HISTORY: THE WARS OF THE CENTURY. XVII AND XVIII

The decline of the Netherlands was caused by the expansion of other great powers that were being formed in Europe: first of all England, which with Cromwell, in 1651, hit the freight of Dutch ships through the Act of Navigation, a freight which constituted a of the sources of wealth of the Netherlands. In the wars that followed, the Dutch also achieved splendid successes, especially during the period when King Charles II returned to the throne in England (Plymouth, 1652; forcing of the Thames, 1665; Dunkirk, 1666; new forcing of the defenses of the Thames, 1667), but the victory was lacking both for the indiscipline of the admirals, and for the internal discords between the fat and the petty bourgeoisie. The Peace of Breda(1667) consecrated the superiority of the English who obtained the recognition of the conquest of New Amsterdam carried out in 1664 and renamed New York. The fight against England was followed by that against France because of Louis XIV’saims on the Spanish part of the Netherlands (present-day Belgium). To the attempt made by the French king in 1667-68, known as the war of devolution, the Netherlands managed to oppose by creating a league of European states against Louis XIV; but a few years later they had to endure a war of vengeance which he premeditated which lasted several years and resulted in the invasion of Holland itself and ended with the Peace of Nijmegen (1678). If the war ended without territorial losses for the Netherlands (Spain made the expenses in this field), it had the consequence of paving the way for the unstoppable decline of Dutch power. The subsequent participations in the European wars of the century. XVIII saw the Netherlands in a subordinate position with respect to Great Britain and aimed solely at saving the principle of European equilibrium, threatened as always by France.

The only concrete advantage was the Barrier Treaty, of November 1715, according to which the Netherlands obtained to garrison the fortresses of Furnes, Ypres, Ménin, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, Namur and Ghent which served as a barrier against France, while Belgium was ceded by Spain, instead of the dreaded France, Austria. Even the accession of William of Orange to the English throne (1689) had not been of any advantage to the great Dutch commercial bourgeoisie, on the contrary it ended up strengthening the Orangutan party. which, little by little, supplanted the government of the grand pension, representative of the will of the fat merchant bourgeoisie which, on the death of William III (1702) with Antonio Heinsius, had regained the upper hand in most of the United Provinces. Starting in 1711, according to sunglassestracker, the state of Netherlands was restored to Friesland and within a few years it was extended to Groningen (1718), Gelderland and Drenthe (1722) until, under the threat of a French invasion during the war of the Austrian succession, even Holland, Zealand, Utrecht and Overijssel accepted this form of government which became hereditary in the Nassau-Orange family (1747). It was, in fact, the monarchy. But the power of the Netherlands was not strengthened by this: during the American war of independence, the Netherlands fought to affirm against the English the principle of the freedom of the seas, which had already severely divided the two countries in the previous century, but lost the colony of Negapatam (1784).

CULTURE: THEATER

The oldest documents of Dutch dramatic literature are four abele spelen (profane dramas) from the end of the 14th century, which were part, together with the sotternie (farces), of the repertoire of Flemish troubadour companies. The sec. XV instead saw a great flowering of religious theater in the vernacular, of which some texts survive, including Elckerlijc, which had long success in England and Germany with the title Everyone. In the sec. XVI religious themes mixed with secular themes, with a strong preference for allegory, verbal and pictorial, are found in the representations sponsored by the rederijkerskamers (acting rooms), associations of bourgeois and artisans, formed first in the Flemish cities and then also in the Dutch ones. Among other things, they organized poetry contests, processions and outdoor performances. In 1617, the Nederduytsche Academie of Amsterdam opposed these associations, on the initiative of the poet Samuel Coster, which replaced the declamation of the “acting rooms” with a more complete theatricality, rooted in popular tradition. Twenty years later, in 1638, Academies and acting chambers came together to have Jacob van Campen built the first permanent theater in Amsterdam, the Stadsschouwburg; a fixed scene on the Palladian model, then rebuilt in 1665 by Jan Vos with a much more flexible structure, like a Baroque theater, and destroyed by a fire in 1772. In the eighteenth century the repertoire was mainly made up of French imported texts, while prominent Dutch actors made successful tours in various Northern European countries. The same situation, often excellent actors and good performances but without a significant national repertoire, lasted until the last decades of the century. XIX: the theater remained popular (as evidenced by the construction of various halls, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, since the end of the eighteenth century) but had a secondary cultural importance. Naturalism followed, with directors such as Willelm Royaards and Eduard Verkade, while the period between the two wars was dominated by shows of expressionist matrix and clear political commitment directed by the actor Albert van Dalsum. Since 1945, all Dutch theater has been subsidized by the state and municipalities. There are permanent companies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Arnhem and Tilburg, often with performances of a good artistic level; tour companies, groups of amateurs and formations that work mainly for the young audience. There are acting schools in Amsterdam (since 1874), Arnhem and Maastricht and since 1959 Amsterdam also has an interesting Theater Museum. Arnhem and Tilburg, with shows often of a good artistic level; tour companies, groups of amateurs and formations that work mainly for the young audience. There are acting schools in Amsterdam (since 1874), Arnhem and Maastricht and since 1959 Amsterdam also has an interesting Theater Museum. Arnhem and Tilburg, with shows often of a good artistic level; tour companies, groups of amateurs and formations that work mainly for the young audience. There are acting schools in Amsterdam (since 1874), Arnhem and Maastricht and since 1959 Amsterdam also has an interesting Theater Museum.