After Philip II ascended the throne, he defeated France and the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe. However, the Dutch problem left by his father is still very difficult.
Philip II first ceded Holland to Charles V and Margarita, the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Parma, and a committee headed by Cardinal Grafra assisted Margarita.
Margarita, Cardinal Grafra and others continued their previous religious persecution in Charles V, and armed struggles were launched all over the Netherlands. Nobles such as Prince Willem van Oranje Van Orange and Earl Egmont asked Philip II to give him more political participation.
Philip II was forced to transfer Cardinal Grafra from Holland, but he did not yield to religion and continued to defend his policies by force. Later, Margarita also made concessions on religious policy at the request of Prince Orange and Earl Egmont, but Philip II refused to compromise.
1566, the movement of "destroying idols" broke out all over the Netherlands, and it spread to most of the Netherlands within a few months. Philip II immediately sent Duque de Alba Fernando Alvarez de Toledo to Holland to suppress it.
1567 In August, Duque de Alba arrived in the Netherlands, and the Dutch defense lines were defeated one by one. Margarita was forced to resign, Count Egmont and others were publicly executed, and Prince Orange fled to Germany to continue organizing mercenaries to participate in the struggle.
1568, the Battle of Helilai broke out between Duque de Alba and Prince Orange, and Duque de Alba suffered heavy casualties. However, in the Battle of Hermine two months later, 654.38+100000 people led by Prince Orange's younger brother Louis Denaxi were annihilated by Duque de Alba, so Prince Orange could only go into exile in Germany again.
1572, armed uprisings broke out in various parts of the Netherlands. Prince Orange marched from north to south, and Louis Denash marched from south to north. Duque de Alba is threatened by a north-south attack. However, Juzijun's lack of people and money affected his combat effectiveness. After pacifying the southern states, Duque de Alba surrounded many cities in the north, and Prince Orange faced defeat again.
At this time, France and Britain began to support the Netherlands, and the Netherlands also wiped out Duque de Alba's maritime fleet. A year later, Duque de Alba was recalled to Spain due to unfavorable surgery.
Philip II sent a new governor, Requesens, but the Spanish army mutinied many times because of its debts. 1574, Louis Denasher set out from Germany to attack Leiden, but was defeated by the Spanish army. Luis Denashe was killed, but the Spanish army soon mutinied again because of unpaid wages.
Prince orange led the soldiers and civilians to hold on to Leiden, and the Spanish army finally had to retreat; To make matters worse, on 1575, Philip II declared the country bankrupt again, which made Governor Requesens deeply disappointed. The year after Requesens' death, the Spanish army mutinied again.
1576, Philip II appointed Don Juan as the governor of the Netherlands, but he could not stop the atrocities of the Spanish army. Dutch provinces began to support Prince Orange, determined to restore autonomy and drive away the Spanish army.
1577, after negotiations with representatives of Dutch provinces, Governor Don Juan signed a "permanent decree", which transferred some powers, and Philip II also withdrew the Spanish infantry regiment to Italy.
However, Governor Tang Juan still insisted on religious control, and there was a great contradiction between the two sides. Governor Tang Juan simply recalled the infantry regiment, and Alexander Farness, Duke of Parma, was sent to Holland by Philip II to suppress it. The nobles of the southern province compromised with Philip II.
1578, Governor Don Juan died, and Philip II appointed the Duke of Palma as the new governor. The Duke of Palma used the conflict between the North and the South in the Netherlands to divide and rule. A year later, 10 southern States established the "alastair Union", which was later Belgian; Seven northern States also established the Utrecht Union, and continued to confront the Spanish.
158 1 year, Utrecht Union issued a declaration of independence from Spain in The Hague, established the Netherlands, which was later the Netherlands, and elected Prince Orange as the first ruling.
Philip II was very angry. 1584, he sent someone to assassinate Prince Orange, and then Morris of Nassau, the son of Prince Orange, inherited his power. The Duke of Parma led the army to continue to deal with Maurice of Nassau, and Britain stood up to deal with the Spanish with the Netherlands.
1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated in the war with Britain, and the Netherlands, which was United with the United Republic, began to gain a foothold. Although it failed to unify the north and south of the Netherlands, it won one victory after another at sea and began to form a new empire.
In his book The Rise of the Maritime Empire, Dutch scholar Anton Van de Lem focused on the 80-year war history in the Netherlands, and made a very universal exposition on the origin, evolution and results of this war.
The Netherlands was originally a small marginal country under the oppression of Spain, but in the end it became a "sea coachman". The history of the rise of this maritime empire deserves our careful reading and in-depth thinking.