonesia...
, believing he was there for negotiations for a possible cease-fire, and exiled to Manado
Manado
Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...
on the island of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
.
The Belgian revolution (1830–1839)
The Belgian Revolution was a conflict in the United Kingdom of the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
that began with a riot in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in August 1830 and eventually led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium (William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
, king of the Netherlands, would refuse to recognize a Belgian state until 1839, when he had to yield under pressure by the Treaty of London
Treaty of London, 1839
The Treaty of London, also called the First Treaty of London or the Convention of 1839, was a treaty signed on 19 April 1839 between the European great powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was the direct follow-up of the 1831 'Treaty of the XXIV Articles'...
).
The Ten Days Campaign
August 2 to August 12, 1831, the Dutch army, headed by the Dutch princes, invaded Belgium, in the so-called "Ten Days' Campaign", and defeated Belgian forces near HasseltHasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
and Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
. Only the appearance of a French army under Marshal Gérard
Étienne Maurice Gérard
Étienne Maurice Gérard, comte Gérard was a French general and statesman. He served under a succession of French governments including the ancien regime monarchy, the Revolutionary governments, the Restorations, the July Monarchy, the First and Second Republics, and the First Empire , becoming...
caused the Dutch to retreat. The victorious initial campaign gave the Dutch an advantageous position in subsequent negotiations. William stubbornly pursued the war, bungled, ineffectual and expensive as its desultory campaigns were, until 1839.
The Aceh War (1873–1903)
The Dutch colonial government declared warDeclaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
on Aceh on March 26, 1873; the apparent immediate trigger for their invasion was discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United States in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
during early 1873. An expedition under Major General Köhler was sent out in 1874, which was able to occupy most of the coastal areas. It was the intention of the Dutch to attack and take the Sultan's palace, which would also lead to the occupation of the entire country. The Sultan requested and possibly received military aid from Italy and the United Kingdom in Singapore: in any case the Aceh army was rapidly modernized, and Aceh soldiers managed to kill Köhler (a monument of this achievement has been built inside Grand Mosque of Banda Aceh). Köhler made some grave tactical errors and the reputation of the Dutch was severely harmed.
A second expedition led by General Van Swieten managed to capture the kraton (sultan's palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
): the Sultan had however been warned, and had escaped capture. Intermittent guerrilla warfare continued in the region for ten years, with many victims on both sides. Around 1880 the Dutch strategy changed, and rather than continuing the war, they now concentrated on defending areas they already controlled, which were mostly limited to the capital city (modern Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...
), and the harbour town of Ulee Lheue. On October 13, 1880 the colonial government declared the war as over, but continued spending heavily to maintain control over the areas it occupied.
War began again in 1883, when the British ship Nisero was stranded in Aceh, in an area where the Dutch had little influence. A local leader asked for ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
from both the Dutch and the British, and under British pressure the Dutch were forced to attempt to liberate the sailors. After a failed Dutch attempt to rescue the hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s, where the local leader Teuku Umar
Teuku Umar
Teuku Umar was the a member of the Acehnese guerrilla forces during the Aceh War in Aceh, later as a leader, from 1873 until his death. He was killed in a surprise attack in Meulabohis a Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia . He led a guerrilla campaign in Aceh during the Aceh War...
was asked for help but he refused, the Dutch together with the British invaded the territory. The Sultan gave up the hostages, and received a large amount in cash in exchange.
The Dutch Minister of Warfare Weitzel now again declared open war on Aceh, and warfare continued, with little success, as before. The Dutch now also tried to enlist local leaders: the aforementioned Umar was bought with cash, opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, and weapons. Umar received the title panglima prang besar (upper warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
of the government).
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
of Teuku Umar).
In 1892 and 1893, Aceh remained independent, despite the Dutch efforts. Major J.B. van Heutsz, a colonial military leader, then wrote a series of articles on Aceh. He was supported by Dr Snouck Hurgronje of the University of Leiden, then the leading Dutch expert on Islam. Hurgronje managed to get the confidence of many Aceh leaders and gathered valuable intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
for the Dutch government. His works remained an official secret for many years. In Hurgronje's analysis of Acehnese society, he minimised the role of the Sultan and argued that attention should be paid to the hereditary chiefs, the Ulee Balang, who he felt could be trusted as local administrators. However, he argued, Aceh's religious leaders, the ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
, could not be trusted or persuaded to cooperate, and must be destroyed.
This advice was followed: in 1898 Van Heutsz was proclaimed governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Aceh, and with his lieutenant, later Dutch Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...
Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus Colijn was a successful Dutch soldier, businessman and politician.-Early life:He was born in 1869 in the Haarlemmermeer to Antonie Colijn and Anna Verkuil, who had migrated to the Haarlemmermeer polder from the Land of Heusden and Altena for religious reasons...
, would finally conquer most of Aceh. They followed Hurgronje's suggestions, finding cooperative uleebelang that would support them in the countryside. Van Heutsz charged Colonel Van Daalen with breaking remaining resistance. Van Daalen destroyed several villages, killing at least 2,900 Acehnese, among which were 1,150 women and children. Dutch losses numbered just 26, and Van Daalen was replaced by Colonel Swart. By 1904 most of Aceh was under Dutch control, and had an indigenous government that cooperated with the colonial state. Estimated total casualties on the Aceh side range from 50,000 to 100,000 dead, and over a million wounded.
World War I (1914–1918)
During World War I the Netherlands remained neutral. A large army was mobilised to defend this neutrality, but it was not equipped by the new standards of the day, causing a structural equipment inferiority that would last until the middle of the century. After the war most of the defence budget was spent on the fleet to protect the East Indies. This however didn't allow the navy to be expanded, merely to be modernised.World War II (1939–1945)
Whereas it often said of the allies, with much exaggeration, that they during the Battle of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
were more prepared for the previous than the present war, for the Dutch not even that was true. Of all the major participants they were by far the most poorly equipped, not even attaining World War I standards. However, the German invaders in May 1940 adjusted their forces accordingly, and the Dutch army in the Battle of the Netherlands
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
was largely intact when it surrendered on May 14 — after just five days of fighting — to save the major Dutch cities from further bombardment.
The Dutch empire continued the fight, but the Netherlands East Indies (later Indonesia) was invaded by Japan in 1942. In the climactic Battle of the Java Sea
Battle of the Java Sea
The Battle of the Java Sea was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, that sealed the fate of the Netherlands East Indies....
, the larger part of the Dutch navy was destroyed. The Dutch contribution to the war effort was then limited to the merchant fleet (providing the bulk of allied merchant shipping in the Pacific war), several aircraft squadrons, some naval vessels and a motorised infantry brigade raised by enlisting Dutch emigrants.
Cold War
After the Second World War, the Dutch were first involved in a colonial war against the nationalists in IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. As a result the home forces were much neglected and had to rearm by begging for (or simply taking) surplus allied equipment, as the RAM tank
Ram tank
The Tank Cruiser, Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank. Due to the entrance of the United States into the war and the superior design of the American Sherman, it was used exclusively for training purposes and was never used in...
. In 1949 Bernard Montgomery judged the Royal Netherlands Army
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
as simply "unfit for battle".
In the early fifties however, the Dutch fully participated in the NATO build-up of conventional forces. US financial support paying half of the equipment budget made it possible to create a modern defence force. Afraid that the USA might give up Europe immediately after a Soviet attack, the Dutch strongly reinforced the Rhine position by means of the traditional Dutch defensive weapon: water. Preparations were made to completely dam the major Rhine effluent
Effluent
Effluent is an outflowing of water or gas from a natural body of water, or from a human-made structure.Effluent is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as “wastewater - treated or untreated - that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. Generally refers...
rivers, forcing the water into the northern IJssel
IJssel
River IJssel , sometimes called Gelderse IJssel to avoid confusion with its Hollandse IJssel namesake in the west of the Netherlands, is a branch of the Rhine in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel...
branch and thereby creating an impassable mudbarrier between Lake IJssel
IJsselmeer
IJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....
and the Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
. The Dutch navy was also expanded with an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, two cruisers, twelve destroyers and eight submarines.
In the sixties, the Navy again began to produce modern vessels of its own design and expanded slowly, however nuclear propulsion was refused by the USA. The Army replaced most of its motorised units by mechanised ones, introducing thousands of AFV
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s into the Infantry and the Artillery. Conventional firepower was neglected however as it was intended to engage in nuclear war immediately.
In the seventies, it was hoped that the strategy of flexible response
Flexible response
Flexible response was a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to address the Kennedy administration's skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower's New Look and its policy of Massive Retaliation...
would allow for a purely conventional defence. Digital modelling by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek or TNO is a not-for-profit organization in the Netherlands that focuses on applied science. The main office of TNO is located in Delft...
showed that successful conventional defence was feasible and indeed likely, provided that conventional firepower would be improved. Whereas the British, French, Belgians and Canadians reduced their forces in this decade, the Dutch government therefore decided to go along with the German and American policy of force enlargement. As a result in the mid-eighties the Dutch heavy units equalled the British in number and the Dutch Corps sector at the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
was the only one to have its own reserve division; it was conceived as to be able to hold an attack by nine reinforced Soviet divisions, or about 10,000 AFVs including materiel reserves. These facts were obscured somewhat by international press attention to the relaxation of discipline, part of a deliberate policy to better integrate the forces into the larger society. At the same time the Navy had over thirty capital vessels and the Air Force about 200 tactical planes.
When the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
and the Soviet Union itself collapsed, the Dutch reduced their forces considerably and integrated their army with the German; but also created a new airborne brigade, replaced the conscript army by a fully professional one and bought hundreds of light AFVs for use in peace missions. Modernising of naval and air forces, less drastically reduced, continues.
The War Against Indonesian Independence (1945–1949)
After the collapse of Japan at the end of World War II, Indonesian nationalists under SukarnoSukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
recognized the opportunity presenting itself and declared independence from Dutch colonial rule. With the assistance of indigenous army units created by the Japanese, an independent Republic of Indonesia with Sukarno as its president was proclaimed on August 17, 1945.
The Netherlands, only very recently freed from German occupation itself, initially lacked the means to respond, allowing Republican forces to establish de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
control over parts of the huge archipelago, particularly in Java and Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
. On the other, in the less densely populated outer islands, no effective control was established by either party, leading at times to chaotic conditions.
British involvement
In the weeks following the Japanese, the United Kingdom sent in troops to take over from the Japanese and soon found itself in conflict with the fledgling government. British forces brought in a small Dutch military contingent which it termed the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA). The British were worried about the increasing boldness and apparent strength of the Indonesian nationalists, who seemed to be armed with the weapons of defeated Japanese garrisons across the archipelago. A British Brigadier, A.W.S MallabyAubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby
Brigadier Aubertin Walter Sothern Mallaby was a British Indian Army officer killed in a shootout during the Battle of Surabaya in what was then the Netherlands East Indies during the Indonesian National Revolution...
, was killed as he pushed for an ultimatum stipulating that the Indonesians surrender their weapons or face a major assault. In retaliation, 10 November 1945, Surabaya was attacked by British forces, leading to a bloody street-to-street battle.
Lasting three weeks, the battle of Surabaya
Battle of Surabaya
The Battle of Surabaya was fought between pro-independence Indonesian soldiers and militia against British and Dutch troops as a part of the Indonesian National Revolution. The peak of the battle was in November 1945. Despite fierce resistance, British and Indian troops managed to conquer Surabaya,...
was the bloodiest single engagement in the war and demonstrated the determination of the Indonesian nationalist forces. It made the British reluctant to be drawn into another when their resources in southeast Asia were stretched following the Japanese surrender.
Dutch reaction
As a consequence, the Dutch were asked to take back control, and the number of NICA forces soon increased dramatically. Initially the Netherlands negotiated with the Republic and came to an agreement at LinggadjatiLinggadjati Agreement
The Linggadjati Agreement, also known as the Cheribon Agreement, was a political accord concluded on 15 November 1946 by the Dutch administration and the unilaterally declared Republic of Indonesia. Negotiations took place 11–12 November...
, in which the 'United States of Indonesia' were proclaimed, a semi-autonomous federal state keeping as its head the Queen of the Netherlands.
Both sides increasingly accused each other of violating the agreement, and as consequence the hawkish forces soon won out on both sides. A major point of concern for the Dutch side was the fate of members of the Dutch minority in Indonesia, most of whom had been held under deplorable conditions in concentration camps by the Japanese. The Indonesians were accused (and guilty) of not cooperating in liberating these prisoners.
Police actions and guerilla war
The Netherlands government then mounted a large military force to regain what it believed was rightfully its territory. The two major military campaigns that followed were declared as ere 'police actionsPolitionele acties
"Politionele Acties" refers to two major military offensives undertaken by the Netherlands on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia during its struggle for independence in the Indonesian National Revolution...
' to downplay the extent of the operations. There were atrocities and violations of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in many forms by both sides in the conflict. Some 6,000 Dutch and 150,000 Indonesians are estimated to have been killed.
Although the Dutch and their indigenous allies managed to defeat the Republican Army in almost all major engagements and during the second campaign even to arrest Sukarno himself, Indonesian forces continued to wage a major guerrilla war under the leadership of General Sudirman who had escaped the Dutch onslaught.
A few months before the second Dutch offensive, communist elements within the independence movement had staged a failed coup, known as Madiun Affair
Madiun Affair
The Madiun Affair was a communist uprising in 1948 during the Indonesian National Revolution in the town of Madiun. Leftist parties led an uprising against the leaders of the newly-declared Indonesian Republic, but it was quashed by Republican forces....
, with the goal of seizing control of the republican forces.
Recognition of Indonesian independence
The continuing existence of Republican resistance following the second 'Police action', paired with active diplomacy, soon thereafter led to the end of colonial rule. Journalistic opinion in much of the rest of the world, notably in the United States, was against the Dutch. With the US government threatening to withdraw the Marshall PlanMarshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
funds, which were vital to the Dutch rebuild after the Second World War, the Netherlands government was forced back into negotiations, and after the Round Table conference in The Hague, the Dutch finally recognised Indonesian independence on December 27, 1949. An exception was made for Netherlands New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
(currently known as West Irian Jaya), which remained under Dutch control. In 1962, in an attempt to increase pressure on the Dutch, Indonesia launched a campaign of infiltration by commandos coming in by sea and air, which were all beaten back by the Dutch forces, although these were not serious invasions. After large pressure from mainly the United States (again about the Marshall Plan) the Dutch finally gave custody over New Guinea to the UN, which in 1963 gave New Guinea to Indonesia.
In the following decades, a diplomatic row between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands persisted over the officially recognized date of Indonesian independence. Indonesians commemorate the anniversary of Sukarno's proclamation (August 17, 1945) as their official holiday.
The Netherlands, having taken in a number of loyalist exiles who (for various reasons) viewed Sukarno's government as illegitimate, would only recognize the date of the final Dutch capitulation to Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This changed in 2005 when the Dutch Foreign Minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
, Bernard Bot, made several well-publicized goodwill gestures: officially accepting Indonesian independence as beginning on August 17, 1945; expressing regret for suffering caused by the fighting during the war; and attending the 60th anniversary commemoration of Sukarno's independence proclamation, part of the first Dutch delegation to do so.
Korean War
The Korean War, from June 25, 1950, until the s:Korean Armistice Agreement took effect on July 27, 1953, started as a war between North KoreaNorth Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. When it began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the division of Korea
Division of Korea
The division of Korea into North Korea and South Korea stems from the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, ending Japan's 35-year colonial rule of Korea. In a proposal opposed by nearly all Koreans, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to temporarily occupy the country as a trusteeship...
. The war was one of the first major armed clashes of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The principal combatants were North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, and later combat advisors, aircraft pilots, and weapons from the Soviet Union; against South Korea, supported principally by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and many other nations sent troops under the aegis of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(UN), including the Netherlands, who sent over 3,000 troops.
The Netherlands Detachment United Nations was established on October 15, 1950 and out of a total number of 16,225 volunteers, 3,418 men were accepted and sent to Korea. Most Netherlands army troops were assigned to the "Netherlands Battalion", attached to the 38th Infantry Regiment
38th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 38th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment.-First 38th Infantry Regiment:The 38th Infantry was first established on July 28, 1866, as part of the Regular Army, one of six segregated, all-black regiments created following the Civil War...
of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division. Dutch casualties included 116 men killed in action, 3 missing in action and 1 who died as a prisoner of war.
Several vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
were deployed to Korean waters including the destroyers Evertsen, Van Galen and Piet Hein
Piet Hein
Piet Hein is the name of:* Piet Pieterszoon Hein , Dutch naval commander and folk hero* Piet Hein , descendant of the above, Danish poet and scientist...
and the frigates Johan Maurits van Nassau, Dubois
Dubois
-People:Dubois is the name of several people:* Al Dubois, Canadian TV personality and hosted the game show Bumper Stumpers* Alexandra du Bois, American composer...
and van Zijll (not all at the same time). Their duties included patrolling Korean waters, escorting other ships and supporting ground troops with naval artillery
Naval artillery
Naval artillery, or naval riflery, is artillery mounted on a warship for use in naval warfare. Naval artillery has historically been used to engage either other ships, or targets on land; in the latter role it is currently termed naval gunfire fire support...
fire.
Bosnian War
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
was an armed conflict that took place between March 1992 and November 1995. The war involved several ethnically defined factions within Bosnia and Herzegovina, each of which claimed to represent one of the country's constitutive peoples.
The United Nations Protection Force
United Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force ', was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. It existed between the beginning of UN involvement in February 1992, and its restructuring into other forces in March 1995...
(UNPROFOR) was the primary UN peacekeeping force in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
. They served between February 1992 and March 1995. The Dutch Army contribution was known as ‘Dutchbat’. UNPROFOR was replaced by a NATO-led multinational force, IFOR
IFOR
The Implementation Force was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour. Its task was to implement the military Annexes of The General Framework Agreement for...
in December 1995.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force
Royal Netherlands Air Force
The Royal Netherlands Air Force , Dutch Koninklijke Luchtmacht , is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Its ancestor, the Luchtvaartafdeling of the Dutch Army was founded on 1 July 1913, with four pilots...
deployed 12 F-16s as part of Operation Deny Flight
Operation Deny Flight
Operation Deny Flight was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization operation that began on April 12, 1993 as the enforcement of a United Nations no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina...
, NATO's enforcement of the Bosnian no-fly zone between April 1993 and December 1995 http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/denyflight/DenyFlightFactSheet.htm. The Royal Netherlands Air Force also deployed 18 F-16s as part of Operation Deliberate Force, a NATO air campaign conducted to undermine the military capability of Bosnian Serbs who threatened or attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia http://www.afsouth.nato.int/factsheets/DeliberateForceFactSheet.htm.
One of the most controversial chapters of the Bosnian war and the Netherlands's involvement in the conflict was the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
that took place in July 1995, where at least 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered after the town of Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces.
Srebrenica was supposed to be a UN-designated safe area, and Dutch troops under the command of Colonel Thom Karremans
Thom Karremans
Colonel Thomas Jakob Peter Karremans was the commander of Dutchbat troops in Srebrenica at the time of the Srebrenica massacre during Bosnian War. Karremans had been assigned to defend the Bosniak enclave made the U.N...
were tasked to protect Srebrenica's safe haven status. From the outset, both parties to the conflict violated the 'safe area' agreement. Dutchbat troops had arrived in January 1995 and watched the situation deteriorate rapidly in the months after their arrival. The already meagre resources of the civilian population dwindled further and even the UN forces started running dangerously low on food, medicine, fuel and ammunition. Eventually, the UN peacekeepers had so little fuel that they were forced to start patrolling the enclave on foot; Dutchbat soldiers who went out of the area on leave were not allowed to return and their number dropped from 600 to 400 men. With only machinegun-equipped, light armor (Dutch parliament refused to deploy tanks), UNHQ's refusal to commit air support when it was needed, a passive, politically motivated Dutch high command and malfunctioning US supplied anti tank weapons (they would kill the operator on launch), the Dutchbat soldiers present could only wait and watch. Bosnian Serb forces soon took over the town and the massacre soon followed. One Dutch soldier was killed by a grenade lobbed from a column of a retreating Bosniak soldiers; he was the only fatal Dutch casaulty in Srebrenica.
Thom Karremans, the UN, the Netherlands army and the Dutch government soon came under fierce criticism for their handling of the crisis. In 2002, a report by the Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
The Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie is an organisation in the Netherlands which maintains archives and carries out historical studies into the Second World War...
concluded that the "humanitarian motivation and political ambitions drove the Netherlands to undertake an ill-conceived and virtually impossible peace mission" and that Dutchbat was ill-equipped to carry out such a mission. The report led to the resignation of the Second cabinet of Wim Kok
Second cabinet of Wim Kok
The Second cabinet of Wim Kok was the government of the Netherlands headed by Prime Minister Wim Kok during 1998 to 2002.After the elections to the House of Representatives on 6 May 1998, the allocation of the 150 seats was:...
. The report did not satisfy those that believed the Netherlands bore greater responsibility in not preventing the massacre. http://www.un.org/News/ossg/srebrenica.pdf http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=165055&apc_state=henitri2004 http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,327526,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1923884.stm
Kosovo War
The Kosovo conflict was between YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation between March 24 and June 10, 1999 as a result of the breakdown of security and deteriorating human rights situation in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. The Netherlands contributed several ships and aircraft to the NATO force in the region. On March 26, 1999, a Yugoslav MiG-29 was shot down by a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16. At its height in 1999, the Netherlands provided 2,000 troops for KFOR, that entered Kosovo to establish and maintain a secure environment.
War on Terrorism
The ‘War on Terrorism’ is a campaign by the United States, supported by several NATO members and other allies, including the Netherlands, with the stated goal of ending international terrorismTerrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. The ‘War on Terrorism’ (in its current context) is the name given by the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
to the efforts launched in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
on New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, D.C. by al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
Multinational force in Iraq
The Multinational force in IraqMultinational force in Iraq
The Multi-National Force – Iraq was a military command, led by the United States, which was responsible for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Multi-National Force – Iraq replaced the previous force, Combined Joint Task Force 7, on 15 May 2004, and was later itself reorganized into its successor, United...
, also known as the 'Coalition' or 'US-led coalition', refers to the nations whose governments have military personnel in Iraq. The first Balkenende cabinet
First Balkenende cabinet
The first cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende was in office in the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 16 October of the same year. The term of 87 days was the shortest since the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn .Following the 15 May 2002...
supported the USA and the UK in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. An independent contingent of 1,345 troops (including 650 Dutch Marines
Netherlands Marine Corps
The Korps Mariniers is the marine corps and amphibious infantry component of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines are trained to operate anywhere in the world in all environments, under any condition and circumstance, as a rapid reaction force. The Korps Mariniers can be deployed to a given...
, CH-47 Chinook
CH-47 Chinook
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its top speed of 170 knots is faster than contemporary utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s...
helicopters, military police, a logistics team, a commando squad, and a field hospital and Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64 attack helicopters in support) based in Samawah
Samawah
Samawah or As Samawah is a city in Iraq, 280 kilometres southeast of Baghdad. .The city of Samawah is the modern capital of the Al Muthanna Governorate. The city is located midway between Baghdad and Basra, at the northern edge of the governorate...
(Southern Iraq), that started deploying in 2003 after the initial invasion, left Iraq in June 2005. Netherlands lost two soldiers in separate insurgent attacks.
In January 2010, PM Balkenende found himself in dire straits after the publication of the final report of the 10 months inquiry by the Davids Commission.
Willibrord Davids was the chairman of this special committee of inquiry, charged by the Dutch government in 2009 with investigating the decision-making by the Dutch government in 2003 on the political support for the war in Iraq, which was supported then by the Dutch government following intelligence from Britain and the US. This was the first ever independent legal assessment of the invasion decision. The commissioners included the former president of the Hoge Raad (Dutch supreme court), a former judge of the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
, and two legal academics. Balkenende had so far resisted calls for a formal parliamentary inquiry
Parliamentary inquiry
A parliamentary inquiry is a question directed to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly to obtain information on a matter of parliamentary law or the rules of the organization bearing on the business at hand...
into the decision to back the war.
According to the report, the Dutch cabinet had failed to fully inform the Dutch House of Representatives about its support that the military action of the allies against Iraq "had no sound mandate under international law" and that the United Kingdom was instrumental in influencing the Dutch decision to back the war.
It also emerged that the British government had refused to disclose a key document requested by the Dutch panel, a letter to Balkenende from Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in which was asked for the support. This letter was said to be handed over in a "breach of diplomatic protocol" and on the basis that it was for Balkenende's eyes only.
The letter was not sent as a note verbale
Note verbale
Note verbale is a diplomatic communication prepared in the third person and unsigned: less formal than a note but more formal than an aide-mémoire....
as is the normal procedure – instead it was a personal message from Blair to Balkenende, and had to be returned and not stored in the Dutch archives.
The details of the Dutch inquiry's findings and the refusal of the British government to disclose the letter were likely to increase international scrutiny on the Chilcot inquiry.
Balkenende reacted that he had fully informed of the lower house of parliament with regard to support for the invasion and that the repeated refusal by Saddam Hussain to respect UN resolutions and to co-operate with UN weapons inspectors had justified the invasion.
The Partij van de Arbeid (Dutch Labour Party), part of Balkenende's ruling coalition, demanded a new statement from the PM.
Afghanistan
As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Netherlands deployed aircraft as part of the European Participating Air Force (EPAF) in support of ground operations in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as well as Dutch naval frigates to police the waters of the Middle East/Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. Starting in 2006, the Netherlands deployed further troops and helicopters to Afghanistan as part of a new security operation in the south of the country. Dutch ground and air forces totalled almost 2,000 personnel during 2006, taking part in combat operations alongside British and Canadian forces as part of NATO's ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
force in the south. Most of the troops operated in the Uruzgan Province as part of a 3-D strategy (defense, development, diplomacy).
On November 1, 2006 Dutch Major-General Ton Van Loon took over NATO Regional Command South in Afghanistan for a six months period from the Canadians. http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/6_1_1.asp?id=1275 See the Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006
Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006
In January 2006, NATO's focus in southern Afghanistan was to form Provincial Reconstruction Teams with the British leading in Helmand Province and the Netherlands and Canada would lead similar deployments in Orūzgān Province and Kandahar Province respectively. The Americans with 2,200 troops stayed...
and Battle of Chora
Battle of Chora
The Battle of Chora took place in and around the town of Chora , in Afghanistan's Orūzgān Province, during June 15–19, 2007. The fighting was between ISAF and Afghan forces on one side and Taliban forces on the other for the control of the Chora District center, regarded by the Taliban as a...
articles for further details. The Royal Netherlands Army
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
Captain Marco Kroon
Marco Kroon
Captain Marinus Johannes "Marco" Kroon, RMWO is a Dutch soldier serving with the Korps Commandotroepen. Kroon is a Knight of the Military William Order and the first new member of this very exclusive Order in over half a century...
was the first individual recipient of the Military William Order (the highest Dutch award for valour under fire, comparable to the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
and the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
) since 1955 for actions in Uruzgan, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Domestically, the participation was unpopular and controversial leading the government in 2007 to announce their withdrawal set for 2010. In response to requests of the American government to continue to stay in Afghanistan in 2009, the Dutch government was reported to explore new missions in Afghanistan, however, this action led to disagreements within the government culminating in its collapse in February 2010. On August 1, 2010 the Dutch military formally declared its withdrawal from its four-year mission in Afghanistan; all 1,950 soldiers are expected to be back in the Netherlands by September.
England
Arguably, England was the most important enemy of the Netherlands. Both countries had and have a strong maritime tradition, and they fought a series of epic wars for control over the seas. In these wars, both countries had their worst naval defeats ever, (English: Raid on the MedwayRaid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
, The Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
: Battle of Lowestoft
Battle of Lowestoft
The naval Battle of Lowestoft took place on 13 June 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size commanded by James Stuart, Duke of York forty...
). At the end the Dutch naval onslaught proved to be too strong for the English. Dutch naval dominance, together with the Great fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
and the spread of the black death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, eventually led to the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
in which the English monarch was replaced by the Dutchman William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
who had landed together with a Dutch army on English soil; it was to be the last successful invasion
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
of England. In the end however, this seemingly ultimate victory would prove to mark the downfall of Dutch naval power. William III made London the new major trading city of the world, and he placed the combined Anglo-Dutch fleet under English command (even though the Dutch fleet was numerically almost equal and better trained). This was to be the beginning of English worldwide naval dominance.
Despite all this rivalry, it should be remembered that England and the Netherlands had most of their conflicts in a rather limited period of time, between 1652 and 1688, and that for most of their history they were allies against Spain and France.
France
France represented on land what England represented at sea. Since the establishment of the Dutch state there has been a constant military threat posed by France that lasted till the battle of WaterlooBattle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. Traditionally however there had never been much conflict between France and the Northern Netherlands. At first France and The Republic were allies against Spain. This changed in 1668 and between 1672 and 1713 there was a period of very intense warfare. In the early 18th century both nations were financially exhausted, to the benefit of England. They were careful not to repeat that mistake and, apart from the events in 1747, kept their peace. Nevertheless before the French revolution, the Netherlands were a source of much irritation to the Kings of France. For example: The Netherlands were a republic at that time, something which was unheard of in the 16th and 17th century, when all but a few countries in the entire world were ruled by nobility. Louis XIV had a personal antipathy against the egalitarian Dutch; on the other hand both peoples felt a mutual admiration: the Dutch for French culture; the French for Dutch trade and industry. When revolutionary French troops smashed the old Dutch regime in 1794, many Dutch welcomed this as a liberation from outdated institutions. Imperial France briefly annexed the Netherlands for a period of nearly three years during the Napoleontic wars, only to find themselves facing Dutch troops at the battle of Waterloo.
Germany
Before 1940, Germany never posed a real problem for the Netherlands. The country as such was only founded in 1871; before the unification the area of what is now Germany consisted of many little kingdoms, duchies and princedoms, most of them not capable of inflicting serious damage to the Dutch state. The Netherlands had close diplomatic ties to the most powerful German state: PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. In fact the army of 18th century Prussia was modeled after that of the Dutch republic. Though the Dutch stayed neutral during World War I, they leaned somewhat to the German side (also due to the fact that The Netherlands was caught in the British blockade of Germany
Blockade of Germany
The Blockade of Germany, or the Blockade of Europe, occurred from 1914-1919 and was a prolonged naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers during and after World War I in an effort to restrict the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to the Central Powers, which included Germany,...
). This was shown when after the war had ended, the Dutch granted asylum to Wilhelm II, the German emperor, despite appeals to extradite him by the Allies. However it were the Allies who had plans to invade the Netherlands. That was not only because of the Dutch trade with Germany during that period of war (they also traded with the Allies), but another important factor was that the Allies saw a way to get behind the German lines and end the war more quickly. But when the Netherlands fell to the Blitzkrieg of 1940 this all changed. The Netherlands, unable to offer heavy resistance except in some isolated spots, were quickly occupied by the numerically and technically superior German army for a period of five years.
There are also other reasons why the Dutch wanted to stay neutral against Germany. Not only was there intensive trade between the two countries for over centuries even before the actual country of Germany began to exist in 1871, the Dutch also had a long history with Germany. In fact, the Dutch William of Orange-Nassau was born in Germany, and the Dutch royal family always had good connections with the elite German families. An example of this can be seen in the husbands of Queen Wilhelmina's husband Prince Hendrik, Queen Juliana's Prince Bernhard and Queen Beatrix's Prince Claus were all Germans.
Spain
The Dutch gained their independence from Philip IIPhilip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, the Habsburg ruler who was Lord of the Netherlands but foremost King of Spain, so for a period of 80 years Spain was the main opponent. The Dutch made most of their colonial conquest against the Portuguese though, Portugal also being under Spanish rule. The war resulted in a Dutch victory — though also in a division of the Low Countries. The Netherlands were officially recognised and as the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
was dangerously weakened, Dutch policy from 1648 was to prevent its total collapse by French and British attacks.