The United Republic of the Netherlands

Refers to the Rhine , Maas , The Scheldt River Downstream and Beihai Along the coast, Holland, Belgium , Luxembourg And part of northeastern France. The province of Holland (now divided into Nord-holland Province and South Holland It was the largest, richest, and most powerful province of the Federal Republic at the time. ^[1]

In 1516, King of Spain Ferdinand After his death, his grandson Charles I Enthrone. Charles had already succeeded in 1506 from his father ( Holy Roman Empire The emperor's son) Netherlands He then took possession of the land as King of Spain. The Netherlands became a Spanish possession. That is, after the early sixteenth century, by Spain The House of Habsburg Rule. In 1566, the northern provinces rebelled against Spanish feudal rule Bourgeois revolution In 1579, eight northern provinces and some southern cities were founded." Union of Utrecht In 1581, the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was established. After 1795, it came under French rule Netherlands realm . The year 1815 Congress of Vienna Later, the former southern provinces and the Netherlands merged into Kingdom of the Netherlands . In 1830, the South became independent from the Netherlands Kingdom of Belgium .

Antwerp in the second half of the 15th century

capitalism handshop It appeared in the Netherlands as early as the 14th century and developed rapidly in the 16th century. The most important are the artisanal workshops dealing with textiles and shipbuilding in the provinces of Holland and Sealand in the north, and in the south Flandell Braben two provinces engaged in textile, metallurgy, sugar production, printing The handicraft workshop. Bast fibre manufacturing A craft workshop. But the raw materials of the southern wool industry and Product sales Mainly dependent on Spain and British market . Here the big bourgeoisie It had close economic ties with Spain and its colonies. It also appeared in rural Netherlands Capitalist farm .

Spain Despotic rule in the Netherlands

in reformation In the wave of Luther , Cwinli , Calvin And other denominations spread to the Netherlands. The Calvinism had the most widespread influence, receiver There are the bourgeoisie and New Noble , also have Working people It became a powerful force against Spanish rule. The old aristocracy tried to keep it Feudal land ownership And all kinds of vested interests. They imitate Germany Lutheran The practice of the princes was to confiscate the land property of the church to expand their power.

Charles was the despotic ruler of the Netherlands, where the economy of King's Landing was developed, the cities were rich, and the capitalist factors were growing rapidly. He appointed a governor here, established financial and administrative institutions and Inquisition They pursued authoritarian policies in political, economic, and religious matters. The provinces and cities of the Netherlands enjoyed a certain amount of Right of autonomy And traditional rights. Charlie, in order to maintain Holy Roman Empire The vast administrative, military, and war expenses were collected everywhere. The Netherlands was the richest, and Charles's extortion was the wildest. He also used Catholic Church As an instrument of domination. The edict of 1550 (known as Edict of blood It was forbidden to copy, preserve, distribute, or buy or sell the collected works of reformers such as Luther or Calvin. All spread" heresy "For the theorist, the man kills the head and the woman is buried alive. During Charles's reign, between 50,000 and 100,000 Netherlanders died as a result of religious persecution. Several uprisings broke out in the Netherlands against Charles's despotic rule.

William, Prince of Orange

In 1556, Philip the Second He inherited the Spanish throne from Charles, and also inherited his debt of 4.5 million lithium, and the high pressure policy against the Netherlands intensified. He sidelined the power of the Netherland nobility, abolished the privileges of merchants to trade directly with the Spanish colonies, and refused to pay the national debt, which made the Netherland's empire Banker Suffer heavy losses; Then he increased his purchase of wool in Spain The amount of tax payable This reduced the import of wool to the Netherlands by 40 per cent. The bourgeoisie in the Netherlands suffered a great blow; many artisan workshops closed down and workers lost their jobs. He persecuted relentlessly Protestant , implement Society of Jesus The activity. He attempted to reorganize the Church of the Netherlands by adding fourteen dioceses, with bishops appointed directly by the king, thereby tightening control over the people. His policies provoked opposition from all walks of life. Calvinists in the cities of the Netherlands organized thousands of armed groups to preach against Spanish rule in the form of missionary meetings and held insurrections. The great nobles connected with the interests of the bourgeoisie formed the "League of Nobles" headed by Prince William of Orange. In 1565, they sent representatives to Philip II of Spain to demand a change in their authoritarian policies. The following year, with William's approval, a delegation of about two hundred junior and junior nobles (including William's brother Louis) arrived Brussels Petitioning the Governor of Spain against political and religious oppression in Spain, Simultaneous representation Serve the king. These demands lead nowhere. While the aristocracy tried to achieve reconciliation by gentle means, the masses took positive action.

Against Spanish rule Revolutionary war

From August 1566, Antwerp in the Netherlands, The Hague , Utrecht And other cities in a series of large-scale outbreaks Iconoclasm . The crowd, armed with axes, hammers and sticks, swarmed towards Catholic church and cloister Destroyed ICONS and crosses, confiscated church property, and burned church bonds and bonds Title deed And destroyed more than 5,500 churches and monasteries. The uprising soon swept through twelve of the seventeen provinces, with tens of thousands of participants. Mass iconoclasm against the Catholic Church ignited Bourgeois revolution in the Netherlands The struggle for independence against Spanish rule began.

In the face of a popular revolutionary movement, the Spanish authorities had to temporarily suspend the Inquisition's activities and allow the Calvinists to establish a designated site outside the city Go to church . At the same time Philip II appropriated funds to increase the army in the Netherlands and decided to send his veteran generals Alfa The Duke went to the Netherlands to put down the revolution. In 1567, Alfa led an army of about eighteen thousand men to arrive, and immediately set up a "committee for the suppression of violence", with bloody Terror tactics In order to High treason Hunt down and kill the revolutionary masses. More than 10,000 people were burned, killed, and punished Death by hanging . A white terror hung over the Netherlands.

William fled into exile in Germany before Alpha arrived. In 1568, he brought Mercenary army To the Netherlands against the Spanish army, was defeated. At the same time, the guerrillas of the working people were hammering the enemy. Large numbers of workers, artisan The peasants went into the depths of the dense forest, attacked small groups of enemy troops from time to time, and punished reactionary priests and officials. Many sailors, fishermen, and dockers went out into the open sea to attack Spanish ships and coastal positions; They're in contact with William. On April 1, 1572, seaborne partisans captured Brill on the Rhine Estuary island port Over the city flew William's flag. This new victory brought about a new upsurge in the revolution. The maritime partisans attacked further cities. One by one, revolts were held in many cities to drive out the Spaniards. The provinces of Holland and Zealand were almost completely liberated. The exiles returned to the Netherlands, where the bourgeoisie organized revolutionary armies, seized power in the cities, and suppressed pro-Spanish priests and spies. The peasants destroyed churches and manors, Refusal to perform Feudal obligations, cease to pay tithes . In July 1572, William was taken by the Netherlands Provincial assembly Elected governor. By the end of 1573, the northern provinces had successively declared their independence. Alpha was replaced. William's power in the north was growing.

The revolutionary movement moved south, and in 1576 the people of Brussels overthrew the Spanish government. The people of the South jumped into the resistance. The development of the situation called for the union of the North and the South, and representatives of the North and the South in 1576 Ghent Hold a meeting. During the meeting, Spanish soldiers stormed Antwerp, killing and looting, killing seven or eight thousand men, women and children. Three days later, the rich city was deserted. This atrocity further inflamed the anger of the people of the Netherlands. Sixteen of the seventeen provinces declared rebellion against Spanish rule. In November, the conference issued the" Ghent agreement "And offered to withdraw Spanish army He abolished all the laws of Alpha and reaffirmed the original rights of the cities, but still recognized the sovereign powers of Philip II.

In 1577, revolts broke out in many southern cities to establish a revolutionary regime, and the peasant movement surged, causing fear among the reactionary aristocracy and the Catholic Church. They rebelled and made a compromise with Spain. At the beginning of January 1579, they formed" Union of Arras He declared his allegiance to Philip II. Ten days later, the northern provinces formed the "Union of Utrecht", declaring that they would never split, and formulating a common military and peace agreement Foreign policy ; Soon the southern cities of Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and others joined in. In 1581, Philip II was deposed and a republic was established. After that, there was a long war between the Netherlands and Spain. William was killed by Philip II's assassins, and the southern cities fell to Spain. In 1588, the Spanish" Armada Defeated by Britain at sea, his national strength has since fallen, and he has no strength to fight against the Netherlands. In 1609, King Philip III concluded a twelve-year truce with the United Republic, effectively recognizing the independence of the Republic. The southern part of the Netherlands remained under Spanish rule. The Netherlands province is the most developed, and the United Republic is also known as the Dutch Republic.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands was the first country in the world to experience a bourgeois revolution

More than 400 years ago, when the Dutch this Low countries When it won its independence against Spanish despotism, it was called the "Republic of the Netherlands". There are many stories in this story, but let's just say one of the interesting ones - the system of operation of the Republic of the Netherlands. In diplomacy, for example, a treaty of great importance is signed: the head of the Republic of the United provinces does not decide; the treaty must be discussed and decided by the Assembly of the Republic; But the republic is made up of autonomous provinces, so it must be discussed and approved by the provincial councils of each province; And each province has some self-governing cities, so, treaties Have to go first Through each Autonomous city The parliamentary approval. The decision of approval or disapproval is then returned to the provincial Assembly - the Assembly and head of the Republic of the United Provinces. This is the earlier one Representative system The expression of culture. Later on, Napoleon Annexed the Netherlands to make his brother king; After Napoleon's defeat, the Kingdom of Holland was established. But the representative culture of the Federal Republic has long influenced the Dutch people.

Representative system

Union of Utrecht

Netherlands Near the North Sea, the terrain is low and flat, and the deep water of the Ear River is easy for large ships to enter and exit, so overseas transportation is very convenient. The Netherlands Handicraft industry And commerce developed rapidly, and foreign merchants came here to do business. New routes were opened Later, the European commercial center from Mediterranean Transfer to Atlantic There was further economic growth in the Netherlands. By the first half of the sixteenth century, the Netherlands had more than three hundred cities. Southern city Antwerp It was a center of European trade. Here, there are five or six thousand foreign businessmen a day, and the port can berth more than two thousand ships of all sizes at the same time. The merchants brought it America Gold and silver, Oriental spices and other luxury goods, transported to Western Europe, Nordic Of textiles, metalwork , ship appliances, etc. Antwerp has developed textile, glass manufacturing, sugaring , printing and other industries; Bank, exchange, Credit business Come into being. The north is rich in agriculture, Netherlands Fisheries in the provinces of Sealand, Shipbuilding industry Hemp weaving and wool weaving are thriving. The northern provinces and the British, Baltic Sea Konkokuwa Russia They all trade. Amsterdam It's from the northern provinces Economic center It is an important market for grain trade.