Rampjaar
The year 1672 is referred to as the Rampjaar ( disaster year ) in Dutch history . In that year England , France , Cologne and Munster declared war on the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , which at the same time had to contend with considerable internal political unrest.
The armed conflicts began with the Third Anglo-Dutch War from 1672 to 1674, part of the Franco-Dutch War in which France, Münster and Cologne formed an alliance against the Netherlands, which lasted from 1672 to 1678.
The year 1672 is felt by the Dutch to this day as a traumatic turning point in their past, which heralded the decline and the end of the Golden Age ( de Gouden Eeuw ) of the Netherlands, one of the leading powers of Europe in the 17th century. The year went down in its history under the phrase Het volk was redeloos, de regering radeloos, en het land reddeloos (“The people were foolish, the government at a loss and the country helpless (lost)”).
Involved in the disputes were u. a. Christoph Bernhard von Galen and Maximilian Heinrich von Bayern .
prehistory
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After the Peace of Westphalia , the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands had become an officially recognized state in Europe. In 1670 the republic was at the height of its power in the "Golden Age" and saw itself as an economic, military and scientific world power. This position was viewed with increasing suspicion by England, France and within the old German Empire .
Problems with France
In 1668 France was forced to sign the First Peace of Aachen with Spain through the so-called Triple Alliance, which consisted of the Netherlands, England and Sweden . Although France was still able to hold onto its conquered territories, the Netherlands in particular reproached for having exerted too much pressure and forcing France to accept unfavorable conditions. France began an economic boycott of the Netherlands and sought allies for war. Starting in 1670, Louis XIV prepared an armed conflict against the Netherlands and concluded alliances with England ( Treaty of Dover ), Sweden , Bavaria , the Monastery of Münster and Kurköln .
Problems with England
The Protestant maritime powers England and the Netherlands were actually quite close, but were entangled in their traditional competition for supremacy on the seas. The Navigational Act of 1651, which was intended to prevent the Netherlands from trading with England and the English colonies and to undermine the monopoly of the Dutch fleet in Europe and the East and West Indies, met with fierce resistance from the Dutch, who in turn reacted with massive naval armament. From 1652 to 1654 the First Anglo-Dutch Sea War was waged.
The admirals Maarten Tromp , Michiel de Ruyter and Witte de With won some victories, but also suffered defeats. In 1654 peace was concluded ( Treaty of Westminster ), but this could not end the hostilities. As early as 1665, the English King Charles II declared war on the Netherlands again, which lasted until 1667 ( Second Anglo-Dutch War ) and in which the Netherlands were nominally allied with France, but received little support from them. Peace negotiations were held because England was too weak because of the plague raging in London and the great fire of September 2, 1666. In addition, De Ruyter took advantage of the weak point of the English at sea, penetrated with ships of the line and fire in the Thames estuary and caused panic in London. Finally, the Peace of Breda on July 31, 1667 followed.
Domestic difficulties
But there was also rumbling within the United Netherlands. In 1648, governor Willem II opposed the acceptance of the Peace of Westphalia and tried in secret negotiations with France to place his territory under a central government. In addition, he worked on the reinstatement of his brother-in-law Charles II on the throne of England. At the same time, he was drawn into a bloody dispute between the province of Holland and the Andries and Cornelis Bicker brothers, as well as the more pragmatic-minded Cornelis de Graeff , the powerful rulers of Amsterdam .
When he died in 1650 after only three years of reign and had no successor (his son Willem , who later became King of England, was born after his death), the states decided in 1667 - under the leadership of Johan de Witt , Gaspar Fagel , Gillis Valckenier and Andries de Graeff - with the Eeuwig edict ( decree of the century) to abolish the function of governor, which included the overthrow of the House of Orange. Later this time should be called het Eerste Stadhouderloos Tijdperk - the first period without governor . During this time Johan de Witt, the Dutch pensioner , was the most influential Dutch politician who, with the help of his powerful relatives, was able to rule the Dutch government apparatus.
Course of war
Charles II of England was the first to order Admiral Robert Holmes to attack the Dutch Smyrna fleet in March 1672 , and on April 6, 1672 France declared war and marched with 130,000 men from the Lower Rhine into the defenseless republic. The French army quickly took the unprepared and poorly trained Dutch field army by surprise, but there were no surprise attacks to capture the southern fortresses of Maastricht , 's-Hertogenbosch and Breda , where most of the troops were located. On June 12th the Rhine in the east of Nijmegen was crossed, Utrecht surrendered on June 21st; In the same days Overijssel and Drenthe were occupied by Munster and Cologne.
At sea, De Ruyter was able to repel the French-English fleet at Solebay on the English east coast on June 7 , but four Dutch provinces were captured within a few weeks. At the last moment, Holland was able to evade a threatened occupation by opening locks and dikes, which deliberately flooded stretches of land ( Dutch waterline ). Thereupon Holland on July 4th and Zeeland on July 16th appointed Willem III , who is now 21 years old . of Orange as governor , who was appointed captain general on February 25, 1672 and was charged with organizing national defense.
After the French invasion, Jan de Witt resigned from all offices. The governor's hatred culminated on August 20, 1672 in cruel lynching in The Hague , in which the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt were murdered. After these internal political upheavals, important ruling families such as the De Witt and the De Graeff lost their political leadership positions.
Later also appointed the remaining states of the Republic of Willem III. to General Admiral. Not until 1674 and 1675 was he appointed governor of Utrecht, Overijssel (1675) and Gelderland. At first he could only prevent a complete defeat by deliberately opening further locks and dams in order to flood the country and thus stop the advance of the French.
From September the tide began to turn and the Dutch started to see successes. It was possible to push the French back south. The war had raged only in the Netherlands in the first two years, but it has now spread to large parts of Europe because Willem III. entered into a coalition with Emperor Leopold I , the Elector of Brandenburg and Charles II of Spain to prevent the English from landing on the coast and to push back the invaders.
In December, Willem III. to the south and threatened the French supply lines from Maastricht. The Groningers recaptured Coevorden , forcing the Bishop of Münster to evacuate Drenthe. In July 1673 Maastricht was lost, but the threat from the Imperial Army forced the French to leave the territory of the Republic, with the exception of Maastricht, at the end of 1673.
As a result, peace was made with Cologne and Münster in 1674. England also agreed to the peace agreement in the Second Peace of Westminster . In 1678 peace was also made with France with the Treaty of Nijmegen .
literature
- Petra Dreiskämper: Redeloos, radeloos, reddeloos. de geschiedenis van het rampjaar 1672. Uitgeverij Verloren BV 1998. ISBN 90-6550-443-5 (Dutch).
- Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch).
Individual evidence
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 80
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 82
- ↑ Netherlands . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 12, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 151.
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 83
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 77
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 85
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 86
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 75
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 111
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 113
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 115
- ↑ The exact dates in this section from STAMPEI (Steunpunt Amsterdams Primair onderwijs voor Educatie en ICT): Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden: Het Rampjaar 1672
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 99
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 100
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 125
- ^ Wout Troost: Stadhouder-koning Willem III . Hilversum 2001. ISBN 90-6550-639-X (Dutch). Page 126