Military power and the Dutch Republic: war, trade and the balance of power in Europe, 1648-1813

Abstract

In 1667 the Dutch Republic was at the height of its military and mercantile might. A century and a half later, little of that glory remained as Napoleon wiped the country off the political map. Military Power and the Dutch Republic explores the often overlooked role of the military in the Republic’s remarkable economic rise in the seventeenth century and its subsequent fall. It examines the ways in which the Dutch army and navy were organised and financed, the strategies and tactics that were used, and the operations of military leaders on land and sea. It also investigates methods of recruitment, where and how the army and navy found their troops, how those troops were housed and fed, and how they behaved in battle. And it looks at the various kinds of interaction between the many thousands of ordinary soldiers and sailors and the civilian society whose taxes supported them.