The Dutch Revolt
Julissa Castellanos & Jasmine Cromwell
Summary
The Dutch Revolt, also known as the Eighty Year War was a successful War of the Netherlands against the Philip II of Spain, the Roman Catholic King, for religious freedom. They clashed due to different religious beliefs and the raising of taxes by King Phillip ll, that the people of the Netherlands could not pay.
Causes
Root Cause:
- Phillip ll taxing heavily without any benefits in return
- Freedom of religion was prohibited
- Alba capturing William of Orange's son because William of Orange was leading raids against Alba
Key Figures
King Philip II
Born 1527 and died 1598. Philip was the king of Spain during the Dutch Revolt.
William of Orange
Born 1533 and died 1584. William was a stadtholder for King Philip II. He later turned against Spain and joined the peasants and nobles in the battles.
Maurice of Nassau
Born 1567 and died in 1625. He was the son of William of Orange and took over as leader of the rebellion after William of Oranges death.
Fredrick Henry
Born 1584 and died 1647. Fredrick was the half brother of Maurice. He took Maurice's place, leading the rebellion after his death.
Margaret of Parma
The governor of the Netherlands. She was sent by Phillip ll to govern the Netherlands so the people would have no choice but to be Catholic. Phillip ll did not want to put a Calvinist as a leader. She was Catholic but tolerant which led to Calvinism spreading and revolts.
The Duke of Alba
He was the replacement for Margaret of Parma because he was a very stern leader. He was appointed as the new governor to reestablish and rebuild the Netherlands . Alba established the Council of Troubles or often known as the Council of Blood. Commonly known as the Council of Blood because many people were executed die to the fact of them supporting Calvinists and being apart of the revolts.
Course
- There were root causes that started the war, but the direct cause is when The Duke of Alba captured William of Orange's son. William was one of the people to lead the raids against Alba so Alba retaliated by capturing the son. So not only was it the Northern Dutch Protestants verses the Spanish Catholic Soldiers it was also now William of Orange verses The Duke of Alba.
- Then Alba wanted to introduce new taxes to the Netherlands in an effort to support his troops but only resulted in protests from both Catholics and Protestants. Alba was unable to deal with the rebellion, so he was replaced with Luis de Requesens, but in the same year he died. The Spanish mercenary armies did not receive their money so they attacked Antwerp this is often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp. Around 7,000 were killed and horror struck the city. This lead to the Netherlands negotiating a treaty, the Pacification of Ghent, in which the provinces agreed to religious tolerance and vowed to fight against the Spanish forces.
- This ended quickly with some of the southern states leaving the alliance of the Pacification of Ghent and signed the Union of Arras, expressing their loyalty to the king. In response to the Union of Arras, William of Orange gathered some of the northern states to create Union of Utrecht. It was now the southern group that was loyal to the Spanish King and the rebellious northern group.
- Spain was involved in many different wars so they came up with the Twelve Years' Truce so Spain could deal with their bigger problems. During this time the Dutch used this time to build up their navy. After the this truce the Spaniards began thinking about the major issues they had to face. At this point this war was merging with the Thirty Years' War.
- As both wars were wrapping up everyone decided there was no need to fight on to support other Protestant nations. As an outcome, they all decided to end the war. An end was finally reached in 1648 with the Peace of Munster ( a treaty apart of the Westphalia) and the Dutch were recognized as their own independent state. They also would regain control over any territories that they conquered in the later stages of the war.
Outcome
The Dutch Revolt came to an end with the Treaty of Munster in 1648. The Netherlands or known as the Dutch Republic was recognized as their own independent state. In the end the Netherlands won the war against Spain, who were now in a financial crisis.
Main Significance
After all, the Dutch got their religious freedom that they sought out for and relieving them of Spain's rule. The Netherlands also achieved their main goal of being their own independent state.
Primary Resource
On January 30, 1648 the Spanish and Dutch signed the Peace of Münster, that was also apart of the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years' War. It's meaning was the recognition of the Dutch Republic as an independent state. They all got their religious, economic and political freedom.
Resources
- http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&jsid=d4d4dd5905639efc4398b55f5d47eac9&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3404900325&u=catholiccenhs&zid=dde7aef087ab8337e1e415b94797aa6b
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Revolt