Anglo/Dutch Wars DBQ
Samples of POV
Document 4
• Sir George Downing, English
ambassador to the Dutch
Republic, letter to the English
government, 1664
• The government of the Dutch Republic is a
shattered and divided thing; the province
Holland alone must expect to bear the
financial burden in a war because the other
provinces are poor.
Document 4 (simple)
• Sir George Downing is both a member of the
nobility and the British government. In that he
was born and raised to rule he is familiar with the
role of government and with finances as he
certainly has estates to manage. Since he is
stationed in the Netherlands he has seen first
hand the poverty of the other provinces and the
riches of Holland and knows that only Holland
has the resources to pay for the war.
Document 4
• Sir George Downing, as both a member of the peerage
and an ambassador to the Dutch Republic, is well
aware of the role of government and finance in
determining a nation’s well being. As he is stationed in
the Netherlands, he can see first hand the detrimental
effect the war is having on the unity of the Dutch
people. As a government official he is aware of the
financial burden the war has caused and thus can see
how the less financially sound provinces are suffering
from the cost of war.
•
Document 5
• Anonymous pamphlet published in
the province of Holland, 1669
• We must make defensive fortifications on land as
well as outfit warships at sea; but we must also
try to end the heavy taxes that are most
burdensome on our merchants, especially those
taxes levied to provide convoys for merchant
ships. We who are naturally merchants must have
low taxes, peace, and trade as well as protection,
and we cannot be turned into soldiers.
Document 5 (simple)
• The author of this pamphlet identified himself
as a merchant. As a merchant, (businessman)
his greatest interest is making money. He
therefore does not want to pay for defense
(too costly) and does not want new taxes (too
costly) and certainly does not want to be a
soldier as it would take him away from his
business.
Document 5
• The feelings of most Dutch merchants were
clearly demonstrated by the anonymous
pamphlet of 1669. This pamphlet was obviously
written by a Dutch merchant who was most
concerned about his profit margin (as any viable
merchant should be). While concerned about the
threat the war brings to the Netherlands, he was
more concerned about his business. He
therefore expected that the government would
defend him without interfering with his income
or burdening him with expectations of military
service.
Document 6
• The Treaty of Dover, 1670
• The king of France promises to pay to the king
of England two million livres. Each of the allied
sovereigns will then jointly declare war on the
Dutch Republic. the king of France will defray
all expenses of the campaign by land. For the
war by sea the king of England will arm at
least 70 warships.
Document 6 (simple)
• The Treaty of Dover, since it is a government
document, was either written by kings or by their
representatives who would write what their
monarch told them to write. Kings either want to
increase their power, the size of their kingdom or
their wealth. Thus the French king would support
a war against the Dutch and provide soldiers
since his kingdom nearly borders the Dutch. For
the same reasons the English king would support
a war against the Dutch and provide ships since
his kingdom is an island and he already has a
navy.
Document 6
• The Treaty of Dover, 1670 clearly portrays the
financial concerns of the two nations allied
against the Dutch. Neither the French nor the
English monarch wishes to bear the full brunt
of financial responsibility for the war even
though a victory would greatly enhance their
economic position. Thus the treaty limits the
liability faced by each monarch.
Document 7
• Resolution of the Amsterdam City
Council, 1671
• Not only the French monarch but other kings
seem more and more to scheme how to ruin
what remains of the trade and navigation of
the Dutch Republic, and to take over part of it
for themselves.
Document 7 (simple)
• Since the Amsterdam City Council is the actual
ruling body of Amsterdam they certainly know
about running a government. Therefore they
would know the kind of things kings favor,
namely that they want to increase their power,
the size of their kingdom or their wealth. Since
the city council members are well aware of the
progress of the war they could certainly
understand why other kings would want to
scheme against the Dutch.
Document 7
• The Treaty of Dover, 1670 clearly portrays the
financial concerns of the two nations allied
against the Dutch. Neither the French nor the
English monarch wishes to bear the full brunt
of financial responsibility for the war even
though a victory would greatly enhance their
economic position. Thus the treaty limits the
liability faced by each monarch.
Document 8
• Konrad Van Beuningen, Dutch
ambassador to England, letter to the
government of the Dutch Republic,
1672
• England's interest consists in continuing or
encouraging war between the Dutch Republic and
France. Either these Dutch lands will become
permanently a theater of war or they will be
overwhelmed or flooded, in either case ruining
our commerce.
Document 8 (simple)
• Konrad Van Beuningen, the Dutch ambassador to
England has certainly been trained in government
affairs or he would not hold this position. Since
he has been most likely been raised in the
Netherlands he also knows how war would
impact his homeland. He knows that England has
dragged this war on for a long time when they
have the military ability to end it at any time they
wish. He therefore understands that England
must want the Netherlands in complete ruins.
Document 8
• (note: this goes well with doc.7)
• While the City Council of Amsterdam (only a year
previously) was aware of the aims of their
enemies, the Dutch ambassador to England has
come to the same conclusions. Van Beuningen, a
man trained in the art of diplomacy, has
concluded that the English will not rest until the
commerce of the Dutch is in complete ruin and
thus that diplomatic overtures on his part are a
waste of time and effort.
Document 9
(class writes sample)
• The Dutch Republic, government
report, 1674
• Differences arose with regard to the election
of a military commander to lead the troops.
Toward the end of 1671, the mutual distrust
among the Dutch provinces hindered
deliberations on how to oppose the violent
attacks of Louis XIV.
Document 9
• The government of the Dutch Republic was
run primarily by the various stadholders who
had been elected to serve. In that these men
represented the different provinces and their
local interests it was no surprise that they
would differ on who should lead the armies
and what course the war should follow.
•
Document 10
• Political pamphlet published in
Amsterdam, 1683
• Other Dutch cities and provinces all too easily
consent to a recruitment of thousands of men
to fight the French. But who, other than
wealthy citizens of Amsterdam, much like a
rich milk cow, is to furnish the money?
Document 10
• By 1683 the war had dragged on for nearly thirty
years. With the Dutch economy failing as a
result, the wealthy citizens (merchants) of
Amsterdam were footing an ever growing portion
of the expense of war. In that these merchants
were, as always, concerned with profit, they were
greatly concerned as well that they should bear
an ever growing percentage of the cost of the
war. This is clearly shown in the wording of the
political pamphlet, written by a merchant in
1683.
Document 11
• Marquis de Pomponne, French
ambassador to the Dutch Republic,
report to the French government,
early 1680's
• The English East India Company has grown larger
and causes the Dutch much anxiety. This trade
competition was the real cause of the war which
broke out in the 1650's between England and the
Dutch Republic. It also caused another war
between the Dutch and the king of England in the
1660's
Document 11
• In the early 1680’s, The Marquis de Pomponne,
the French ambassador to the Dutch Republic
stationed in the Netherlands had had time and
opportunity to consider the causes of the Dutch
Wars. This member of both the French royalty
and government clearly saw that the cause of the
war was English economic greed and really had
no basis in politics. If any question concerning
this observation existed it was dispelled in view
of the tremendous growth of the English East
India Company and the corresponding decline of
Dutch trade
Document 13
• Dutch colonial administrator,
letter to the directors of the
Dutch East India Company, 1705
• The profits of our East Indian trade have
turned into losses, the java trade is declining,
and the commercial competition from the
English, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and
Muslims in Asia cannot be checked.
Document 13
• The year 1705 was the height of both the war
and of the mercantilistic age. Thus the letter
of the Dutch colonial administrator, who
existed for the sole purpose of delivering a
profit to his Dutch masters, displayed his
awareness of his failure to do so and the
events which caused this to occur
Document 14
• Englishman resident in the Dutch
Republic, letter about the Dutch reaction
to losses suffered in the War of the
Spanish Succession, 1709
• The cries of widows, orphans, and tender virgins,
deprived of their husbands, fathers and young men,
prevail. Dutch armies, allied with the English in his war
against France, have suffered extremely: they have not
a hundred men left in each battalion out of a total of
thirty battalions that engaged the French at the
beginnig of the war.
Document 14
• While those participating in a war understandably
complain of the scope of their losses it often takes the
perspective of an outsider to make it fully
understandable to the rest of the world. The letter
from an English resident in the Dutch Republic in 1709
does exactly this. Because of his general detachment
from the war he makes the ideal sounding board to
proclaim the extent of Dutch suffering. Living in the
Netherlands, he cannot help but see anguish of the
survivors and see the devastation the war has created.
•