Dutch Republic

” The Dutch Provinces’ size and location made it vulnerable to attack and economic challenges. Document 3 shows the losses suffered by the Dutch as compared to the British due mostly to the size of the Navy and the strategic location of England. Holland is also the only wealthy province, due to the banking industry of Amsterdam and therefore has to have the burden of financing all wars for the Dutch. This is demonstrated in document 1, the graph shows the steady decrease in Dutch ships on the Baltic because there is no longer a need for the British industries to hire shippers when they have their own ships. The aggression towards the Dutch Republic might be the result of two factors, the overall animosity towards bankers which is apparent in the way the Jewish bankers were also treated during this time and the wishes “to ruin what remains of the trade and navigation of the Dutch Republic, and to take over part of it for themselves (document 7). ” The country’s size also doesn’t allow their trading industry to compete on as large a scale as England or France. The Dutch used to serve as the shippers of goods between western European nations but are cut out as middlemen, which hurts them economically. In 1688 the debt was 30 million and by 1713 it had risen to 148 million (document 12). In this effort to preserve their economy they plunged into debt. In 1650 their economic power was extremely great compared to the Republic’s size and population. Document 11 shows this concern felt by many of the Dutch, they realized the British industries “had grown larger, this trade competition was the real cause of the war which broke out in the 1650’s between the Dutch and the French. ” The war fought by the Dutch was not for territorial gain or national pride, the wars fought with France and England were in an effort to preserve their economic vitality.

The wars with France to the South and England to the West surround the Dutch. To the south of the Republic the French waged wars, leaving the Dutch with no way to protect their country or their industries.

The Dutch no longer are the only nation with a technologically advanced navy they loose to competition at home and abroad, their size, amount of resources and lack of unity keep them from ever regaining the economic power they had.