Dutch Republic Dbq Analysis

The challenges to the security, unity, and prosperity in the Dutch Republic, otherwise known as the Netherlands, in the seventeenth and eighteenth century were mostly routed in the wars between England, France, and the Dutch Republic (which led to the end of the Dutch’s Golden Age and the start of their economic decline). The challenges varied from one to another; whether it was military conflicts, the shifting of alliances, the decay in oversea trade, or the disunity among the provinces. Despite the immense role these challenges played in the downfall of the Netherlands, the key factor was the disunity of the seven provinces. This disunity was the Netherlands tragic flaw and led to their downfall.
In the sixteenth to seventeenth century
In 1670, France and England signed a secret treaty called the Treaty of Dover. It required England to assist France in its war of conquest against the Dutch; the third Anglo-Dutch War, a military war between England and the Netherlands, was a direct consequence of this treaty. The treaty proclaimed that “The king of France promises to pay to the king of England two million livers. Each of the allied sovereigns will then jointly declare war on the Dutch Republic” (Doc. 6). This secret treaty not only started a war between France, England, and the Dutch but it also imposed a threat to the security of the Dutch Republic and its inhabitants. England had not only become a spectator but also an advocate to the ongoing war. In 1672 Konrad Van Beuningen, Dutch ambassador to England, sent a letter to the government of the Dutch Republic stating that England’s interest is to encourage the wars between the Dutch and French (Doc. 8). Despite England’s instigations the period from 1650 to the peace of Utrecht (1713) was a time of shifting alliances. In the eighteenth century, during the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, England had sided with The Dutch in opposition against France. An Englishman resident in the Dutch Republic wrote a letter about the Dutch reaction to losses suffered in the War of the Spanish Succession wrote “Dutch armies, allied with the English in