When it comes to the European country of the Netherlands, modern people generally think of it first as an ordinary country that produces tulips, and will not be associated with the world powers. However, 400 years ago, the Netherlands had the top sea power and traversed the world's oceans.
In 1581, the Netherlands broke away from Spanish rule and won the country's independence, and industry and commerce developed rapidly. Among them, handicrafts and shipbuilding were more developed in Europe, and the Netherlands was on the atlantic coast, which provided conditions for maritime trade. Dutch merchant ships were hardly armed, so they were inexpensive and cheap to transport goods on Dutch ships, which allowed the country's merchant ships to travel all over the world, engage in commercial activities, and make a lot of money. By the first half of the seventeenth century, the Netherlands had more than 15,000 merchant ships and more than 80,000 sailors, ranking first in Europe, so the Netherlands was also known as the sea coachman.
With the increase of economic strength and the development of shipbuilding, the Dutch Navy is also rising with the trend, not only in quantity, but also in quality, and military technology is at the leading level. At that time, the battleship used by the Dutch Navy, the lower part of the hull was double-layered, the navigation was stable, the anti-sinking performance was good, the volume was also very large, the displacement had exceeded 1,000 tons, and the firepower was equally strong, and there were nearly a hundred guns carrying the most. In 1637, the Dutch navy built a warship with a displacement of 1500 tons and more than a hundred guns. The range and lethality of the artillery of the Dutch warships were also ahead of the world, and the red-clad cannons of the Ming Dynasty at that time were imitations of imported Dutch artillery.
With a good battleship, the operator is of high quality to play its role. Dutch sailors are known for their toughness, bravery, hard-working, and technical proficiency from Europe. It was with such great strength that the Dutch Navy occupied a place in the overseas colonization campaign carried out by that Western country.
In 1619, the Dutch navy established batavia, the first colony on the island of Java, then invaded sumatra to the west and seized the Islands from Portugal to the east. Later, the Dutch navy invaded Malacca and Ceylon. In 1621, the Dutch navy sailed north America and established the colony of the New Netherlands in the Hudson River Valley. Later, the Dutch navy moved south to South America, occupying some of the islands in the Andris Archipelago, and in 1642, the Dutch navy established a colony in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
In the seventeenth century, the Dutch colonial empire flourished, relying on colonies such as Dutch East Batavia, and its aggressive tentacles extended to the southeast coast of the mainland. In order to gain a foothold in the rich Ming Dynasty, the Dutch Navy also spared no expense and repeatedly fought with the Ming Dynasty sailors. Among them, in 1624, a large-scale Battle of Penghu occurred, and the Ming Dynasty sent up to 10,000 troops and 200 warships; 7 warships of the Dutch Navy, 9 hundred soldiers; The battle lasted for seven months, and the final result was a crushing victory for the Ming Dynasty, and although the Dutch army was defeated, 500 people broke through and left. This battle showed that the Dutch navy had strong guns and strong troops.
The Netherlands has an area of just over 40,000 square kilometers, after all, its strength is limited, and in the battle against other great powers, the sea battle was lost to Britain, the land war was lost to France, and the Netherlands gradually declined at the end of the seventeenth century.