Dutch Rvolt
The Dutch Revolution is a truly complicated aspect of early modern European history. The Netherlands was Spain's meal ticket. Spain relied heavily upon the economic power that the Netherlands supplied them with. However, how is it that when the Dutch revolted that the much more powerful Spain could not defeat the cause? Spain was the most powerful state after the Renaissance in Europe. Yet the Dutch were able to successfully revolt against Spain because of Philip II's poor judgments, decisions, management, and his alienation of the Dutch people. Philip's planning was weak and his attention span was short. He released pressure on the Netherlands on a few occasions to divert his attention elsewhere. These diversions gave the Netherlands the hole they were looking for and the ability to take the upper hand on more than a few instances. An additional key aspect to consider while discussing the revolt in the Netherlands is the amount of time it took. The revolt is often referred to as the Eighty Years War. Wars during the early modern Europe always came down to money; whoever had the most money usually was victorious. In the case of the war in the Low Countries, the Dutch economy was prospering while the government of S
It all began when Philip Habsburg inherited the Low Countries from his father Charles V in 1555. The rebels asked Queen Elizabeth of England for aid in fighting of the Spanish forces. Spain foolishly attempted to challenge the far superior navy of the Dutch by sending warships into the North Sea in 1574, 1596, 1588, and 1639. Instead, he misjudged the situation and decided to put more effort into maintaining ground troops. One of Philip's first major mistakes was putting Dutch printing under the scrutiny of the Spanish Inquisition. Despite Philip's views, the Queen's mission involved setting up a weak central government under King Philip's watch, while at the same time ridding the Low Countries of all Spanish troops (Boyden 93). He drew up his best scenario, which involved the English Catholics revolting against the crown in England, the Tudors would be overthrown, and a pro-Spanish government would take control and declare England a Catholic state and stop their aid to the Netherlands (219). These Dutch measures mentioned were in the North Sea. Also, Parma's death forced Philip to withhold funds until the next leader could be found. He alienated his subjects and lost control of his territories by the 1560's. Philip's undying desire to aid the French Catholics also served detrimental to his efforts in the Netherlands. Philip, however, was not a fan of the idea and ordered Parma to fight on two different fronts without a peace agreement in the Low Countries (Davis 81) Splitting his troop's attention into two different fronts would prove quite detrimental. When he ignored the Low Countries, while sending the Armada into England, it proved to be a two-sided failure. The previously mentioned aspect of Philip's disconnection with his subjects in the Low Countries deserves brief attention.
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Acceptance Essays
