Dutch Democratization
A history of Dutch democratization.
Contents
Spanish Netherlands
William I (Willem; also known as William the Silent) led the Dutch revolt. This, and the larger Eighty Years War, was simultaneously a war of independence against the Spanish and a religious rebellion against the Inquisition.
The war became extremely draining for the Spanish Empire, leading to the signing of a Twelve Years' Truce in 1609. Before the truce expired, the Thirty Years War had already erupted and demanded greater attention. The war stalemated for decades; in 1648 the Peace of Münster was signed, finally granting the independence of the seven northern provinces. The Southern Netherlands remained a Spanish possession.
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
The republic was officially governed as a confederation of independent provinces. They each had the ability to appoint independent stadtholders, but in practice the prince of Orange was appointed stadtholder over all of them. (Customarily, Friesland and Groningen appointed stadtholders from the cadet branch.)
The provinces sent representative delegations to the States General. This was chaired by the grand pensionary (raadpensionaris), who also served as primary advisor to the stadtholder.
The major political factions of this period were the Orangists, largely a nobility that depended on the House of Orange, and the Republicans.
William II died days before his only son was born. The First Stadtholderless Period began and the grand pensionary became the highest functional office. De Witt emerged as the dominant political figure and effectively ruled the republic for two decades.
William III was enthroned as the stadtholder in 1672 and imposed a strongly pro-English policy on the Netherlands.
The Second Stadtholderless Period began following William's death. Heinsius reigned for much of this period. Following his died in 1720, there was a power struggle between Simon van Slingelandt and Isaac van Hoornbeek. Van Hoornbeek ultimately succeeded and held power up to his death in 1727. Van Slingelandt then led the Netherlands until his death in 1736. Anthonie van der Heim became the final grand pensionary of this period in 1737.
The War of Austrian Succession led to France invading and seizing Dutch fortresses. Van der Heim joined the war on the side of the Quadruple Alliance. Prince William led the British forces in defending the Netherlands, but was quickly forced to divert attention and forces back to Scotland to put down the Jacobite rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie. France occupied most Dutch cities by 1746. An Orangist revolution erupted in 1747, enthroning William IV as stadtholder of all seven provinces and charging him with the national defense. Peace was concluded in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.
William died just three years later, leaving his infant son William V to inherit. Anne served as regent, though largely delegated all powers to Orangist nobility. Importantly though, as the eldest daughter of George II, she represented English interests in her reign.
William ascended to the stadholdership upon his mother's death in 1759, still a teenager. His reign is largely characterized by the disastrous Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, an offshoot of the American Revolution. George III launched a series of naval attack in retaliation for establishment of diplomatic relations between the rebelling colonies and the Netherlands. Peace was concluded in 1783 in the Treaty of Paris.
Batavian Republic
Following the Treaty of Paris, a movement of Patriots emerged seeking to abolish the stadtholdership. William's brother-in-law, Frederick William II, ordered an invasion to suppress the movement. The movement largely fled to France, where they joined with the rapidly emerging revolution.
William participated in the First Coalition, but his army disintegrated by 1795. The Patriots returned in full force and the Batavian Revolution overthrew the Dutch Republic, replacing it with the Batavian Republic.
Kingdom of Holland
Napoleon replaced the republic with a monarchy under his brother, Louis I (Lodewijk). This kingdom of Holland was granted control over the Southern Netherlands, re-unifying the provinces.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Following Napoleon's fall, this kingdom was largely retained as the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In 1830, riots erupted in Brussels against the reign of William I. Prince William personally met with the rebels and was convinced to support political separation. His father rejected compromise though, and committed to suppressing the revolution. He was unable to retake the city, and appealed to international support in the London Conference. The ultimate decision was instead to recognize Belgian independence. William rejected this decision, and was forced back to diplomatic resolution only through French intervention. Another London Conference was convened in 1838 and the Treaty of London was signed the next year.
Simultaneously, Luxembourg was made an independent grand duchy held in union with the kingdom of the Netherlands.
Throughout World War 2, Wilhelmina led the government in exile from London.
The kingdom attempted to maintain control over its overseas possessions through global decolonization. The primary example is the Netherlands-Indonesia Union, which lasted from 1949 to 1956. Following that union's collapse, the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was established.