Nature of the war

As the revolt and its suppression centered largely around issues of religious freedom and taxation, the conflict necessarily involved not only soldiers, but also civilians at all levels of society. This may be one reason for the resolve and subsequent successes of the Dutch rebels in defending cities.^{[citation needed]} Another factor was that the unpopularity of the Spanish army, which existed even before the start of the revolt,^[3] was exacerbated when in the early stage of the war a few cities were purposely sacked by the Spanish troops after having surrendered; this was done as a practice to intimidate the remaining rebel cities into surrender.

In the later stages, Maurice raised a professional standing army that was even paid when no hostilities were taking place, a radical innovation in that time and part of the Military Revolution.^[4]

Psychological impact

The success of the Dutch Republic in its struggle to get away from the Spanish Crown had damaged Spain's Reputación, a concept that, according to Olivares' biographer J. H. Elliot,^[5] strongly motivated that statesman. In the minds of Spaniards the land of Flanders became linked to war. The idea of a second Flanders—a place of "endless war, suffering and death"—haunted the Spanish for many years after the war ended. In the 16th and 17th centuries the concept of a second or "another" Flanders was variously used while referring to the 1591 situation in Aragón, the Catalan Revolt and the 1673 rebellion in Messina. Jesuit father Diego de Rosales described Chile from a military point of view as "Indian Flanders" (Flandes indiano), a phrase that was later adopted by historian Gabriel Guarda.^[6]

Military outcome

The French and Dutch had originally agreed to join forces in negotiating with Spain.^{[note 1]} While the willing Dutch and Spanish had been able to establish the text of their peace treaty by January 1648, the French and Spanish still could not reach any agreements, and the French were trying to withhold their Dutch allies from sealing the deal; the Republic's annoyed negotiators felt the "selfish" French were stalling for time to gain more Spanish concessions over the back of the Dutch.^{[note 2]} The Dutch decided to conclude a separate peace with Spain on 30 January 1648, confirmed on 15 May 1648, while there was still no sign of Franco–Spanish rapprochement.^[8] And so the Franco-Spanish War continued for 11 more years until the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659.^[9]

On the other hand, the Hispano–Dutch Peace Treaty of Münster (Tractatus Pacis, "Treaty of Peace") did serve as an example for the treaties between France and the Holy Roman Empire (Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriensis (IPM), "Instrument of Peace of Münster") and Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire (Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugensis (IPO), "Instrument of Peace of Osnabrück") of 24 October 1648.^[10] The three treaties are collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia.^[11] Aside from achieving independence from the House of Habsburg, the Dutch Republic and the Old Swiss Confederacy also gained de jure independence from the Holy Roman Empire, although in both cases it was just a formalisation of a de facto situation that had already existed for a long time.^[12] In the Dutch Republic, the peace was solemnly promulgated on 5 June 1648,^[13] on the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horne,^{[note 3]} and celebrated across most of the country with sumptuous festivities.^[13] The province of Zeeland and the city of Leiden, who had been opposed to peace, refused to hold celebrations, but did promulgate the peace treaty.^[13]

Portugal was no party in the 1648 Peace of Münster, and the overseas Dutch–Portuguese War (1602–1663) resumed fiercely after the expiration of the ten-year truce of 1640. In Brazil and Africa the Portuguese managed to reconquer most of the territory lost to the WIC in the early 1640s after a long struggle. However, this occasioned a short war in Europe in the years 1657–60, during which the VOC completed its conquests in Ceylon and the coastal areas of the Indian subcontinent. Portugal was forced to indemnify the WIC for its losses in Brazil.^[15]

As newly emerging commercial world powers, the Dutch Republic and the Commonwealth of England would come to heads in the First Anglo–Dutch War (1652–1654), only four years after the peace was signed.^[16] The Dutch were defeated and forced to sign the Act of Seclusion, promising to never appoint another member of the House of Orange as stadtholder or captain-general of the United Provinces.^[16] In the aftermath, Johan de Witt rose to prominence in the Dutch Republic, significantly increasing its international standing.^[17]

Dutch States Party versus Orangists

Political implications in Europe

The Dutch revolt against their lawful sovereign, most obviously illustrated in the Act of Abjuration (1581), implied that a sovereign could be deposed by the population if there was agreement that he did not fulfill his God-given responsibility.^[22] This act by the Dutch challenged the concept of the divine right of kings,^[22] and eventually led to the formation of the Dutch Republic.^[22] Both the Dutch Republic and the Old Swiss Confederacy obtained independence from not just their previous Habsburg overlords, but also the Holy Roman Empire.^[12]

Moreover, certain powers asserted by Emperor Ferdinand III were stripped from him and bestowed upon the rulers of the Imperial States, including choosing a state religion. Catholics and Protestants were redefined as equal before the law, and Calvinism was given legal recognition as an official religion.^[23] All parties would recognise the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in which each prince had the right to determine the religion of his own state (the principle of cuius regio, eius religio). However, the ius reformandi was removed: Subjects were no longer forced to follow the conversion of their ruler. Rulers were allowed to choose Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism.^[24] 1 January 1624 was defined as the normative date for determining the dominant religion of a state. All ecclesiastical property was to be restored to the condition of 1624. Christians living in principalities where their denomination was not the established church were guaranteed the right to practice their faith in private, as well as in public during allotted hours.^[24] The independence of the Dutch Republic, which practiced religious toleration, also provided a safe haven for European Jews.^[25]

The Holy See was very displeased at the settlement, with Pope Innocent X calling it "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time" in the bull Zelo Domus Dei.^[26][27]

The Peace of Westphalia marked the start of a new period of European history, in which a far larger number of wholly or partially sovereign princes of the Holy Roman Empire than before would play a role in the political arena for centuries to come.^[10] This also increased the risk of conflicts between them, and therefore France and Sweden were given the status of generally accepted powers of guaranteeing the peace.^[28] Although this was a first attempt at a European security system, it would turn out not to be particularly effective.^[28]

Effect on the Low Countries

Commerce

Dutch trade on the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean exploded in the decade after the peace, as did trade in general, because trade patterns in all European areas were so tightly interlocked via the hub of the Amsterdam Entrepôt. Dutch trade in this period reached its pinnacle; it came to completely dominate that of competing powers, like England, that had only a few years previously profited greatly from the handicap the Spanish embargoes posed to the Dutch. Now the greater efficiency of Dutch shipping had a chance to be fully translated into shipping prices, and the competitors were left in the dust. The structure of European trade therefore changed fundamentally in a way that was advantageous to Dutch trade, agriculture and industry. One could truly speak of Dutch primacy in world trade. This not only caused a significant boom for the Dutch economy, but also much resentment in neighbouring countries, like first the Commonwealth of England and, later, France. Soon, the Republic was embroiled in military conflicts with these countries, which culminated in their joint attack on the Republic in 1672. They almost succeeded in destroying the Republic in that year, but the Republic rose from its ashes and by the turn of the century, she was one of the two European power centres, together with the France of king Louis XIV.^[32]