History Revision

Important Dates (Chronology):

Key Words:
Provincial States: The daily government of a province in the Republic led by regenten
States General: The government of the republic, with representatives from the Provincial
States (today: Eerste en Tweede Kamer)
Regenten: Rich men who had a lot of influence in the daily politics of the Republic
Grand Pensionary: The political advisor of the States General
Twelve Years' Truce: A truce of twelve years in which the Dutch Republic and Spain tried
to negotiate peace
Embargo: Measures taken by a government to restrict the trade of another country
Peace of Münster: A treaty signed by the Dutch Republic and Spain, ending the Eighty
Years' War
Sovereign State: a state with borders, where a government makes laws and where people
abide by those laws
Baltic Trade: the trade of luxury products in exchange for grain and wood between the
Dutch Republic and countries around the Baltic Sea
Commercial Centre: a place where goods from all over the world were stored and
eventually sold throughout Europe
VOC: Dutch East India Company; trading company which sailed to the East-Indies and
traded mainly in spices and silk
Monopoly: Being the only company that has the right to trade in a certain product
Capitalism: an economic system in which trade and industry is controlled by private owners
who want to make as much profit as possible
Shares: represent parts of a company; you can buy and sell them for a profit, if the company
is successful
Multinational: a company that is represented in many locations around the world
Governor-General: a person who looked after the large trading network of the VOC in the
East Indies
WIC: Dutch West India Company; trading company which sailed to the West-Indies and
mainly traded in staves
Privateering: the capturing and destroying of enemy ships
Absolutism: a system in which a king has absolute power
Divine right of kings: claim by an absolute monarch that he is made king to carry out God's
will
Mercantilism: an economic system in which a country forces its colonies to trade only with
the mother country
Import: bring products into the country to be sold
Export: Send products to other countries to be sold
Orangists: regenten who wanted the Republic to reform into a strict Calvinist monarchy with
an Orange as a king
Anti-Orangists: regenten who wanted a strong Republic led by the States General
First Stadtholderless Period: time period from 1650 to 1672 in which the Republic did not
have a stadtholder
Disaster year: 1672 in this year the Republic was attacked from three sides at the same time
Science: Knowledge about the natural world based on facts learned through observation and
experiments:
Revolution: a dramatic change in the way people live
Scientific Revolution: a period of big changes in different fields of science; new scientific
ideas gradually replaced classical-religious ideas
Empirical Thinking: research based on observing and experimenting
Rationalism: research based on reasoning and logic
Heliocentrism: current worldview in which the earth revolves around the sun. (Helios=sun)
Geocentrism: Biblical worldview in which men believe the Earth is the centre of the
universe. (geo=earth)

Summary:

6.1
The Dutch Republic was made up of 7 provinces. Each province ruled itself by the Provincial
States (P.S.), a meeting of regenten from that province. For larger issues that dealt with
matters concerning the whole Republic, the PS sent representatives to the States General in
The Hague. Although officially no decisions in the States General could be made if the
Provincial States did not agree unanimously, in reality Holland had the most power because it
was the richest province. The Provincial States representative from Holland became the
leader of the States General: the Grand Pensionary. This person was Johan Van
Oldenbarnevelt. He was the most powerful man in the Republic. Another important function
was the Stadtholder: he was the military leader of the Republic. This was Maurice of Orange.
The Republic was still at war with Spain. Spain wanted peace because the war was very
expensive. In 1609 a Twelve Years' Truce was signed. This led to a conflict between Van
Oldenbarnevelt and Maurice. Oldenbarnevelt wanted to make peace with Spain while
Maurice wanted to keep fighting. Maurice convinced the States General to arrest Van
Oldenbarnevelt for treason and had him executed in 1619. After the truce had ended, the war
continued under the direction of Maurice. Spain used embargoes to restrict Dutch trade. The
Republic established the WIC to attack Spanish ships. Spain was fighting many wars at the
same time. When Spain went bankrupt, it started new peace negotiations, resulting in the
Peace of Münster in 1648. The Eighty Years' War was over. Spain recognized the Dutch
Republic as a sovereign state. The Republic gained some parts of the Spanish Netherlands.

6.2
When the Spanish conquered Antwerp in 1585 many merchants and protestants fled to
Amsterdam. This is how Amsterdam grew into an important trading town. From Amsterdam
many ships sailed north to trade around the Baltic Sea. This is the Baltic Trade. Products
were stored in Amsterdam warehouses, waiting to be sold later with a good profit. When the
Dutch started to sail to the East Indies, Amsterdam became a real commercial center. In 1602
the States General joined many small companies together into the big VOC. To finance the
building of new ships the VOC issued shares that people could buy. The States General
granted the VOC a monopoly on trade with the East Indies. The VOC was managed by the
Heeren XVII. It has many privileges. For instance: The VOC was allowed to: wage war, take
and execute prisoners, invade areas in the East Indies to establish colonies, set up trading
posts. The VOC became the first multinational. A governor general ruled the VOC in the East
Indies. The VOC took over areas and made them colonies (like Batavia and Sumatra). This
way, local merchants were cut out and everybody needed to buy spices directly from the
VOC so the VOC got more profit. Jan Pieterszoon Coen conquered the Banda Islands
because this was the only place where mace and nutmeg grew. He killed many inhabitants,
but the VOC got a monopoly on these spices. When the Twelve Years' Truce ended in 1621
the States General established the WIC to trade with South America and the Caribbean, but
also to destroy Spanish ships. This is called privateering. The WIC traded in gold, sugar and
slaves. Slaves were taken from Africa and sold at auctions, mostly to work on plantations in
North or South America.

6.3
When a king has absolute power, we call this absolutism. Louis XIV of France was an
absolute monarch. He believed in the divine right of kings. He turned France into a
centralised state which was governed from his palace in Versailles. Colbert introduced a new
economic system called mercantilism to improve the finances of France. To pay for all the
wars France needed to get more silver and gold. France needed to have a favorable balance of
trade. This meant that it needed to export more than to import. Colonies played an important
part in mercantilism. Colonies were forced to sell their raw materials from the motherland.
Colonies were forced to buy the products that were made from these raw materials from the
motherland. Colonies were not allowed to trade amongst each other. In the Netherlands, there
was a political struggle between the Orangists (who wanted to turn the Netherlands into a
monarchy with an Orange on the throne) and Anti- Orangists (who wanted a republic, run by
the States-General). The States General decided to do without a stadtholder until William III
was old enough. This is the First Stadtholderless Period (1650-1672). 1672 was a Disaster
Year. The Republic was attacked from three sides. At sea the Republic was strong. Michiel de
Ruyter defeated the English fleet. But the land army was not good. The French army invaded
and controlled parts of the Netherlands. People called for a stadtholder who would stop the
French. The Orangists appointed William III as stadtholder. Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt
and his brother, both Anti-Orangists, were murdered. William III defeated the French in 1779,
but the Republic was no longer such a powerful country.

6.4
From the 16th century onwards, more universities emerged in big cities. William of Orange
founded the University of Leiden in 1575 to enable Dutch students (who could not go to a
university in the Spanish Netherlands) to study. The university would also supply
well-educated men for the government. In the Middle Ages, most scholars believed that
everything was the work of God. During the Renaissance humanists questioned this. They
used rationalism to do research, which is based on reasoning and logic, without experiments.
In the 17th century a new way of doing research developed which we call the Scientific
Method. This method is about observing and experimenting (=empirical thinking). The
results were used to establish scientific laws. This new way of doing research led to the
Scientific Revolution. In 1662 a group of scientists in England formed the Royal Society, a
club where scientists talked about their ideas, performed experiments and shared their results.