The Origins of the Dutch Revolt

The Dutch revolt of the sixteenth century lasted longer than any other rebellion in European history. It also gave rise to a war that lasted longer and affected more people than any previous conflict. From the 1590s until 1648 there were hostilities in Asia, Africa and America by sea and land, as well as in and around Europe. This was, in a sense, the 'first world war', and it established beyond all question the independence of the northern Netherlands from Spanish rule: the Dutch Republic, born with the deposition of Philip II in 1581, endured for two centuries until it was swept away by the armies of the French Revolution in 1795. And yet the success of the Dutch Revolt remains somewhat surprising. As the Amsterdam magistrate and historian, C.P. Hooft wrote in 1617: 'Our origins were very small and modest. In comparison with the King of Spain we were like a mouse against an elephant'. Why did the Spanish Monarchy, the greatest empire in the world with dominions stretching right around the globe, fail to suppress the revolt of a few small outlying provinces?

It is often assumed that major events must have major causes; but history reveals that this is not always the case. The Dutch Revolt, for example, began with small miscalculations and minor grievances which got out of hand. Perhaps this was inevitable, for the early modern Netherlands were not an easy country to govern. On the one hand they were rich and populous, compared to other countries of the day. Their three million inhabitants were as numerous as those of England, yet England was much larger in area. The Netherlands also possessed far more and far richer cities (twenty-five of them could boast 10,000 inhabitants or more, compared with only four in England), while the export trade of the Low Countries was worth twice as much as that of England. This island, like the rest of northern Europe, was obliged to conduct its trade at the great metropolis of Antwerp, which in 1560 possessed a population of 100,000.