The Dutch Golden Age - How the Dutch Republic Became so Prosperous in the 17th Century
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2019
- In the history of the Netherlands the Golden Age is an important time for the rise of the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. The Dutch Golden Age (Gouden Eeuw) commensed when the Dutch provinces led by Holland were revolting against Spain in the so-called Dutch Revolt. In the Dutch history this revolt is also know as the Eighty Years' War (Tachtigjarige Oorlog) and took place in the Low Countries. William of Orange (Willem van Oranje) started the uprising in 1568 and was assisted by the Sea Beggars (Watergeuzen) to fight off the Spanish. Spain fought back but went bankrupt several times. Spanish troops mutineed and sacked Antwerp. This was known as the Spanish Fury (Spaanse Furie). As a result of this many wealthy merchants went to Amsterdam. In 1581 there was the Act of Abjuration (Plakkaat van Verlatinghe). In 1588 the Dutch Republic (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden) was established.
Early 17th century the Dutch East India Company (VOC - Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC - West-Indische Compagnie) were established and brought great wealth to the Dutch Republic. Yet, many people suffered. The WIC was responsible for a significant part in the transatlantic slave trade shipped over half a million slaves from Africa to the Americas.
The 17th century was also the time of the Scientific Revolution. Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens pioneered in his research of the universe. Around 30 cities became interconnected by a network of artificial water ways. Also, large parts of land were laid dry and so the Dutch reclaimed land. The Dutch word for laying lakes dry is called poldering. A piece of reclaimed land is called polder. During the Golden Age many paintings were completed. Dutch painters as Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer made their works in the 17th century.
After the Dutch war against Spain was over several Anglo-Dutch wars took place. Most disastrous was the year of 1672 which was called Disaster Year (Rampjaar). After 1672 the decline of the Dutch Golden Age became visable and some historians name this period the Silver Age (Zilveren Eeuw).
History Hustle presents: The Dutch Golden Age - How the Dutch Republic Became so Prosperous in the 17th Century.
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IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org; goodfreephotos.com; pixabay.com; picryl.com; flickr.com.
MUSIC
"Clenched Teeth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Mesmerize" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Indore" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Past the Edge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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SOUNDS
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Thanks to Lennart for borrowing his props!
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I once remember reading a US Admiral's book, it was titled "The Influence of Sea Power upon History" by Alfred Thayer Mahan (pretty famous person in early 20th century). He once mentioned that at one point, Dutch ships were used by many European countries for their own export/import. Dutch ships were even used to transport the wealth of Spanish colonies to Spain itself which i find kinda ironic.
I highly recommend the book to you. The book consisted of history from middle 17th century all the way down to Napoleonic War and as the name suggests, it's focused on the naval aspect of each wars & periods.
Sounds very interesting! Thanks for the comment. Need to check that one out.
Love your videos!
Thanks!
Thanks again! In the Hermitage museum I saw small lovely Dutch paintings of that time, and they could be bought by simple burgers or even peasants. That makes sense if economically Holland was flourishing so greatly that almost everyone could afford a painting.
Thanks again for watching! Great to see you gaining knowledge thanks to the videos.
Good video Stefan! You know Dutch history very well!
Thanks! You know, a big part of Dutch history text books on school are about Dutch history, so I kinda have to know my stuff :)
@@HistoryHustle That made me interested... What sort of stuff do you guys learn in history class in the Netherlands? I remember watching one of your videos which I shall be rewatching soon about the slave trade and how you guys learn stuff about that but what about other historical topics?
I adress that question in this video:
ua-cam.com/video/pCfr5x2YBQE/v-deo.html
Greetings from Indonesia, great video
Thanks!
Wel gedaan, hoor.
Dank!
I am history student, well nut, buff etc. Plus a bit of an artist.! I love the dutch golden age
Thanks for your message.
@@HistoryHustle i watched the dutch movie the Admiral. Its on our SBS tv station which plays TV and movies fro/ around the world
PLEASE - Does anyone know what was actually traded on that 2nd expedition to Indonesia led by Van Neck? Need to know for an assessment.
Cant tell. Sorry. Good luck.
Dutch people: “It’s pronounced van Gogh”
Also dutch people: “Balthasar Gerard from France”
True.
True, but it's also Bathasar Gerard.
It's part of his punishment.
Is there a episode about Dutch East Indies on the horizon?
Multiple are on their way!
@@HistoryHustle If you could do one about the recreation of Dutch Colonial Empire after the fall of Napoleon it would be awesome.
@@pacthug4life It's coming up :)
When talking about the eastern part of the netherlands it is important to take into account the sidelining of the Hanseatic League by the so called "Moeder Negotie" and subsequent 80 years war. Zutphen alone was initially under Habsburg rule, then Orange, then Habsburg (followed by a massacre) and finally Orange rule. The last major siege in the east of the 80 years war took place in Groenlo (Grol) also in the Achterhoek region which was in 1627, 21 years before the end of the war. To add up, trade shifting to the west, and continual war campaigns took a lot out of the local population in the east of the country.
Thanks for sharing this additional information!
Same goes for the south-east of the Netherlands.
Continuous warfare between the Republic and 'Habsburg' devastated the cities and countryside.
The Republic controlled the ports, harbors, and rivers. Trade and manufacturing came to a hold. Once rich and flourishing towns had to invest a lot in their defenses while losing any source of income.
While Holland entered its Golden Age, in the south-east the lights were turned off. I would have said Dark Ages but those were the times these areas flourished.
Many moved to the areas where there was relative peace, Haarlem and Amsterdam saw a lot of southern merchants and manufacturers coming from Brabant and Limburg. They sold out everything they had and moved to start again.
They brought their knowledge and trade to Holland, and because they had some money to invest, the economy there got a boost.
Even from nowadays Belgium, many moved south to boost the economy of France or to the Republic stimulating the Golden Age. Brugge, Gent, Antwerp, Brussel, Leuven and many more lost a lot of trade and wealth.
In my opinion the Golden Age was not financed by the colonies but by the local (entire Netherlands) people who fled the war.
The 'Moeder Negotie' (Mother of Trade) was the trade in manufactured products from the low countries to Sweden and Poland (Ukraine) in exchange for wheat. In the low countries wheat did not do well, and the usual rye was not very suited to bake daily bread. The Netherlands became an international hub for wheat trade by the Hanseatic League.
This trade made sure that Dutch farmers could produce other products than cereals (rye, oat) and concentrate on products with a higher trade value (cheese, meat, vegetables).
Wool was imported from England and made into high quality cloth that found its way to the East Sea countries and Southern Europe.
This trade was so important and large that in Poland specialized merchants collected wheat from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. All before 1500 or before the reformation started, there was extended trade in the low countries.
Hey Steffan
You should do a video about the Dutch impact on the UK as it is now following William of Orange (and Mary's) *invitation* to be the King of England (PS Bring a Fleet and large army just in case)
Many attribute the introduction of the Dutch financial know how - Limited Companies, National Debt financed by Bonds as being the start of English dominance in the 18th- early 20th Century
Oh and why they still paint pictures of William on the side of houses in Belfast!!
PS and how the English repaid the Dutch by stealing lots of their colonies and trade!!
Thanks for the information. Perhaps I'll dive into it in the future.
William invited himself, while preparing the invasion he asked those parliamentarians to write him an invitation, because he wanted to make it look like something else than the invasion it was.
I loved this, really concise and informative. Being from Northern Ireland we celebrate the death of William of Orange as a 'salute to the little man in the velvet jacket'. In Northern Ireland, there is a great Protestant movement and they are intrinsically linked to the Old Testament and Jewish culture especially in Finance and Work ethic. Since Amsterdam became a melting pot for many different cultures (Usually hostile to Catholicism) have you gone a miss not to mention the massive impact in these areas following 1492 when the Jews were expelled from 'Europe' and landed in one of the only places in Europe (Holland). I think that the Jewish knowhow put Amsterdam on the map. As they did in many countries throughout the world until their expulsion particularly in the 1900s...(And all the other times prior to this...)
Thanks for replying!
The Dutch Golden Age started with the VOC? Really? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've understood that at the heigtht of it's power in the 17th century, the VOC had a fleet 140 merchant ships. That might seem a lot for that time and it was, but around 1650 there were about 20.000 Dutch merchant ships sailing the seas, mainly around Europe. This not only had a lot to do with the 'fluyt' design, but also with the 'invention' of the crank, allowing for wind mill powered saws. The Dutch shipped about half of Europe's goods.
Let's not confuse the dark side with it's economic importance. The Amsterdam row houses were build on the Baltic Sea Trade (de moedernegotie, mother negotion), the North Sea trade, the Mediterrenean trade and a few on the world's oceans trade too, including the WIC and the VOC.
Thanks for the additional information.
I'd even like to add that the profits from the VOC and WIC were never more than 10% of the BNP of that time. Most economic profit came from trade within Europe, and agriculture. The same goes for slavery. Slavery made up about 5% of the Dutch BNP at that time.
@@Ned-nw6ge It's probably less than 1%. There was the huge European trade, which didn't take a year to get there and a year to return, but brought profit every month. But besides the huge European sea trade there was also a lot of trade on rivers and canals, a lot of fishery (the herring fishery alone made more money annually than the entire VOC at it's peak), and a lot of industry. From fake china to more than half of Europe's books printed in the Dutch Republic, lots of cloth, furniture, a large weapon industry. The Dutch already had a big spending middle class, even the painting industry was colossal for it's day because ordinary people who could not afford what's now a Dutch master did buy paintings.
The Dutch didn't take part in the transatlantic slavery until 1638, more than half way through it's golden age. The VOC only started paying dividend in 1631. The 5% is a rather dubious calculation to support the fashionable idea that suffering somehow equals economic importance. That 5% is the entire slave related industry from peak years, so for example sugar bought from a French of English slave colony, transported all over to the Dutch republic, processed and refined and then sold. That's not how BNP works.
The Dutch Republic's decision to give up on it's moral/calvinist objection to slavery is very important and interesting from a moral point of view, but not very relevant economically, especially not in the rise of the Dutch Republic because that already happened without the WIC, mostly a financial faillure and a war success, and the VOC's money.
Right so . The dominance on the Baltic Trade was the ( Mother Of All Trade) . When that was gone the Golden Age was over ..
Noth withstanding the injustice of the VOC and slave trade ..
@@HistoryHustle I would not call that ' additional information ' . Mor like a diiferent history ..
Dutch shipbuilding certainly found its most famed, and deeply respectful, devotee in Tsar Peter I, who, as we all know, spent a considerable amount of time learning the necessary skills first hand,..making, simultaneously, a failed attempt to live and work incognito.
Thanks for sharing.
Idd eindelijk een Nederlandse kijk op onze eigen geschiedenis en duidelijk verteld jammer er schijnt geen tijd te zijn voor achtergrond
Geen tijd voor achtergrond?
To some extent, I think the Dutch were lucky, but I also think they are a great people and were able to take advantage of their luck. There has to be a reason, after all, why only the 17th century was a golden age for the Dutch, and why not all the centuries before and after. This should be food for thought for those nations who imagine they have some kind of divinely inspired destiny just because they're currently on top.
Thanks for sharing your insights on this.
Lucky? That is a slap in the face of those who fought to become an independant republic. Look at our size on the map. Caught between four fighting giants we managed to be quite a nuisance and still be around. That aint luck.
I refer to my source.
The poor guy is stabbed but they don't loosen his fancy collar so he can gasp his last breaths? Fashion victim?
Did he forgot Venice was a trade republic who last until 1797
Please explain.
Well you said that The Dutch republic was the First Republic of Europe Yet Venice was still a Merchant Republic at that time
Venice was a Western European Merchant Republic from the 7th to the 18th Century Making it one of the First Western European Republic (also you content is the Best I have ever seen)
I understand. Venice however was more of a city state.
It is a myth that the Dutch Golden Age was by the VOC and slave trade !! The prosperity was because of Dutch dominance on the Baltic Sea !
This Baltic trade was so important is was called the ' Mother Trade' ('MOAT' in current language 😉). Once the Dutch lost their dominance in the Baltic their Golden Age was over.
In the 1700s the VOC and slave industry was bigger (and important) than in the 1600s ( also because of less baltic trade ! ).
Remains that VOC and the slavery are a black chapter in history !
.(. fact: In Asia the VOC had enslaved more people than the WIC in the atlantic slavery. 1 mln vs 600k .)
Didnt know this but doubt some of your claims. Believed the VOC had several thousands...
I'm not ashamed of our colonial past. ORANJE BOVEN
Ok.