Netherlands

The Dutch Republic arose from the revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish rule, with its States General meeting at The Hague. In 1337 the republic had not yet been established in these lands.

Northern provinces formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579, rejected Philip II in 1581 and established a republic in 1588. Spain recognised its independence at Münster in 1648. Dutch trading companies built overseas colonial networks, while Rembrandt painted during the seventeenth-century Golden Age. French-backed revolution replaced the republic with the Batavian Republic in 1795.