Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic in 1650, being a formidable commercial, financial, and naval power at the time, faced many imperialistic challenges which led to the end of its golden age by the year 1713. The security of the Dutch Republic was consistently being challenged with wars because of weak military capabilities among the merchants, and this was viewed by the Dutch as a sign of an impending set of military conflicts and to foreign nations as a way to win over the republic. The wealthiest of the provinces, being Holland at the time, led to rivalries and jealous unequal provinces that all viewed Holland as a threat and also fought to get ahead of each other. The prosperity of the Dutch Republic was starting to crumble as trade was being damaged which led to the destruction of the empire, and the Dutch viewed this as a reason for why there was great competition between the Republic and the English.

Because of all the wars that the Dutch Republic was involved in, they were not capable to deal with the wars because Holland was the only province with some money and could not win against larger nations such as England who could became a threat. In battle and in naval warfare, the Dutch were significantly outgunned. The estimated losses of Dutch ships seized by the English to merchant shipping in the three Anglo-Dutch wars were about 2000-2700. The Dutch on the other hand, only seized about 500 ships (Document 3). This particularly shows that the Dutch were in no position to be defending themselves against foreign nations, especially the English. It also shows that the English were a huge threat to the Dutch Republic because they could easily overwhelm the Dutch in battle. In the same manner, the Dutch were in no position to be engaging anybody in war. In 1709, a letter was written by the Englishman resident in the Dutch Republic that stated that almost hundred or so men were left standing in each battalion of the thirty that first engaged the French in beginning of the war (Document 14). This letter by the Englishman resident shows how weak the Dutch Republic was at this point. They were not able to fight for themselves and could not wage a war even with the support of the English against the French. The resident's letter which shows his reactions to the losses suffered in the war is probably accurate because as a commoner to the Republic, he would be able to accurately depict what was happening in the country at the time. In the same manner, many nations were getting ready to fight against the Dutch. In the Treaty of Dover, it states, that the French will pay England so that the allied nations can declare war on the Republic (Document 6). This type of major threat would severely destroy the Dutch Republic because the English are a much stronger than the provinces at this time.

Because Holland had the upper hand in the economy, all of the Dutch Republic competed over each other which caused jealousy and led to a weak unity of the provinces. According to a government report of the Dutch Republic in 1674, it states that there is a mutual distrust among the provinces towards a military commander which caused them to find a way to oppose the acts of Louis XIV (Document 9). This type of internal conflict hindered the unity of the provinces because it could've led to a civil war. If the provinces disapprove of major decisions that Louis XIV makes, they could have revolted or at least had major deliberations on ways to go against his authority (which they did). Likewise, in a letter to the English government by the English ambassador to the Dutch Republic, Sir George Downing writes that the republic is very divided because only Holland can support the entire nation (Document 4). This also demonstrates that other nations viewed the Dutch Republic as not being up to support themselves and proved that the nations are very un-united. However, Sir George Downing's, the English ambassador, letter lacks credibility as he is from the English government and could want the English to take over which is why he would write a letter stating that their nation is weak. Furthermore, there was also a small amount of propaganda that was circulating in the Dutch provinces. In a political pamphlet published in Amsterdam, it criticizes the weaknesses of the other provinces by stating why Amsterdam has to be the only place where they have to give money for the war (Document 10). This shows that the nations had tensions due to the economic status of the time. If a nation had more wealth, as shown in Holland, they would pay for the wars. Holland then sent out this pamphlet to criticize why it has to do that. However, because this is a political pamphlet in Amsterdam, it can be seen as an exaggerated source because the people of this city were more willing not to give up the money that was needed for the war efforts of the time. This shows that the internal viewpoint of the provinces in which Holland should be the one that provides the funds and that the other provinces