Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Netherlands against the Spanish king. Spain was initially successful in suppressing the rebellion. In 1572 however the rebels conquered Brielle, and the rebellion resurged. The northern provinces became first de facto, and in 1648 officially, independent as the United Provinces of the Netherlands or Dutch Republic, which rapidly grew to become a world power through its merchant shipping and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth.

The Southern Netherlands (situated in modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg and Northern France) initially remained under Spanish rule. The continuous repression by the Spanish in the south caused many of its financial, intellectual and cultural elite to flee north, contributing in no small measure to the success of the Dutch Republic. In 1648 large areas were lost to France.

Background

During the fourteenth and fifteenth century, the Netherlands had been united in a personal union under the Duke of Burgundy. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, born in Ghent and raised in the Netherlands, inherited the Burgundian lands and the Spanish kingdom, which had become a worldwide empire with the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1556 Charles passed on his throne to his son Philip II of Spain. Philip, being raised in Spain, had no connection with the Netherlands. During Philip's reign, several circumstances caused growing dissatisfaction and unrest in the Netherlands, leading to unrest and, ultimately, to the war of succession.

Taxation

The Netherlands were an entrepreneurial and very wealthy region in the Habsburg empire. Under Charles V, the Habsburg empire became a worldwide empire. This large empire was almost continuously at war with the neighbours to its European heartlands: against France in the Italian Wars, against the Turks in the Mediterranean Sea, against Protestantism in Germany. The Netherlands paid heavy taxes to fund these wars, but perceived them as unnecessary and sometimes outright harmful, because they were directed against some of their most important trading partners. Part of the shifting balance of power in the late middle ages, many of the Netherlandic nobles by now were not traditional aristocrats, but instead stemmed from families that had risen over the last centuries through trade and finance. Their new found power still based on this background, they were alienated to the Spanish kings by their wars and taxes, which put their fortunes at risk.

Protestantism

During the sixteenth century Protestantism rapidly gained ground in northern Europe. The Netherlands were not predominantly Protestant in the 1560s, but Protestants constituted a significant minority and were tolerated by local authorities. In a society dependent on trade, freedom and tolerance were considered essential. Charles V and Philip II however felt it was their duty to fight Protestantism, which they considered heresy. The harsh measures lead to increasing grievances in the Netherlands, where the local governments had embarked on a course of peaceful coexistence. In the second half of the century, the situation escalated. Philip sent troops and the harsh Spanish repression turned the initial revolt into a fight for complete independence.

The Dutch compared their, humble, Calvinist values favorably against the luxurious habits of Spain’s Catholic nobility. The Calvinist movement emphasized Christian virtues of modesty, cleanliness, frugality and hard work. Symbolic stories from the New Testament, featuring fishermen, shipbuilders and other simple occupations resonated among the Dutch. The Protestant, Calvinist elements of the rebellion represented a moral challenge to the Spanish Empire.

Centralisation

Brussels had become a de facto capital of the 17 Netherlands in the fifteenth century. However, dating back to the middle ages the districts of the Netherlands, represented by its nobility and the wealthy merchant cities still had a large measure of autonomy. Charles V and Philip II set out to improve the management of the empire by increasing the authority of the central government in matters like law and taxes. The nobility and merchants alike were very suspicious of this. An example of this is the takeover of power in the city of Utrecht in 1528 where Charles V supplanted the council of guild masters governing the city by a regent, and commanded the construction of the heavily armed castle of Vredenburg to control the citizens.

Initial stages (1568-1572)

Iconoclasm and repression

On Assumption of the Virgin day in 1566 a small incident outside the Antwerp cathedral started a massive iconoclastic movement by Calvinists, who stormed the churches to destroy statues and images of Catholic saints. According to the Calvinists these statues represented worship of false idols, which they (in turn) felt was heretical. Philip had lost control in the troublesome Netherlands and saw no other option than to send an army. In 1567 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, marched into Brussels at the head of 10,000 troops.

Alba took harsh measures, and established a special court (Raad van Beroerten or council of upheavals) to judge anyone who opposed the king. No one, not even high nobility was safe from this court. The most prominent persons judged by the council were the counts of Egmont and Horne, who were arrested for high treason, condended, and a year later decapitated on the Grand Place in Brussels. Egmont and Horne had been catholic nobles who were loyal to the King of Spain until their death, and the reason for their execution was that Alba considered they had been too tolerant towards Protestantism. Their death provoked outrage throughout the Netherlands. The events earned Alba the nickname "the Iron Duke". More than one thousand people were executed in the following months. The large number of executions lead the court to be nicknamed the Blood Court in the Netherlands, and added to the unrest.

William of Orange

William I of Orange was stadtholder of the provinces Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, and Margrave of Antwerp. To prevent arrest, as happened to Egmont and Horne, he fled from the Burgundian Empire to the lands ruled by his wife's father - the Elector Count of Saxony. All his lands and titles in the Netherlands were forfeited by the Spanish king and he was branded an outlaw.

In 1568 William returned to try and drive the highly unpopular Duke of Alba from Brussels. He did not see this as an act of treason against the king (Philip II), but as an option for appeasement with the Spanish king. Williams actions, disposing of ill-informed councillors like the duke of Alba, would allow the king could to take up his legal place once more. This view is reflected in today's Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, in which the last lines of the first stanza read: den koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd (I have always honoured the king of Spain). The Battle of Rheindalen on 23 april 1568 near Roermond is often seen as the unofficial start of the Eighty Years' War. The Battle of Heiligerlee, commonly regarded as the beginning of the war, was fought on 23 May 1568.

Soon after this battle, many cities were taken over by the rebel movement. However, the initial successes were in large part due to the drain on the garrisons caused by the simultaneous war that Spain was fighting against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea. After their victory in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the Spanish were able to send more troops to the Netherlands and suppress the rebellion. William of Orange stayed at large and was from then on seen as the leader of the rebellion.

Resurgence (1572–1585)

By 1572 the Spanish had mostly suppressed the rebellion throughout the Netherlands. Bad strategics of whatever rebel armies were raised, and lack of stamina among the general public after the initial outburst of anger had been satisfied, contributed to this. However, Alba's proposal to introduce a new tax, the "tenth penny", aroused great protest from both Catholics and Protestants, and support for the rebels grew once more. With the capture of Brielle by the Sea Beggars on April 1, 1572, the rebels had gained a foothold, and more importantly a token victory in the north. This was a sign for protestants all over the Low Countries to rebel once more.

Most of the important cities in the county Holland declared loyalty to the rebels. A notable exception was Amsterdam, which remained a loyal catholic city until 1578. William of Orange was put at the head of the revolt. The influence of the rebels rapidly growing in the northern provinces brought the war into a second and more decisive phase.

Pacification of Ghent

Being unable to deal with the rebellion, Alba was replaced in 1573 by Luis de Requesens and a new policy of moderation was tried. Spain however had to declare bankruptcy in 1575. De Requesens had not managed to broker a policy acceptable to both the Spanish king and the Netherlands and died in early 1576. The inability to pay the Spanish soldiers endured, and ultimaltely they mutinied and in November 1576 sacked Antwerp at the cost of some 8000 lives. This so-called "Spanish Fury" confirmed the rebels in the 17 provinces in their determination to take their fate in their own hands.

The Netherlands negotiated an internal treaty the Pacification of Ghent, which stipulated a retreat of the Spanish army and religious tolerance from both sides. The Calvinists however failed to respect this and Spain was able to send a new army under Alexander Farnese.

Unions of Atrecht and Utrecht

On January 6 1579, prompted by the new Spanish governor Alexander Farnese (Duke of Parma) and upset by aggressive Calvinism of the Northern States, the Southern States (today mostly in France and part of Wallonia) signed the Union of Atrecht (Arras), expressing their loyalty to the Spanish king. This meant the end of the cooperation aimed at a level of indepence among the 17 Netherlands, agreed upon only 3 years previously in the pacification of Ghent.

In responseto the union of Atrecht, William united the northern states of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and the province of Groningen in the Union of Utrecht on January 23, 1579. Southern cities like Bruges, Ghent, Brussels and Antwerp joined the Union. Effectively the 17 Netherlands were now divided in a group of provincesloyal to the Spanish king, and another rebel group.

Oath of Abjuration

In the late 16th century it was not conceivable that a country could be governed by anyone but high nobility, preferably a king, the States General tried to find a suitable replacement for Philip. The protestant Queen of England, Elizabeth I seemed the obvious choice to be protector of the Netherlands. Elizabeth, however did not want to provoke Philip II any more then necessary and declined the offer. Subsequently the States offered the younger brother of the French king; the Duke of Anjou as sovereign ruler. Anjou accepted on the condition that the Netherlands officially denounced any claim of Philip. In 1581 the Oath of Abjuration was issued, in which the Netherlands proclaimed that the king of Spain had not upheld his responsibilities to the Netherlands population and would therefore no longer be accepted as rightful king. Anjou was, however, deeply distrusted by the population and became increasingly annoyed by the little influence the States were willing to allow him. After some effort to increase his power by military action against the stubborn cities, Anjou left the Netherlands in 1583. Elizabeth was now offered the sovereignty of the Netherlands but she declined. All options for foreign royalty being depleted the civilian body States General eventually decided to rule as a republican body instead.

The fall of Antwerp

Immediately after the oath of abjuration, the Spanish sent an army to attempt to recapture the United Provinces. Over the following years Parma reconquered the major part of Flanders and Brabant, as well as large parts of the northeastern provinces. The Roman Catholic religion was restored in much of this area. The important city of Antwerp fell into his hands, which caused most of its population to flee to the north (see also Siege of Antwerp). It has been calculated that Antwerp had about 100.000 inhabitants in 1570, but only about 40.000 in 1590.

On July 10 1584, William I was assassinated by a supporter of Philip II. He would be succeeded as leader of the rebellion by his son Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange.

The Netherlands were split into an independent northern part, while the southern part remained under Spanish control. Due to the almost uninterrupted rule of the Calvinist dominated seperatists, the northern provinces were thoroughly protestantized in the next decades. The south stayed under Catholic Spanish rule and remains Catholic to this day. The Spanish retained a large military presence in the south, where it could also be used against the French.

De facto independence of the north (1585–1609)

With the war going against them, the United Provinces sought help from France and England. The Dutch even offered them the monarchy of the Netherlands, which both declined.

England had unofficially been supporting the Dutch for years, and now decided to intervene directly. In 1585, under the Treaty of Nonsuch, Elizabeth I sent the Earl of Leicester to take the rule as lord-regent, with 5,000 to 6,000 troops of which about 1,000 cavalry. The earl of Leicester proved not to be a successful commander. Neither did he understand the sensitive trade arrangements between the Dutch regents and the Spanish. Within a year after arrival his credits with the population had been spent. Leicester returned to England, when the States-General, being unable to find any other suitable regent, appointed Maurice of Orange (William's son) Captain General of the Dutch army in 1587, at the tender age of 20. This desperate appointment soon proved to be salvation of the pressured republic.

Under Maurice's leadership, the current borders of the present day Netherlands were largely defined by the campaigns of the United Provinces. Besides Maurices' evident tactical talent, the Dutch successes (nicknamed the ten years of glory) were also due to the financial burden of Spain incurred in the replacement of ships lost in the disastrous sailing of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the further need to refit its navy to recover control of the sea after the English counter attack. In 1595, when Henri IV of France declared war against Spain, the Spanish government declared bankruptcy again. However, by regaining control of the sea, Spain was able to greatly increase the supply of gold and silver from America, which allowed it to increase military pressure on England and France.

Under financial and military pressure, in 1598 Philip ceded the Netherlands to Archduke Albert of Austria and his wife Isabella, following the conclusion of the Treaty of Vervins with France. By that time Maurice had conquered the important fortifications of Bergen op Zoom (1588), Breda (1590), Zutphen, Deventer, Delfzijl and Nijmegen (1591), Steenwijk, Coevorden (1592) Geertruidenberg (1593) Grol, Enschede, Ootmarsum and Oldenzaal (1597). Note that this campaign was played out in the border areas of the current Netherlands, while the heartland of Holland did not see any warfare, allowing it to rush ahead into its Golden age.

By now it had become clear that Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands was heavy. The power over Zeeland, meant that the northern Netherlands controlled and closed the estuary of the Scheldt, which was the entry to the sea for the important port of Antwerp. The port of Amsterdam benefited greatly from the blockade of the port of Antwerp, therefore the merchants in the north began to question the desirability of reconquering Antwerp. A final campaign to control the Southern provinces coast region was launched against Maurices advice in 1600. Although dressed as a liberation of the Southern Netherlands the campaign was mainly aimed at eliminating the threat to Dutch trade posed by the Spanish supported Dunkirker Raiders. The Spanish strengthened their positions along the coast, leading to the battle of Nieuwpoort. Although the States-General army was victorious, Maurice stopped the ill-conceived march on Dunkirk and returned to the Northern Provinces. Maurice never forgave the regents, led by van Oldenbarneveld, that he was sent on this mission. By now the separation of the Netherlands had become almost inevitable.

Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621)

1609 saw the start of a ceasefire, afterwards called the Twelve Years' Truce, between the United Provinces and the Spanish controlled southern states, mediated by France and England at The Hague. It was during this ceasefire the Dutch made great efforts to build their navy, which was later to have a crucial bearing on the course of the war.

During the Truce, two factions emerged in the Dutch camp, along political and religious lines. On one side the Arminianists, prominent supporters listing Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Hugo Grotius. They tended to be well-to-do merchants who accepted a less strict interpretation of the bible than the classical Calvinism. They were opposed by the more radical Gomarists, who supported the ever more popular prince Maurice. In 1617 the conflict escalated when the republicans pushed the "Sharp Resolution", allowing the cities to take measures against the Gomarists. Prince Maurice accused Van Oldenbarnevelt of treason, had him arrested and in 1619 executed. Hugo Grotius fled the country after escaping from imprisonement in Castle Loevestein. The slumbering frictions between the new merchant-regent class and the more traditional military nobility had come to a violent eruption.

Final stages (1621–1648)

Dutch successes

In 1622, a Spanish attack on the important fortress town of Bergen op Zoom was repelled. In 1625 Maurice died while the Spanish laid siege to the city of Breda. His half-brother Frederick Henry took command of the army. The Spanish commander Ambrosio Spinola succeeded in conquering the city of Breda (an episode immortalized by the Spanish painter Velázquez in his famous painting "Las Lanzas"). After that victory the tide started to change in favour of the Dutch Republic. Frederick Henry conquered 's-Hertogenbosch, in 1629. This town, largest in the northern part of Brabant, had been considered to be inexpugnable. Its loss was a serious blow to the Spanish.

In 1632 Frederick Henry captured Venlo, Roermond and Maastricht during his famous "March along the Meuse". Attempts in the next years to attack Antwerp and Brussels failed, however. The Dutch were disappointed by the lack of support they received from the Flemish population. By now a new generation had been raised in Flanders and Brabant, that had been thoroughly reconverted to Roman Catholicism and now distrusted the Calvinist Dutch even more than they loathed the Spanish occupants.

Colonial theatre

As the European countries were starting to build their empires, the war between the countries extended to colonies as well. Fights for land were fought as far away as Macao, East Indies, Ceylon, Formosa (Taiwan), the Philippines, Brazil, and others. The main of these conflicts would become known as the Dutch-Portuguese War. In the Western colonies, Dutch allowed privateering by their captains in the Caribbean to drain the Spanish coffers, and fill their own. The most successful raid was the capture of the larger part of the Spanish treasure fleet by Piet Hein in 1628.

Stalemate

It became increasingly clear to all parties in the conflict that the Spanish would never succeed in restoring their rule to the territories north of the Meuse-Rhine delta and that the Dutch Republic did not have the strength to conquer the South.

In 1639 Spain sent an armada bound for Flanders, carrying 20,000 troops to assist in a last large scale attempt to defeat the northern "rebels". The armada was decisively defeated by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp in the Battle of the Downs. This victory had historic consequences far beyond the Eighty Years' War as it marked the end of Spain as the dominant sea power.

Peace

On January 30 1648, the war ended with the Treaty of Münster between Spain and the Netherlands. This treaty was part of the European scale Peace of Westphalia that also ended the Thirty Years' War. The Dutch Republic is recognized as an independent state and retains control over the territories that were conquered in the later stages of the war.

The new republic consists of seven provinces: Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen. Each province is governed by its local Provincial States and by a stadtholder. In theory, each stadtholder was elected and subordinate to the States-General. However, the princes of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William I of Orange, became de facto hereditary stadtholders in Holland and Zeeland. In practice they usually became stadtholder of the other provinces as well. A constant power struggle, which already had shown its precursor during the Twelve year's Truce, emerged between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Regent's supporters.

The border states, parts of Flanders, Brabant and Limbourg that were conquered by the Dutch in the final stages of the war, were to be federally governed by the States-General. The so called Generality Lands (Generaliteitslanden), which consisted of Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen (present Zeeuws-Vlaanderen) and Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht).

Aftermath

Nature of the war

The Eighty Years' War began with a series of classical battles fought by regular soldiers and mercenaries. While successes for both parties were limited, costs were high. As the revolt and its suppression centered largely around issues of religious freedom and taxation, the conflict necessarily involved not only soldiers but civilians at all levels of society. This may be one reason as to the resolve and subsequent successes of the Dutch rebels in defending cities. Given the involvement of all sectors of Dutch society in the conflict, a more-or-less organized, irregular army emerged alongside the regular forces. Among these were the geuzen (from the French word "gueux" meaning "beggars"), who waged a guerrilla war against Spanish interests. Especially at sea, geuzen troops were effective agents of the Dutch cause. Many of the characteristics of this war were precursors of the modern concept of "total war", most notably the fact that Dutch civilians were considered to be important targets. In the later stages Maurice raised a professional standing army that was even paid when no hostilities were taking place, a radical innovation in that time. This ensured him of loyal soldiers, who were trained in cooperating among each other and were intimately familiar with the doctrines of their commanders.

Effect on the Low Countries

In the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, Charles V established the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands as an entity separate from France, Burgundy or the Holy Roman Empire. The Netherlands at this point were among the wealthiest regions in Europe, and an important center of trade, finance and art. The Eighty Years' War introduced a sharp breach in the region, with the Dutch Republic (the present-day Netherlands) growing into a world power (see Dutch Golden Age), and the Southern Netherlands (more or less present-day Belgium) losing all economic and cultural significance for centuries to come.

Politically a unique situation had emerged in the Netherlands where a republican body (the States General) ruled, but where a hereditary noble function of Stadtholder was occupied by the house of Orange-Nassau. This division of power prevented large scale fighting between nobility and civilians as happened in the English Civil War. The frictions between the civil and noble fractions, that already started in the twelve years' truce, were numerous and would finally lead to an outburst with the French supported Batavian Republic. In an dramatic resurgance of nobility after the Napoleonic era the republic would be abandoned in favor of the foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Thus the oldest republic of Europe was reverted into the monarchy, which it still is today.

Effect on the Spanish Empire

The conquest of America made Spain into the leading European power of the 16th century. This brought them in continuous conflict with France and the emerging power England. In addition, the deeply religious monarchs Charles V and Philip II saw a role for themselves as protectors of the catholic faith against Islam in the Mediterranean and against Protestantism in northern Europe. This meant the Spanish Empire was almost continuously at war. Of all these conflicts, the Eighty Years' War was the most prolonged and had a major effect on the Spanish finances and the morale of the Spanish people, who saw taxes increase and soldiers not returning, with little successes to balance the scales. The Spanish government had to declare several bankruptcies. The Spanish population increasingly questioned the necessity of the war in the Netherlands and even the necessity of the Empire in general. The loss of Portugal in 1640 and the peace of Westphalia in 1648, ending the war were the first signs that the role of the Spanish Empire in Europe was declining.

Political implications in Europe

During the Middle Ages monarchy was established as a divine right of kings, in other words royalty was granted to the monarch by God Himself. The Dutch revolt against their lawful king, most obviously illustrated in the oath of abjuration (1581), implied that a king could be disposed of by the population if he did not meet his responsibilities. Eventually this led to the Dutch Republic. The acceptance of this by the European powers in 1648 spread across Europe fueling resistance against the divine power of Kings.

References

Israel, Jonathan I. (1998), The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806, Clarendon Press, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-820734-4.

Eighty Years' War | Rebellions in Europe | Protestantism | History of the Netherlands

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