The Founding of the Dutch Republic War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572-1588

by Tracy, James

• ISBN13: 9780199209118
• ISBN10: 0199209111
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780191607288
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-20
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

In 1572, towns in the province of Holland, led by William of Orange, rebelled against the government of the Habsburg Netherlands. The story of the Dutch Revolt is usually told in terms of fractious provinces that frustrated Orange's efforts to formulate a coherent programme. In this book JamesD. Tracy argues that there was a coherent strategy for the war, but that it was set by the towns of Holland. Although the States of Holland were in theory subject to the States General, Holland provided over 60 per cent of the taxes and an even larger share of war loans. Accordingly, funds weredirected to securing Holland's borders, and subsequently to extending this protected frontier to neighbouring provinces.Shielded from the war by its cordon sanitaire, Holland experienced an extraordinary economic boom, allowing taxes and loans to keep flowing. The goal - in sight if not achieved by 1588 - was a United Provinces of the north, free and separate from provinces in the southern Netherlands that remainedunder Spanish rule. With Europe increasingly under the sway of strong hereditary princes, the new Dutch Republic was a beacon of promise for those who still believed that citizens ought to rule themselves.

Author Biography

James D. Tracy is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. ix
List of Illustrations	p. x
List of Tables	p. xi
List of Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
The Habsburg Netherlands, 1549-1567
Prologue: Prince Philip's Tour of the Low Countries, 1549	p. 11
The Habsburg-Valois School of War	p. 24
War Finance and Fiscal Devolution	p. 37
Holland as a Body Politic, I: The Habsburg Era, to 1567	p. 52
War in Holland, October 1572-July 1576
Prologue: Repression, Rebellion, and Revolt, 1567-1572	p. 77
Toward a Workable Strategy for Defensive Warfare	p. 88
The New Fiscal Regime	p. 101
Holland's Rulers: The Urban Oligarchies	p. 116
Holland and the 'Closer Union', July 1576-December 1582
Prologue: The States General at War with Spain	p. 135
Holland's Garden	p. 148
Paying for an Ever More Expensive War	p. 171
Holland as a Body Politic, II: Seeds of Discord	p. 194
A New Republic, 1583-1588
Prologue: Parma's Offensive, 1583-1588	p. 215
The Securing of Holland's Forward Frontier, 1583-1588	p. 225
Holland's Pyramid of Credit	p. 242
Partisan Strife, 1583-1588: Holland and its Critics	p. 269
Epilogue: The Dutch Republic in Europe's Republican Tradition, c.1590-1650	p. 297
Bibliography	p. 315
Index	p. 333
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