Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession between the Netherlands and Spain, as well as subsequent union of Portugal and Spain, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. The war resulted in the Netherlands being recognized as an independent country and as a world power. The region now known as Belgium also became established, as part of the Netherlands.

The War

In 1568, William I of Orange (William the Silent), stadtholder of the provinces Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, tried to drive the highly unpopular Alva from Brussels. He did not see this as an act of treason against Philip II, and his view is reflected in today's Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, in which the last lines of the first stanza read: de koning van Spanje 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 "Tachtigjarige Oorlog" (Eighty Years' War).The Battle of Heiligerlee, commonly regarded as the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, was fought on 23 May 1568.

Related Topics:
1568 - William I of Orange - Stadtholder - Holland - Zeeland - Utrecht - Alva - Brussels - Anthem - Wilhelmus - King of Spain - Battle of Rheindalen - 23 april - Roermond - Battle of Heiligerlee - 23 May

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Despite the initial success of his brother Louis of Nassau in Heiligerlee, William received little support, and had to flee back to the Holy Roman Empire, in retailation Alva had the counts of Egmont and Horne beheaded. Alva also introduced an unapproved tax (tiende penning in Dutch).

Related Topics:
Louis of Nassau - Alva - Egmont - Horne - Beheaded

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Unions of Atrecht and Utrecht

On January 6 1579, prompted by the new Spanish governor Alexander Farnese (Duke of Parma), the southern states (today mostly in France and part of Wallonia) signed the Union of Atrecht (Arras), expressing their loyalty to the Spanish king. Over the following ten years he reconquered the major part of Flanders and Brabant, as well as large parts of the northeastern provinces, and restored the Roman Catholic religion to much of the area.

Related Topics:
January 6 - 1579 - Alexander Farnese - Duke of Parma - France - Wallonia - Union of Atrecht - Flanders - Brabant - Roman Catholic

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On January 23, 1579, in response, William united the northern states of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and the province of Groningen in the Union of Utrecht. This union later (1581) led to independence from Spain, forming the United Provinces of the Netherlands (also known as the States General or sometimes as the Dutch Republic).

Related Topics:
January 23 - 1579 - Holland - Zeeland - Utrecht - Gelderland - Groningen - Union of Utrecht - 1581 - United Provinces of the Netherlands

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Because of the more or less uninterrupted rule of the calvinist dominated "rebels", these provinces were to be thoroughly protestantized in the next decades.

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Overseas assistance

In 1581, the Spanish sent an army to attempt to recapture the United Provinces, with some success, and on July 10 1584, William was assassinated. With the war going against them the United Provinces sought overseas help from France and England even offering them the monarchy of the Netherlands, which both declined.

Related Topics:
1581 - 1584 - France - England

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England had been unofficially 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 assist, with 5,000 to 6,000 troops and 1,000 horses. William's son, Maurice of Nassau, soon bypassed the Earl and took charge of the armies in 1587, so Leicester returned to England. The presence of the English, who were to stay until 1604, was a major reason for sending the Spanish Armada against England in 1588.

Related Topics:
England - 1585 - Treaty of Nonsuch - Elizabeth I - Earl of Leicester - Maurice of Nassau - 1587 - 1604 - Spanish Armada - 1588

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Under Maurice's leadership, the whole north-eastern part of the present day Netherlands was captured by the United Provinces. Spain was hampered by the financial cost resulting from the loss of the Armada and and the need to refit its navy so as to recover control of the sea after defeating an English counter armada. In 1595, with the declaration of war against Spain by Henri IV of France, became financially bankrupt the following year, not for the first time. 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.

Related Topics:
Counter armada - 1595 - Henri IV of France - Bankrupt

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The Truce

Under financial and military pressure in 1598, Philip ceded the southern states of the Netherlands to Archduke Albert of Austria and his wife Isabella, following the conclusion of the Treaty of Vervins with France. This roughly recreated the territories of the Empire of Burgundy.

Related Topics:
1598 - Archduke Albert of Austria - Treaty of Vervins - Burgundy

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In 1601, the Spanish sent a small expeditionary force to Ireland, where they were defeated by the English at the Battle of Kinsale.

Related Topics:
1601 - Ireland - Battle of Kinsale

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In 1604, after James I became King of England, he concluded peace with Spain in the Treaty of London, 1604.

Related Topics:
1604 - James I - Treaty of London, 1604

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

Related Topics:
1609 - Cease-fire - Twelve Years' Truce - The Hague

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War resumes

Following the death of Maurice in 1625, and in the absence of a permanent peace, his half-brother Frederick Henry resumed the conflict against the south.

Related Topics:
1625 - Frederick Henry

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In 1622, a Spanish attack on the important fortress town of Bergen op Zoom was repelled. In 1625, however, the Spanish commander Ambrosio Spinola succeeded in conquering the city of Breda (an episode immortalized by the Spanish painter Velasquez in his famous painting "Las Lanzas"). Then the tide started to change in favour of the Dutch Republic. The conquest by Frederick Henry, in 1629, of 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), the largest town in the northern part of Brabant, which had been considered to be inexpugnable, was a serious blow to the Spanish.

Related Topics:
1622 - Bergen op Zoom - 1625 - Ambrosio Spinola - Breda - Velasquez - 1629 - 's-Hertogenbosch

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In 1632 the Dutch Stadhouder conquered 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 local population. It was clear that by now a new generation had grown up 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.

Related Topics:
1632 - Venlo - Roermond - Maastricht

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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 reconquer the South.

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To assist a last attempt to defeat the northern "rebels", in 1639 Spain sent an armada bound for Flanders, with 20,000 troops, which was 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, though Dutch attacks on Spain's vital shipping had already been undermining that position after the war's resumption.

Related Topics:
1639 - Flanders - Maarten Tromp - Battle of the Downs

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