The Dutch Empire: Rise and Fall.

Overview of the Habsburg Empire:

The Netherlands was first under the subjugation of the Habsburg Empire. Before the rise of the Dutch Empire, Spain was the world's superpower and maintained their power over several parts of Europe including Austria and Hungary, parts of Bohemia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The Habsburg Empire also ruled over Croatia, some parts of Italy, and the Netherlands. 

From 1519 to 1556, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Head of the Habsburg Empire was Charles V.

 Spain was economically and militarily vigorous because of the wealth and power it procured during the Age of Exploration. The Spanish Navy was the most powerful in Europe and the Spanish coin became close to being regarded as a reserve currency. However, a transition began to occur during the mid-1500s.

The decline of the Habsburg empire transpired in many ways: revolutions against elites who possessed wealth and power, and revolutions against the Roman Catholic church in the wake of the Age of Reformation. The Habsburg empire was economically devastated, and bad economic circumstances had severe impacts on the lives which amounted to civil revolutions. Charles V failed to clamp down the revolutions and at last, he signed the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 which weakened the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg dynasty. 

After this, Charles V divided the empire into two: the Holy Roman Empire which he handed down to his brother Ferdinand, and the rest of the Habsburg Empire which included Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium to his son Philip II.

In the end, the Habsburg Empire encountered decadence because of the luxurious lifestyle that Phillip II and his son Phillip III preferred over the welfare of their populace. Terrible national finances, a suffering middle class, and big wealth gaps were some of the determinants of the Habsburg Empire's dark fate. Aristotle once said " If in a country there is no middle class, the country is soon going to collapse". 

The events of the 1500s were the causes of the fall of the Habsburg empire and also integral factors in the rise of the Dutch empire.

The Rise of the Dutch Empire:

During the " Eighty years' War, William the Silent, a valiant commander who, with the assistance of diverse provinces of the Netherlands, emancipated the Netherlands in 1581. After gaining independence, the Republic was set up and each province was given sovereignty. The rise of the Dutch Empire was by virtue of the statesmen rather than by a single monarch.

The Dutch Empire focused on improving education, ensuring merit, and refining culture which helped it to become a great nation. The Dutch empire also invented ships to set off to different parts of the world to accumulate wealth and gain power. The Dutch created the world's first mega-corporation, the Dutch East India Company, which carried out approximately one-third of world average trade. The Dutch government also augmented its spending on the military, which helped them to hold out British attacks for a long time. The Dutch empire also created the world's first reserve currency, the Dutch guilder, which was put into work via the Bank of Amsterdam.

As a result of these steps, the income per capita rose to over twice that of other European powers. Investment in education boosted their literacy rate. The two most important breakthroughs that the Dutch Empire achieved were:

1. The Dutch Empire upgraded ships. They used it for trade, explorations and naval warfare.

2. The Dutch Empire played a pivotal role in promoting capitalist economic principles.

The New world order: The Thirty years' war and the Peace of Westphalia:

The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) was a fight over wealth and power. On one side was the Catholic emperor of Habsburg Austria, who made an alliance with German Catholic territories, as well as Spain and the Papal states. On the other side was the German Protestant noble class, who made an alliance with Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The rivalry was on money, religion and geopolitics.

The Habsburg Empire lost the war which made them weakened. A treaty that laid the foundation of the new world order, the Peace of Westphalia, further decreased the authority of the Austrian emperor and as a result, many countries got independence with the ability to run government on their own within their geographic borders.

The Peace of Westphalia contributed to a long period of peace and prosperity. Thirty Years' War killed over one-quarter of the population of Europe.

The Dutch benefited greatly from the new balance of power and most importantly it protected them from the menace of the Habsburg Empire. The war implications hit badly the economy of France which galvanized rebellions. The Habsburg was even more devastated. The Dutch encountered fewer implications than both France and the Habsburg Empire.The period of peace took the Dutch empire to the pinnacle of glory and also helped them to disseminate their power across the globe.

The rise of the British Empire:

The Dutch golden age procured the Dutch to live a luxurious lifestyle. They began to spend money on buying luxury items which led to a feeble economy. Other powers rose and began to challenge them. A rising power can only challenge or wage war against an existing power when it becomes comparable in every respect to the existing power. The arrival of capitalism and the Age of Enlightenment led to an economic boom called the " Industrial Revolution", which originated from Britain's land.

After adopting a Luxurious life, an ineffectual and uncompetitive leader led to the descent of the Dutch Empire development:

1. The Dutch educational system was destroyed.
2. The Dutch became uncompetitive.
3. In the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution led the British to overtake the Dutch in every field whether it is economic or military.
4. Slower economic growth made it very difficult for the Dutch empire to control a spectrum of land.
 These all sowed the seeds of the decline of the Guilder as a reserve currency and the Dutch became decadent after they lost the war. After 1688, as the British empire began to rise, Dutch merchants shifted their attention to London, which helped London to become the International center of finance. William III, the Dutch Emperor moved to London, instead of focusing his attention on ruling over the Netherlands. When he died heirless in 1702, many provinces of the Netherlands which were united by William the Silent witnessed secession.
By the mid-18th century, the Dutch Empire was no longer the world's leading empire. Britain who had learned from the Dutch innovation began applying them to their education system to bolster their people's capabilities. These capabilities along with the use of capitalism laid the foundation of the Industrial Revolution.
Several wars that weakened the Dutch empire are:

1. The First Anglo-Dutch war(1652-54): This was a trade war.
2. The Dano-Swedish war(1657-60): The Dutch empire, as an ally of  Denmark defeated the Swedish who threatened profitable Baltic trade routes.
3. The Second Anglo- Dutch war(1665-67): This was another trade war.
4. The Fanco-Dutch war(1672-78) and the Third Anglo-Dutch war(1672-74): These war were also fought over trade.
5. The Fourth Anglo-Dutch war(1780-84): The British waged this war against the Dutch Empire because the Dutch Empire was backing the colonies in the American Revolution. This war resulted in the end of Guilder as a reserve currency.

These all led to the downfall of the Dutch empire. By 1750, the British Empire and France became stronger than the Dutch Empire and the next world superpower was the British Empire. The Dutch empire became financially weak. In 1795 the French revolutionary government overthrew the Dutch Republic and established a client state( A state that is economically, militarily and politically dependent on another country).