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132-940: In addition to the Eighty Years' War, the States Navy also participated in the Anglo-Dutch Wars , the Dutch–Portuguese War , the Northern Wars , the Franco-Dutch War and various conflicts of the French–Habsburg rivalry . It also played a major role in protecting Dutch overseas trade, including Dutch involvement in the triangular trade and the Atlantic slave trade . As a result of the War of

264-495: A lagoon . Only drastic administrative intervention saved the county from utter destruction. The counts and large monasteries took the lead in these efforts, building the first heavy emergency dikes to bolster critical points. Later special autonomous administrative bodies were formed, the waterschappen ("water control boards"), which had the legal power to enforce their regulations and decisions on water management . They eventually constructed an extensive dike system that covered

396-466: A sociolect . Some people, especially in the area north of Amsterdam, still speak the original dialect of the county, Hollandic. This dialect is present in the north: Volendam and Marken and the area around there, West Friesland and the Zaanstreek ; and in a southeastern fringe bordering the provinces of North Brabant and Utrecht . In the south on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee , Zeelandic

528-633: A Dutch invasion force that landed at Torbay in Devon . From there, he marched on London and successfully deposed James II of England . While occupying London with his troops William was placed on the English throne alongside his wife Mary and ended further Anglo-Dutch conflicts. Though remaining allies, England (and after 1707, Great Britain ) quickly surpassed the Dutch in military and economic power. From roughly 1720 onwards, Dutch economic growth experienced

660-565: A claim to command and precedence over those from the other admiralties, even though the Amsterdam Admiralty was the largest and richest admiralty that often fitted out the largest part of the fleet. The Bevelhebber van 's-Landts vloot thus invariably was employed by the Rotterdam admiralty. When in 1665/1666 the other admiralties also appointed lieutenant-admirals, Rotterdam appointed two: one to serve as confederal bevelhebber ,

792-563: A combination of naval battles and irregular privateering missions would cripple the Dutch Republic and force the States General to agree to a favourable peace. The plan was for English ships to be replenished, and sailors paid, with booty seized from captured Dutch merchant vessels returning from overseas. In 1665 many Dutch ships were captured, and Dutch trade and industry were hurt. The English achieved several victories over

924-737: A conclusive British victory and exposed the weakness of the political and economic foundations of the Dutch Republic, leading to instability and revolution . During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , France reduced the Netherlands to a satellite state and finally annexed the country in 1810. In 1797 the Dutch fleet was defeated by the British in the Battle of Camperdown , but an Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799

1056-567: A delegation to The Hague proposing that the Dutch Republic join the Commonwealth and assist the English in conquering most of Spanish America for its extremely valuable resources. This attempt to draw the Dutch into a lopsided alliance with England in fact led to war: the ruling faction in the States of Holland was unable to formulate an answer to this unexpected offer and the pro-Stuart Orangists incited mobs to harass Cromwell's envoys. When

1188-741: A deterioration in Anglo-Dutch relations. This subsequently led to a surge of anti-Dutch sentiment in England, the country being, as Samuel Pepys put it, "mad for war". English merchants and chartered companies—such as the East India Company, the Royal Adventurers Trading into Africa , and the Levant Company—calculated that global economic primacy could now be wrestled from the Dutch. They reckoned that

1320-472: A discount subsidized by the different Admiralties. The extraordinary captains thus acted as a victualing service. While cheap to buy, with the subsidy from the Admiralites, the profit on the supplies to the extraordinary captains could amount to thousands of guilders. The cost and profit on these supplies were the main income of these extraordinary captains. The sailors came mainly from the proletariat and

1452-569: A downturn when London was ravaged by plague and much of the City of London was burnt to the ground by a massive fire (which was generally interpreted in the Dutch Republic as divine retribution for Holmes's Bonfire ). A surprise attack in June 1667, the raid on the Medway , on the English fleet in its home port arguably won the war for the Dutch; British historian C. R. Boxer described it as one of

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1584-464: A global challenge to Dutch mercantile dominance. The mood in England grew increasingly belligerent towards the Dutch. This partly stemmed from old perceived slights: the Dutch were considered to have shown themselves ungrateful for the aid they had received against the Spanish by growing stronger than their former English protectors; Dutch fishermen caught most of the herring off the English east coast;

1716-717: A huge merchant fleet (with more ships than all other countries in Europe combined) and now had a dominant position in the European market in general, and the Baltic trade in particular. They had further conquered most of the Portuguese territories in the East Indies, creating a monopoly in the highly profitable spice trade, and gained more and more influence on maritime trade between England and its North American colonies. Under

1848-711: A joint commander (" gezamenlijke bevelvoerder ") of the naval admirals, a chief or as he came to be called the Chef of Ghemaghtigde der Staeten op 's-Landts Vloot (Chief Representative of the States on the Nation's Fleet). During the Stadholderless times when no Admiral General was appointed the supreme authority of the fleet resided in the States-General in the person of the Chef . From time to time, especially during

1980-830: A large Spanish transport fleet sought refuge in The Downs anchorage off the town of Deal, Kent , Charles chose not to protect it against a Dutch attack; the resulting Battle of the Downs undermined both Spanish sea power and Charles's reputation in Spain. Meanwhile, in the New World, forces from the Dutch New Netherlands colony and the English Massachusetts Bay Colony contested much of America's north-eastern seaboard. The outbreak of

2112-783: A more uniform culture for the whole of the Republic. The dialect of urban Holland became the standard language . The formation of the Batavian Republic , inspired by the French Revolution , led to a more centralised government. Holland became a province of a unitary state . Its independence was further reduced by an administrative reform in 1798, in which its territory was divided into several departments called Amstel , Delf , Texel , and part of Schelde en Maas . From 1806 to 1810, Napoleon styled his vassal state, governed by his brother Louis Napoleon and shortly by

2244-494: A new conflict with the Republic, even though the Dutch in the same period defeated his Portuguese and Swedish allies. After the English Restoration in 1660, Charles II tried through diplomatic means to make his nephew, Prince William III of Orange , stadtholder of the Republic. At the same time, Charles promoted a series of mercantilist policies aimed at encountering Dutch mercantile dominance, which again led to

2376-487: A new grade of Lieutenant Admiral General. He was not Admiral-General, to emphasize that the authority of the 1672 appointment of Stadholder Prince William III was not affected. After the death of De Ruyter in 1676 this rank was offered to Cornelis Tromp on 6 February 1679 to persuade him to be commander in chief of the Dutch navy. The delay was due to the fact that Tromp was in the Danish service as their Admiral General. After

2508-573: A number of secret agreements with Spain, directed against Dutch sea power. He also embarked on a major programme of naval reconstruction, enforcing ship money to finance the building of such prestige vessels as HMS  Sovereign of the Seas . But fearful of endangering his relations with the powerful Dutch stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange , his assistance to Spain was limited in practice to allowing Spanish troops on their way to Dunkirk to make use of English shipping. However, in 1639, when

2640-522: A number of vessels manned by crews of desperadoes drawn from all nationalities. Eighteen ships received letters of marque , which were equipped under his brother, Louis of Nassau , in the French Huguenot port of La Rochelle . They were called "Sea Beggars", "Gueux de mer" in French, or "Watergeuzen" in Dutch. The Sea Beggars continued to use La Rochelle as a base, as well as English Ports. By

2772-496: A secret annex, the Act of Seclusion , forbidding the infant Prince William III of Orange from becoming stadtholder of the province of Holland, which would prove to be a future cause of discontent. In 1653 the Dutch had started a major naval expansion programme, building sixty larger vessels, partly closing the qualitative gap with the English fleet. Cromwell, having started the war against Spain without Dutch help, during his rule avoided

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2904-423: A significant decline, and in 1780, the per capita gross national income of Britain surpassed their Dutch counterparts, leading to rising levels of resentment from the latter. The Diplomatic Revolution brought this to light and during the following Seven Years' War the Dutch remained neutral. When Britain's North American colonies revolted against British rule in 1776, the Dutch provided indirect support to

3036-593: A six month campaign. A year later saw the final conquest of the Dutch East Indies with the seizure of the whole of Java during a month-long campaign. With the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 , Britain returned all those colonies to the new Kingdom of the Netherlands , with the exception of the Cape , Ceylon , and part of Dutch Guyana . Some historians count the wars between Britain and

3168-703: A unit. The Hook and Cod wars started around this time and ended when the countess of Holland, Jacoba or Jacqueline was forced to cede Holland to the Burgundian Philip III, known as Philip the Good , in 1432. In 1432, Holland became part of the Burgundian Netherlands and since 1477 of the Habsburg Seventeen Provinces . In the 16th century the county became the most densely urbanised region in Europe, with

3300-562: Is Dutch . Hollanders sometimes call the Dutch language " Hollands, " instead of the standard term Nederlands . Inhabitants of Belgium and other provinces of the Netherlands use "Hollands" to mean a Hollandic dialect or strong accent. Standard Dutch was historically largely based on the dialect of the County of Holland , incorporating many traits derived from the dialects of the previously more powerful Duchy of Brabant and County of Flanders . Strong dialectal variation still exists throughout

3432-601: Is Zealand . The region is bordered on the east by the IJsselmeer and four Dutch provinces. Holland is protected from the sea by a long line of coastal dunes . The highest point in Holland, about 55 metres (180 ft) above sea level, is in the Schoorlse Duinen  [ nl ] (Schoorl Dunes). Most of the land area behind the dunes consists of polder landscape lying well below sea level . At present

3564-489: Is constantly under development on the edges of the built-up areas. Nevertheless, much of the province still has a rural character. The remaining agricultural land and natural areas are highly valued and protected. Most of the arable land is used for intensive agriculture , including horticulture and greenhouse agri-businesses. The land that is now Holland has not been geographically "stable" since prehistoric times. The western coastline shifted up to 30 kilometres (19 miles) to

3696-445: Is even employed by many Dutch themselves. However, some in the Netherlands (particularly those from regions outside Holland or the west) find it undesirable or misrepresentative to use the term for the whole country. In January 2020, the Netherlands officially dropped its support of the word Holland for the whole country, which included a logo redesign that changed "Holland" to "NL". The name Holland first appeared in sources for

3828-542: Is no longer in common use. " Hollandic " is the name linguists give to the dialect spoken in Holland, and is occasionally also used by historians and when referring to pre-Napoleonic Holland. Initially, Holland was a remote corner of the Holy Roman Empire . Gradually, its regional importance increased until it began to have a decisive, and ultimately dominant, influence on the History of the Netherlands . Until

3960-430: Is now unusual. Today this refers specifically to people from the current provinces of North Holland and South Holland. Strictly speaking, the term "Hollanders" does not refer to people from the other provinces in the Netherlands, but colloquially "Hollanders" is sometimes used in this wider sense. In Dutch, the word Hollands is the adjectival form for Holland . Hollands is also colloquially used by some Dutch people in

4092-627: Is similar to the tendency to refer to the United Kingdom as "England", and developed due to Holland's becoming the dominant province and thus having the majority of political and economic interactions with other countries. Between 1806 and 1810 "Holland" was the official name for the country as a whole, after Napoleon made his brother Louis Bonaparte the monarch of the Kingdom of Holland . The people of Holland are referred to as "Hollanders" in both Dutch and English, though in English this

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4224-464: Is spoken. The province of Holland gave its name to a number of colonial settlements and regions that were called Nieuw Holland or New Holland . The largest was the island continent presently known as Australia : New Holland was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Dirk Hartog as a Latin Nova Hollandia , and remained in international use for 190 years. New Zealand

4356-420: Is the seat of government of the Netherlands. These cities, combined with Utrecht and other smaller municipalities, effectively form a single metroplex —a conurbation called Randstad . The Randstad area is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe, but still relatively free of urban sprawl . There are strict zoning laws . Population pressures are enormous, property values are high, and new housing

4488-576: The Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland during the Napoleonic era as the Fifth and Sixth Anglo-Dutch wars. Holland Holland is a geographical region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands . From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the counts of Holland . By

4620-654: The Battle of Leghorn near Italy and had gained effective control of both the Mediterranean and the English Channel . Blake, recovering from an injury, rethought, together with George Monck , the whole system of naval tactics, and after the winter of 1653 used the line of battle , first to drive the Dutch navy out of the English Channel in the Battle of Portland and then out of the North Sea in

4752-647: The Battle of Trafalgar France gave up its attempt to match the British fleet, despite a strong Dutch lobby to this effect. Britain also invaded several Dutch colonies, firstly in the Americas - Essequibo was captured in 1803 and Suriname was taken the following year. Following their victory at Trafalgar, Britain was now able to strike Dutch colonies elsewhere at will. The Cape Colony was captured in Southern Africa in January 1806. The Dutch territories in

4884-554: The Battle of the Gabbard . The Dutch were unable to effectively resist as the States General of the Netherlands had not in time heeded the warnings of their admirals that much larger warships were needed. In the final Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653, Tromp was killed, a blow to Dutch morale, but the English had to end their blockade of the Dutch coast. As both nations were by now exhausted and Cromwell had dissolved

5016-473: The Dutch Republic were in the province of Holland, such as Amsterdam , Rotterdam , Leiden , Alkmaar , The Hague , Delft , Dordrecht and Haarlem . From the great ports of Holland, Hollandic merchants sailed to and from destinations all over Europe , and merchants from all over Europe gathered to trade in the warehouses of Amsterdam and other trading cities of Holland. Many Europeans thought of

5148-524: The Dutch Republic , the army and navy were the main base of power of the Stadtholder , although the budget allocated to them was set by the States General . With the arrival of peace, the States General decided to decommission most of the Dutch military. This led to conflict between the major Dutch cities and the new Stadtholder, William II of Orange , bringing the Republic to the brink of civil war. The Stadtholder's unexpected death in 1650 only added to

5280-706: The English Civil War in 1642 began a period in which England's naval position was severely weakened. Its navy was internally divided, though its officers tended to favour the parliamentary side; after the execution by public beheading of King Charles in 1649, however, Oliver Cromwell was able to unite his country into the Commonwealth of England . He then revamped the navy by expanding the number of ships, promoting officers on merit rather than family connections, and cracking down on embezzlement by suppliers and dockyard staff, thereby positioning England to mount

5412-777: The Glorious Revolution , England and the Republic fought as allies against France in the Nine Years' War and War of the Spanish Succession . The battle shifted from the North Sea and the English Channel to the French coast and the Mediterranean, where the Dutch fleet sailed against the squadrons of Louis XIV and the Barbary pirates . In the 18th century the States fleet could no longer compete against Britain and France. An ambitious building program in

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5544-904: The Kingdom of Holland . After the French period (1814), it became the Department of the Navy of the Royal Netherlands Navy that is the direct successor to the Dutch Fleet. see Lieutenant Admiral-General In 1588 Supreme Command of the Fleet was given by the States General to Prince Maurits as commander in chief of the army and navy. In the case of the navy, his rank was " Admiral General ". Maurice's successors as princes of Orange, as Stadholder of Holland, Zealand, etc., were appointed, in addition to their role as Captain General of

5676-563: The Low Countries . Today, Holland proper is the region where the original dialects are least spoken, in many areas having been completely replaced by standard Dutch, and the Randstad has the largest influence on the developments of the standard language—with the exception of the Dutch spoken in Belgium. Despite this correspondence between standard Dutch and the Dutch spoken in the Randstad, there are local variations within Holland itself that differ from standard Dutch. The main cities each have their own modern urban dialect, that can be considered

5808-407: The Spanish Empire itself were up for grabs. Cromwell feared the influence of both the Orangist faction at home and English royalists exiled to the Republic; the Stadtholders had supported the Stuart monarchs—William II of Orange had married the daughter of Charles I of England in 1641—and they abhorred the trial and execution of Charles I. Early in 1651 Cromwell tried to ease tensions by sending

5940-446: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands . Holland was divided into the present provinces North Holland and South Holland in 1840, after the Belgian Revolution of 1830. This reflected a historical division of Holland along the IJ into a Southern Quarter ( Zuiderkwartier ) and a Northern Quarter ( Noorderkwartier ), but the present division is different from the old division. From 1850, a strong process of nation formation took place,

6072-408: The capital city ( Amsterdam ), the home of Europe's largest port ( Rotterdam ), and the seat of government ( The Hague ). Holland has a population of 6,583,534 as of November 2019, and a population density of 1203/km . The name Holland has frequently been used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. This casual usage is commonly accepted in other countries, and

6204-481: The "most humiliating defeat suffered by British arms". A flotilla of ships led by Michiel de Ruyter sailed up the Thames Estuary, broke through the defences guarding Chatham Harbour , set fire to several warships moored there, and towed away HMS  Unity and the Royal Charles , flagship and second largest ship of the Royal Navy. Also in June 1667, the Dutch sailed a vessel from New Amsterdam into modern-day Hampton Roads, Virginia , destroying an English ship in

6336-445: The 1780s was disrupted by the disastrous course of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784). Although the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) , led by Admiral Johan Zoutman , ended in a draw was in fact a strategic defeat. At the Treaty of Paris (1783) Britain was given freedom of navigation in the East Indian waters. Under the Batavian Republic the five admiralties were replaced by a central organization, later ministry. Under William I

6468-430: The 17th century, in order to meet the heavier ships of the line of the Royal Navy on equal terms, ships were built to purpose as heavy warships/ ships of the line for continuous naval service. This innovation is due mainly to Johan de Witt . To carry out their duties, the admiralties possessed yards, warehouses and offices. In 1795 the admiralties were replaced by a central Admiralty in the Batavian Republic and later

6600-400: The 17th century, the province of Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic . The area of the former County of Holland roughly coincides with the two current Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland into which it was divided, and which together include the Netherlands' three largest cities:

6732-409: The Admiralties which established the management of naval affairs for the Republic until 1795. Within a few years there were five different admiralty colleges located at The Admiralty colleges were governed by the Lord Councils in Admiralty or just Council of the Admiralty . As Stadholder , the princes of Orange that succeeded Maurice were also appointed to his offices and so were Admiral General of

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6864-449: The Army, Admiral General of the Navy. The Admiral General was commander-in-chief of the fleet and chairman of the Admiralty colleges. In this capacity he was able to provide central direction to naval policy over the five separate admiralties. In practice, as the Stadholder/Admiral General never fought in person with fleet, his day-to-day supreme command of the fleet devolved upon the lieutenant-admiral of Rotterdam. This officer functioned as

6996-419: The Caribbean were all taken by 1807 including the largest island, Curacao . The Dutch East Indies was the only area left to be taken. Starting with the first Java campaign of 1806–1807 which saw the Royal Navy defeating the Dutch fleets to ensure British dominance in the region. After the incorporation of the Netherlands in the French Empire in 1810, the British that year captured the Spice Islands during

7128-450: The Dutch East India Company had driven English traders out of the East Indies; and Dutch merchants vociferously appealed to the principle of free trade to circumvent taxation in English colonies. There were also new points of conflict: with the decline of Spanish power at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the colonial possessions of the Portuguese Empire (already in the midst of Portuguese Restoration War ) and perhaps even those of

7260-415: The Dutch Republic ), made it possible for the Republic to "punch above its weight" in military matters. Without the international "open market" for money the Republic, with its population of about 1.5 million in the 17th century, would simply have lacked the manpower base to compete with countries like Spain (10 million inhabitants in the period in question) and France (20 million). In the early 17th century,

7392-533: The Dutch fleet and, secondly, William had earlier sent De Ruyter with an inadequate fleet to the Mediterranean against a much larger French fleet. A Fleet Guardian (" Vlootvoogd ") was generally also appointed and functioned as a deputy fleet commander. Although the concept admiral is used in many books, this is not an official rank or title. It was the name popularly given to commanders of a naval fleet or part of it, whose actual rank could be: admiral, lieutenant-admiral, vice admiral, or Rear-Admiral . Though usually

7524-517: The Dutch had many more merchant ships, together with lower freight rates, better financing and a wider range of manufactured goods to sell – although Dutch ships were blocked by the Spanish from operations in most of southern Europe, giving the English an advantage there. To protect English commercial interests in North America, in October 1651 the English Parliament passed the first of the Navigation Acts , which mandated that all goods imported into England must be carried by English ships or vessels from

7656-459: The Dutch merchantmen to obstruct free passage. One example was the Battle of Dungeness in December 1652, in which Maarten Tromp managed to keep the Channel open to Dutch shipping. The Battle of Livorno in 1653 under Commander Johan van Galen where the Dutch prevailed in the Mediterranean Sea, the English trade with the Levant was greatly disrupted as a result. In the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667) five major actions took place, almost all off

7788-407: The Dutch, such as taking the Dutch colony of New Netherland (present day New York) by Charles' brother, the future James II; but there were also Dutch victories, such as the capture of the Royal Navy flagship Prince Royal during the Four Days Battle —the subject of a famous painting by Willem van de Velde . Dutch maritime trade recovered from 1666, while the English war effort and economy suffered

7920-438: The English Navigation Acts vessels flying the Dutch flag were denied access to English ports if they were carrying goods not coming from the Netherlands. Because this was the lion's share of the Dutch shipping in England, these laws undermined the commercial position of the Netherlands. This rivalry led to the Anglo-Dutch Wars . During the First Anglo-Dutch War ( 1652 - 1654 ) the British fleet operations were aimed primarily at

8052-481: The English attempted to begin refining the wool themselves in the Cockayne Project , this failed, however, because the States General banned the import of finished textiles from England. The English textile industry stagnated for decades. In 1617 England lifted the ban, but the Dutch ban remained in effect. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Dutch took over the traditional trade of England with Spain and Portugal, which caused huge resentment. The Netherlands had

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8184-408: The English coast. In 1667 the Dutch under Michiel de Ruyter undertook the Raid on the Medway . The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( 1672 - 1674 ) was part of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678). In that year England , France , Cologne and Münster declared war on the Republic, hoping to ruin its mercantile position. Facing the large Anglo-French numerical superiority at sea, the States fleet was soon on

8316-408: The English ports where they were able to refit and replenish their stores. However, in 1572, Queen Elizabeth I of England , seeking to placate Philip II of Spain , abruptly refused to admit the Sea Beggars to her harbours. No longer having refuge, the Sea Beggars, under the command of Willem Bloys van Treslong , made a desperate attack upon Brielle , which they seized by surprise in the absence of

8448-423: The English were successful in the first major battle, with Blade defeating the Dutch Vice-Admiral Witte de With in the Battle of the Kentish Knock in October 1652. Believing that the war was all but over, the English divided their forces and in December were routed by the fleet of Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp at the Battle of Dungeness in the English Channel . The Dutch were also victorious in March 1653, at

8580-498: The First Coalition , the Dutch Republic ceased to exist in 1795, being succeeded by the Batavian Republic ; the States Navy was correspondingly transformed into the Batavian Navy . The current navy of the Netherlands , the Royal Netherlands Navy , is the modern successor of the States Navy and inherited many of its traditions. Naval policy in the Netherlands was originally decentralized. Each port area would fit out fleets to combat pirates and other threats to navigation paid for by

8712-418: The French and Spanish. There would be more battles during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . The English and the Dutch were both participants in the 16th-century European religious conflicts between the Catholic Habsburg Dynasty and the opposing Protestant states . At the same time, as the Age of Exploration dawned, the Dutch and English both sought profits overseas in the New World . In

8844-492: The Hollanders, to whom certain qualities are ascribed within a mental geography , a conceptual mapping of spaces and their inhabitants. On the other hand, some Hollanders take Holland's cultural dominance for granted and treat the concepts of "Holland" and "the Netherlands" as coinciding. Consequently, they see themselves not primarily as Hollanders, but simply as Dutch ( Nederlanders ). This phenomenon has been called "hollandocentrism". The predominant language spoken in Holland

8976-468: The Kingdom of Spain by signing the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585 with the new Dutch state of the United Provinces . After the death of Elizabeth I, Anglo-Spanish relations began to improve under James the First , and the peace of 1604 ended most privateering actions (until the outbreak of the next Anglo-Spanish War during the Thirty Years' War ). Underfunding then led to neglect of the Royal Navy . Later, Catholic sympathiser Charles I of England made

9108-506: The Netherlands a high peat plateau had grown, forming a natural protection against the sea. Much of the area was marsh and bog . By the tenth century the inhabitants set about cultivating this land by draining it. However, the drainage resulted in extreme soil shrinkage, lowering the surface of the land by up to 15 metres (49 feet). To the south of Holland, in Zeeland , and to the north, in Frisia , this development led to catastrophic storm floods literally washing away entire regions, as

9240-405: The Netherlands being culturally unified and economically integrated by a modernisation process, with the cities of Holland as its centre. Holland is located in the west of the Netherlands. A maritime region, Holland lies on the North Sea at the mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas). It contains numerous rivers and lakes, and has an extensive inland canal and waterway system. To the south

9372-506: The Netherlands was created in February 1673 by the Stadholder William III for Michiel de Ruyter to cement his authority and prestige above the other lieutenant-admirals of the Navy and ensure undivided command of the fleet. De Ruyter had functioned since the Second Anglo-Dutch War with the rank of lieutenant-admiral as commander in chief, without rank to be higher than other lieutenant-admirals. To put an end to this situation, but also in recognition of his great achievements, De Ruyter received

9504-446: The North Sea or the English Channel to lower their colours when encountering English warships. On 29 May 1652, Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp refused to lower the colours of his ships after encountering an English fleet led by General at Sea Robert Blake . This resulted in a skirmish, the Battle of Dover , after which the Commonwealth of England declared war on the Dutch Republic on 10 July. After some inconclusive minor fights

9636-613: The Republic, 23 ships with sailors and officers, so Fehmarn could be occupied by the Swedes. The Danes banned in 1640 the export of timber from Norway. The Netherlands and Sweden began a war against the Danes, after which the Danes blocked the Sound. In 1644 and 1645 Witte de With, therefore, on the Brederode with a huge convoy merchantmen - 702 in the return fleet of the previous year - forced

9768-723: The Sea Beggars defeated a Spanish squadron under the command of Admiral Bossu off the port of Hoorn in the Battle on the Zuiderzee . Mixing with the native population, they quickly sparked rebellions against Spanish Rule and the Spanish Governor-General of the Netherlands, the Duke of Alba , in town after town and spread the resistance southward. Some of the forefathers of the Dutch naval heroes began their naval careers as Sea Beggars, such as Evert Heindricxzen,

9900-469: The Sound and imposed a favourable toll treaty. See: First Anglo-Dutch War , Second Anglo-Dutch War , Third Anglo-Dutch War , Glorious Revolution , Fourth Anglo-Dutch War During the 17th century the Republic's maritime expansion aroused more and more envy, especially the from English. Besides Baltic bulk trade there was an increasing focus on luxury goods from Asia. The textile industry focused increasingly on refining wool imported from England. In 1614

10032-689: The Spanish domination at sea. In addition, the fleet blockaded the Flemish coast and escorted the merchant fleet towards the Baltic Sea. The close relations between the Swedes and the Dutch angered the Danes . Many Dutch merchants had settled in Sweden, where they had a large share in the structure of trade and industry. One of them was Louis de Geer . In 1644 a complete naval expeditionary force arrived from

10164-433: The Spanish garrison on 1 April 1572. Encouraged by this success, they now sailed to the larger port of Vlissingen , which was also taken by a coup de main . The capture of these two towns prompted several nearby towns to declare for revolt, starting a chain reaction that resulted in the majority of Holland joining in a general revolt of the Netherlands, and is regarded as the real beginning of Dutch independence. In 1573

10296-642: The Stadholderless periods, the States General also appointed one or several deputies to accompany the fleet. It was in this capacity that Cornelis de Witt accompanied the fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Raid on the Medway . The lieutenant-admirals of each admiralty were appointed on the basis of experience and expertise. Those from the Admiralty of the Maas, as the oldest admiralty, had

10428-405: The States fleet was reinforced with armed merchant ships. The introduction of the line tactics but made agility, sailing capacity, speed and uniformity of the vessels increasingly important. In 1653 the States-General at the initiative of Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt to the construction of sixty ships. The Seven Provinces was one of these ships were built for the war with England. Johan de Witt,

10560-637: The States-General had the final responsibility. In practice, therefore, this concentrated that supervisory power in the Grand Pensionary of the powerful States of Holland and West-Friesland. Although the Admiralty colleges were organs of the Union and thus accountable to the State-General, the bodies were regional. The regions had a lot of influence, despite the joint meetings in The Hague and

10692-441: The Union and chairman of the colleges. Through this mechanism they were able to provide central control and coordination to naval affairs. The prince was represented in each college by a lieutenant-admiral (initially only at Rotterdam; the other colleges had vice-admirals at first but in 1665 also appointed lieutenant-admirals), who was assisted by a judge-advocate and a secretary. If there was no Stadholder - as between 1650 and 1672 -

10824-603: The United Provinces first as Holland rather than as the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands . A strong impression of Holland was planted in the minds of other Europeans, which then was projected back onto the Republic as a whole. Within the provinces themselves, a gradual slow process of cultural expansion took place, leading to a "Hollandification" of the other provinces and

10956-406: The area of the Netherlands. Looking at land alone, it is 5,488 square kilometres (2,119 square miles) in area. The combined population was 6.5 million in 2018. The main cities in Holland are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Amsterdam is formally the capital of the Netherlands and its largest city. The Port of Rotterdam is Europe's largest and most important harbour and port. The Hague

11088-626: The aspect of financing of a military force is seen as "derivative," in the case of the States Navy, as with the States Army it played an important formative role, and influenced the peculiarities of the organisation also. Unlike the Army, which was made up primarily of mercenaries, the Navy was made up primarily of Dutch natives. The financial institutions of the Dutch Republic, including its banking system that allowed it to raise large amounts of capital at low rates of interest (see Financial history of

11220-490: The central government. The Burgundian and Habsburg rulers started a central policy of a naval organization, defense and offense. In 1488 they established an Admiralty of the Netherlands at Veere by the Ordinance on the Admiralty issued 8 January. The admiralty of Flanders was made a vice-admiralty and subordinated to the Admiralty at Veere. Still, the interests of the central government did not always match those of

11352-549: The coastline and the polders, thus protecting the land from further incursions by the sea. However, the Hollanders did not stop there. Starting around the 16th century, they took the offensive and began land reclamation projects, converting lakes, marshy areas and adjoining mudflats into polders . This continued well into the 20th century. As a result, historical maps of medieval and early modern Holland bear little resemblance to present maps. This ongoing struggle to master

11484-544: The councilor pensionary of Holland and leading statesman of the Republic, worked closely with Michiel de Ruyter, who was in command on behalf of the States General of the fleet, and the Amsterdam merchant and member of the Admiralty College David Wildt, who had to provide the money. In the 1660s a second series of sixty ships was commissioned. Thus, a large standing war fleet of a hundred ships of

11616-523: The county was inherited by Count John II of Hainaut . By the time of William V ( House of Wittelsbach ; 1354–1388) the count of Holland was also the count of Hainaut and Zealand . After the St. Lucia's flood in 1287 the part of Frisia west of the later Zuiderzee , West Friesland , was conquered. As a result, most provincial institutions, including the States of Holland and West Frisia , would for more than five centuries refer to "Holland and West Frisia" as

11748-606: The cultural, political and economic centre of the United Provinces ( Dutch : Verenigde Provinciën ), in the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age , the wealthiest nation in the world. After the King of Spain was deposed as the count of Holland, the executive and legislative power rested with the States of Holland, which was led by a political figure who held the office of Grand Pensionary . The largest cities in

11880-439: The death of Cornelis Tromp in 1691, the rank was not assigned to any other naval officer. Formally Tromp never held this rank. He died before he could occupy this rank in Dutch service. The Stadholder-King William III then ordered that this rank may no longer be used. Possible reasons for this were because on the one hand the rank of Lieutenant-Admiral-General of the fallen De Ruyter looked too much like his role of Admiral General of

12012-456: The defensive. De Ruyter did however hold the enemy off from the Dutch coast thanks to his tactical ingenuity. During these wars de Ruyter distinguished himself further, becoming the greatest Dutch naval hero. The conclusion of the Treaty of Westminster (1674) brought an end to the trade wars between the rival navies. After Stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau was proclaimed king of England in

12144-459: The delegation returned home, the Parliament of England decided to pursue a policy of confrontation. As a result of Cromwell's ambitious programme of naval expansion, at a time when the Dutch admiralties were selling off many of their own warships, the English came to possess a greater number of larger and more powerful purpose-built warships than their rivals across the North Sea did. However,

12276-830: The early 1600s, the Dutch, while continuing to fight the Eighty Years' War with the Catholic Habsburgs , also began to carry out long-distance exploration by sea. The Dutch innovation in the trading of shares in a joint-stock company allowed them to finance expeditions with stock subscriptions sold in the United Provinces and in London. They founded colonies in North America, India, and Indonesia (the Spice Islands ). They also enjoyed continued success in privateering – in 1628 Admiral Piet Heyn became

12408-509: The east and storm surges regularly broke through the row of coastal dunes. The Frisian Isles , originally joined to the mainland, became detached islands in the north. The main rivers, the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas) , flooded regularly and changed course repeatedly and dramatically. The people of Holland found themselves living in an unstable, watery environment. Behind the dunes on the coast of

12540-402: The end of 1569, already 84 Sea Beggars ships were in action. The Sea Beggars were also adept at land borne operations, which made capturing coastal cities attractive. They were under the command of a succession of daring and reckless leaders, the best-known of whom is William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey , At first they were content merely to plunder both by sea and land, carrying their booty to

12672-466: The enemy. A States fleet destroyed in 1607 an entire Spanish fleet at the Battle of Gibraltar . Partly as a result of the destruction of much of the Spanish fleet in 1608, peace talks launched in 1609 resulted in the Twelve Years' Truce . The Battle of the Downs in 1639 - in which Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp and Vice-Admiral Witte de With defeated a Spanish fleet of 55 ships, put an end to

12804-506: The enormous growth of the Dutch merchant fleet, made possible by the cheap mass production of the fluyt sailing ship types. Soon the Dutch had one of Europe's largest mercantile fleets , with more merchant ships than all other nations combined, and possessed a dominant position in the Baltic trade . In 1648 the Dutch concluded the Peace of Münster with Spain. Due to the division of powers in

12936-460: The equipment of the navy. The other main task of the admiralties was to build, maintain and equip the navy. The admiralties were also entitled to act as judge in disputes and as a prize court. The admiralties independently nominated and commissioned junior officers. Flag officers and captains were appointed by the States-General, on the recommendation of the Admiralty. Originally, the admiralty ships were leased or advanced by merchant companies. Later in

13068-631: The exporting countries, thus excluding (mostly Dutch) middlemen. Agitation among the Dutch merchants as a result of the Navigation Acts was further increased by George Ayscue 's capture in early 1652 of 27 Dutch merchant ships trading with the royalist colony of Barbados in contravention of an embargo imposed by the Parliamentarians. The Dutch responded to the growing tensions by enlisting large numbers of armed merchantmen into their navy. In 1652, Cromwell required all foreign warships in

13200-561: The force was re-established as the Royal Netherlands Navy, from 1905 officially the Royal Navy. Anglo-Dutch Wars The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( Dutch : Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen ) were mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain ) in the mid-17th and late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second half of the 17th century over trade and overseas colonies , while

13332-416: The form of one College of Admiralty consisting of delegates from all the provinces. Provincial particularism, however, ensured that months later this was cast aside. The competition between the differing admiralties became so grim that Zeeland and Holland impounded each other's ships, and Elizabeth I of England tried to broker a reconciliation. On 13 August 1597 the States-General issued an Instruction for

13464-469: The fourth was fought a century later. Almost all the battles were naval engagements. The English were successful in the first Anglo-Dutch war, while the Dutch were successful in the second and third. However, in the century between the third and fourth war, the British Royal Navy had become the most powerful maritime force in the world, while the Dutch navy had fallen to fourth position, behind

13596-572: The grandfather of Cornelis Evertsen the Elder . see Admiralties (Dutch) The success of the Dutch Revolt required a better system of naval governance. In 1586, the then governor-general, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester , established a new instruction for the Admiralty. Based on this new instruction, the admiralty councils in Veere , Rotterdam and Hoorn were founded. An admiralty council

13728-408: The harbour and bombarding its fort. The raid on the Medway led to widespread anger in England towards the government. This, together with the mounting costs of the war and the extravagant spending of Charles's court, produced a rebellious atmosphere in London. Charles ordered the English envoys at Breda to sign a peace quickly with the Dutch, as he feared an open revolt against him. Soon the Royal Navy

13860-655: The influence of the Prince of Orange and/or the Grand Pensionary. As the admiralty with the most money and fitting out the most ships, the Admiralty of Amsterdam had the most influence. The Admiralty colleges had the task of protecting coastal waters and the commercial fleet, which included the Dutch East India Company fleet. To support this, they had the power to levy tax funds through convoys and licenses (import and export duties) and thus pay for

13992-470: The line, frigates and lighter vessels formed in the second half of the 17th century. The largest charter, including the Seven Provinces , the flagship of De Ruyter, was equipped with 80 to 96 guns. The navy had normally about three to four thousand seamen. When war threatened thousands of sailors were mustered. This was generally just for one campaign. Flag officers and captains were responsible for

14124-608: The local merchants. The title of Admiral (from the Arabic emir-al-bahr "commander [or prince] of the sea") for naval commanders of ships which protected commercial convoys against piracy already existed temporary in the different parts of the Low Countries. It was Louis II of Flanders who first appointed a permanent government official called admiral in Flanders at Dunkirk in 1383 with responsibilities and funding from

14256-452: The lowest point in Holland is a polder near Rotterdam , which is about 7 metres (23  ft ) below sea level. Continuous drainage is necessary to keep Holland from flooding. In earlier centuries, windmills were used for this task. The landscape was (and in places still is) dotted with windmills, which have become a symbol of Holland. Holland is 7,494 square kilometres (2,893 square miles ), land and water included, making it roughly 13% of

14388-492: The majority of the population living in cities. Within the Burgundian Netherlands, Holland was the dominant province in the north; the political influence of Holland largely determined the extent of Burgundian dominion in that area. The last count of Holland was Philip III, better known as Philip II , king of Spain. He was deposed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration , although the kings of Spain continued to carry

14520-478: The multinational population of the port cities. In 1665 a regiment of soldiers aboard the ship was instituted under Baron Willem Joseph van Ghent . These later became the nucleus of the Netherlands Marine Corps . During the 17th century the Republic was involved in numerous battles. The main goal was keeping open the trade routes at sea and the defense of the territory. Until 1648, Spain was

14652-524: The only commander to successfully capture a large Spanish treasure fleet . With the many long voyages by Dutch East Indiamen , their society built an officer class and institutional knowledge that would later be replicated in England, principally by the East India Company . By the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch joined the Portuguese as the main European traders in Asia. This coincided with

14784-560: The other as a subordinate to command the Rotterdam fleet. This arrangement was highly confusing even to contemporaries, confounded by the habit to call every admiral of the province of Holland "Admiral of Holland". When de Ruyter in 1665 was given command of the national fleet, he was transferred from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. In 1666, Aert Jansse van Nes became his subordinate as Lieutenant-Admiral of Rotterdam. At this point there were four "Lieutenant-Admirals of Holland" plus two for Zealand and Friesland. The rank of Lieutenant Admiral General in

14916-524: The peat layer disintegrated or became detached and was carried away by the flood water. From the Frisian side the sea even flooded the area to the east, gradually hollowing Holland out from behind and forming the Zuiderzee (the present IJsselmeer). This inland sea threatened to link up with the "drowned lands" of Zealand in the south, reducing Holland to a series of narrow dune barrier islands in front of

15048-465: The political tensions. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I commissioned several privateers to carry out long-range attacks against the Spanish Empire 's global interests, exemplified by the attacks by Francis Drake on Spanish merchant shipping and colonial possessions. Partly to provide a pretext for ongoing hostilities against Spain, Elizabeth assisted the Dutch Revolt (1581) against

15180-437: The reality of everyday Holland. These stereotypes were deliberately created in the late 19th century by official "Holland Promotion" to attract tourists. The predominance of Holland in the Netherlands has resulted in regionalism on the part of the other provinces, a reaction to the perceived threat that Holland poses to their local culture and identity. The other provinces have a strong, and often negative, image of Holland and

15312-414: The rebels, angering the British, who eventually declared war on the Dutch in 1780. By this point, the Dutch navy had severely weakened, possessing only 20 ships of the line . The conflict consisted mostly of a series of successful British operations against Dutch colonial interests , though one fleet action took place at the battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781, which was indecisive. The war ended in

15444-407: The recruitment of persons on board. Officers of the fleet constituted an exception. Already in the early 17th century a couple of experienced captains were in the permanent employment of the Navy at a salary. These were called the extraordinary captains. These captains were also responsible for the victualing of the fleet. Every captain of a ship bought the supplies from these extraordinary captains at

15576-463: The region around Haarlem , and by 1064 was being used as the name of the entire county. By the early twelfth century, the inhabitants of Holland were called Hollandi in a Latin text. Holland is derived from the Old Dutch term holtlant ('wood-land'). This spelling variation remained in use until around the 14th century, at which time the name stabilised as Holland (alternative spellings at

15708-539: The regions, so that the gewesten (the various provinces, such as counties and territories, constituting the Netherlands) regularly sent our their own fleets. The Dutch Navy began with and traces its roots back to the Sea Beggars . In 1569 William of Orange , who had now openly placed himself at the head of the party of revolt, granted letters of marque as monarch of the sovereign Principality of Orange , to

15840-498: The sense of Nederlands (the Dutch language), occasionally with the intention of contrasting with other types of Dutch people or forms of the language—for example Limburgish , the Belgian varieties of the Dutch language (" Flemish "), or even any southern variety of Dutch within the Netherlands itself. In English, Dutch refers to the Netherlands as a whole, but there is no commonly used adjective for "Holland". The word "Hollandish"

15972-479: The son of Louis, Napoleon Louis Bonaparte , as the " Kingdom of Holland ". This kingdom encompassed much of what would become the modern Netherlands. The name reflects how natural at the time it had become to equate Holland with the non-Belgian Netherlands as a whole. During the period when the Low Countries were annexed by the French Empire and actually incorporated into France (from 1810 to 1813), Holland

16104-544: The start of the 12th century, the inhabitants of the area that became Holland were known as Frisians . The area was initially part of Frisia . At the end of the 9th century, West-Frisia became a separate county in the Holy Roman Empire . The first count known about with certainty was Dirk I , who ruled from 896 to 931. He was succeeded by a long line of counts in the House of Holland (who were in fact known as counts of Frisia until 1101). When John I died childless in 1299,

16236-553: The time were Hollant and Hollandt ). A popular but erroneous folk etymology holds that Holland is derived from hol land ('hollow land' in Dutch), purportedly inspired by the low-lying geography of the land. "Holland" is informally used in English and other languages, including sometimes the Dutch language itself, to mean the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands . This example of pars pro toto or synecdoche

16368-593: The titular appellation of Count of Holland until the Peace of Münster signed in 1648. In the Dutch Rebellion against the Habsburgs during the Eighty Years' War , the naval forces of the rebels, the Watergeuzen , established their first permanent base in 1572 in the town of Brill . In this way, Holland, now a sovereign state in a larger Dutch confederation, became the centre of the rebellion. It became

16500-415: The warlike Rump Parliament , ongoing peace negotiations could be brought to fruition, albeit after many months of slow diplomatic exchanges. The war ended on 5 April 1654, with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster (ratified by the States General on 8 May), but the commercial rivalry was not resolved, the English having failed to replace the Dutch as the world's dominant trade nation. The treaty contained

16632-425: The water played an important role in the development of Holland as a maritime and economic power, and has traditionally been seen as developing the presumed collective character of its inhabitants: stubborn, egalitarian and frugal. The stereotypical image of Holland is a contrived amalgam of tulips , windmills , clogs , Edam cheese and the traditional dress ( klederdracht ) of the village of Volendam , far from

16764-527: Was also founded in Ostend . Ostend, however, was since 1572 under the influence of Zeeland , and under pressure from Zeeland, this admiralty was abolished in the following year. After the three-year Siege of Ostend , the city's admiralty was put under the Dunkirk Admiralty founded by Parma in 1583. In 1596 there was an attempt by the States-General to centralize the administration of the navy in

16896-549: Was divided into départements Zuyderzée , and Bouches-de-la-Meuse . From 1811 to 1813, Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance served as governor-general . He was assisted by Antoine de Celles, Goswin de Stassart and François Jean-Baptiste d'Alphonse. In 1813, Dutch dignitaries proclaimed the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands . In 1815, Holland was restored as a province of

17028-399: Was less successful. France still considered both the extant Dutch fleet and the large Dutch shipbuilding capacity very important assets. The Dutch navy was supposed to take part in the planned invasion of the United Kingdom . To this end a large flotilla of flat-bottomed boats was built in the Batavian Republic , that had to be transported over sea to Boulogne. This was successful , but after

17160-480: Was likewise named after the Dutch province of Zealand , after an exploratory voyage lead by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman landed there. In the Netherlands Nieuw Holland would remain the usual name of the continent until the end of the 19th century; it is now no longer in use there, the Dutch name today being Australië . While "Holland" has been replaced in English as the official name for

17292-574: Was made to invade the Dutch Republic by sea. De Ruyter won a series of strategic victories against the Anglo-French fleet and prevented an invasion of the Dutch Republic. After these failures, the English parliament forced Charles to make peace. In 1688, the Dutch feared that England might align with France in the upcoming Nine Years' War , potentially repeating the crisis of 1672. To prevent this, William of Orange , making use of an invitation from seven influential and discontented Englishmen, led

17424-552: Was rebuilt. After the events of the previous war, English public opinion was unenthusiastic about starting a new one. However, as he was bound by the secret Treaty of Dover , Charles II was obliged to assist Louis XIV in his attack on the Dutch Republic in the Franco-Dutch War . When the Royal French Army was halted by the Hollandic Water Line (a defence system involving strategic flooding), an attempt

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