United Provinces
This article is about the Dutch United Provinces. There was also a nation called the United Provinces of Central America.
The United Provinces (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden/Provinciën, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands/Provinces -- 1581 - 1795) was a European republic which is now known as the Netherlands.
History
Before 1581, the area of the low countries consisted of a number of counties and duchies. Through marriage or sale, these states all ended up in the hands of the Habsburg emperor Charles V and his son, king Philip II of Spain. In 1568, the Netherlands revolted against king Philip because of his persecution of the Protestants and his high taxes. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War.
In 1579, a number of the northern Netherlands signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defense against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the declaration of independence, in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II.
The United Provinces first tried to choose their own lord, and they asked the
Duke of Anjou and later the Earl of Leicester to rule them. This was not a success, and in 1588 the provinces became a Republic.
The Republic was officially recognized in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and lasted until French revolutionary forces invaded in 1795 and set up a new republic, called the Batavian Republic and later the Kingdom of Holland.
The Netherlands became independent of France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" are used. In 1816 it joined with Belgium to be the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and then the Kingdom of the Netherlands after Belgium became independent.
Politics
The republic consisted of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so called Generality Lands. These were governed directly by the States-General. The States-General was seated in The Hague, and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces of the republic were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen. Each province was governed by the Provincial States and by a stadtholder. In theory, the stadtholders were elected and subordinate to the States-General. However, the princes of Orange-Nassau were chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces. There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Regents, supporters of the States-General.
See also: History of the Netherlands, Dutch Golden Age, Francis van Aarssens
Referenced By
's-Hertogenbosch | 's Hertogenbosch | 1579 | 1672 | 1780 | 17th Century | Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 | Anne, Princess of Orange | Baltic Sea/Gdanzk | Battle of Almansa | Battle of Almanza | Bengt Oxenstierna | Brabant | Congress of Osnabrück | Congress of Vienna | Cornelius Jansen | Count of Holland | Danzig | Danzig-Wrzeszcz | Danzig (city) | Den Bosch | Diet of the Holy Roman Empire | Duke of Monmouth | Dutch War | Edict of Fontainebleau | Elizabeth I | Elizabeth I of England | Elizabeth I of Great Britain | Emperor Leopold I | Ernst, Graf von Mansfield | Ernst von Mansfeld | Felipe II King | Fourth Anglo-Dutch War | Francis van Aarssens | Franco-Dutch War | François, Duke of Anjou | Free State Danzig | Freie Stadt Danzig | Gda& | Gdansk | Gdansk, Poland | Gdansk/Danzig | Gdanzk | Gdunsk | Gelre | George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax | Grand Alliance | Grotius | Guelders | Guido Fawkes | Guy Fawkes | Guyana/History | HMS Antelope | Henri Turenne | Henri de La Tour dAuvergne, vicomte de Turenne | Henri de la Tour D'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne | Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne | History of Gdansk | History of Guyana | History of Jews in the United States | History of the Jews in the United States | History of the Jews in the United States (Colonial Era-1906) | Holland | Honore-Gabriel Riqueti Mirabeau | Honore Mirabeau | Honoré Mirabeau | Hugo Grotius | Hugo de Groot | Huig de Groot | James, Duke of Monmouth | James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth | James Scott, Duke of Monmouth | James Stanhope | James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope | Jean Bart | Jean Louis Guez de Balzac | John Churchill | John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough | John Lothrop Motley | King Phillip II of Spain | Kochi, India | Lady Grizel Baillie | League of Augsburg | Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor | List of Reichstag participants (1792) | List of international treaties | List of treaties | Marshal Turenne | Marshall Turenne | Netherlands States-General | Paul de Lamerie | Peace of Utrecht | Peace of Wesfalia | Peace of Westphalia | Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld | Philip II of Spain | Philip IV of Spain | Phillip II of Spain | Piracy in the Caribbean | Province of Utrecht ...
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