Before reading this article, please click "Follow", which is convenient for you to discuss and share, and brings you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
The expansion of the empire
On the night of February 14, 1630, Diederick van Waerdenburg could not sleep. The Dutch lieutenant colonel was to ensure that the attacking forces off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil, were ready on board.
Van Waldenburg first prayed alone, then on board with the priest, after which he woke up his officers to pray with them. Finally, Van Waldenburg asked 300 soldiers to board the ship in groups of 8~10 people one after another. With Spanish wine, he urged them to act bravely and boldly. These soldiers, along with the rest of the fleet preparing to attack, acted strictly on orders to ensure that the Dutch could gain a foothold in Brazil.
Thus began an important page in Dutch colonial history. Over the next 12 years, the Dutch Brazilian colony grew rapidly until the West India Company controlled half of the original Portuguese captain. After the outbreak of the 1645 uprising, almost all the victories achieved by the Dutch were reversed, but they controlled the capital Recife until 1654. The Netherlands and other countries have more troops in Brazil than anywhere else in the Americas.
Thus, Dutch Brazil became a symbol of the ambition and military power of the young Dutch Republic. At the same time, the gains in Brazil were disappointing, and working more and less was typical of the Dutch in the Atlantic world. The expansion of the Dutch maritime empire depended on Brazil, but it was not limited to Brazil. In the 20s and 30s of the 17th century, Dutch fleets and armies spread throughout the Atlantic world, and under their protection, colonies and African trading posts in the New World were established, through which the Dutch established contacts with the indigenous peoples of Africa and the Americas
West India Company
In 1621, war resumed, and the struggle between the Dutch and the Iberians became clearly the highlight of the Atlantic world. On June 3, less than two months after the truce with Spain expired, the Dutch West India Company was chartered to be on a par with the Dutch East India Company, using the war to seize control of the lucrative spice trade, the future commercial magnate of the Indian Ocean. With first-hand information about the potential benefits of Indian Ocean trade, Amsterdam's political elite lobbied for the formation of the West India Company and eyed management positions to get a piece of the Atlantic trade.
They may end up feeling disappointed. The articles of association of the West India Company provided that the directors of the five departments (or chambers of commerce) were to receive 1 per cent of the total value of the spoils received from the enemy, 1 per cent of the value of all incoming and outgoing goods, and 0.5 per cent of the gold and silver obtained. Although these terms could not be ignored, the directors of the West India Company must have continued to develop their private trade behind the corporate monopoly.
The Flemish Calvinist Willem Usselincx (1567–1647) also supported the founding of the Dutch West India Company. He arrived in the United Province in 1591 as a religious refugee. He spent 25 years actively advising the United Provincial Council, but when the time was ripe for a replacement for the East India Company, Hussellinx found himself among many supporters.
Although his proposal failed to become a blueprint, his proposal to establish a Spanish-style Indies parliament did affect the way the West India Company's board of directors was formed. As the deadline for the Twelve Years' Truce approached, all provinces supported the creation of a charter specifically for the Atlantic world. The West India Company had a hybrid nature – private enterprises performing government duties – and the government was not interested in a quick return on investment, and as long as the strategic objectives associated with the Spanish war could be achieved, it did not matter if it waited.
And businessmen do not think this way, they just want to make money, and the sooner the better. Not dependent on any particular group of investors, the concessionaire still guarantees a long-term investment. A strong company can withstand various crises and risks, and is responsible for all kinds of high-cost work, such as daily transportation of goods to the colony and the construction of forts and warehouses far from home.
In fact, close cooperation between government and commercial interests is not new, it was pioneered by Genoa and Venice in the late Middle Ages. However, this level of cooperation on a geographical scale has not been seen in the past. The West India Company had the power to monopolize trade, rule, justice, treaties with princes, and the maintenance of armies and fleets.
Although the West India Company was originally set up to trade with Africa and the West Indies (i.e., the Americas), the directors of the company apparently preferred war to trade, citing the fact that the presence of Iberian immigrants made it virtually impossible for them to trade in the Caribbean and on the Central and South American continents. Trade with the Amerindians, or slow indoctrination in areas not yet inhabited by the Spaniards and Portuguese, such as Guyana, would hardly bring benefits to the United Provinces or lead their "old enemies" to destruction.
Instead, the Dutch had to seize ships and property from the Habsburgs and their people, occupy settlements. Proponents of the West India Company realized that targeting the Americas would not be easy and would require sustained effort. This task was more difficult than anything the East India Company had to accomplish in Asia.
The humanist Arnoldus Buchelius wrote in his diary that Asia was only Spain's "mistress" and that America was its real "wife." But the Spaniards are notoriously jealous, he added.
The West India Company was a reflection of the state of the world at that time. In contrast to France and England, which strengthened their position by centralizing power and dissolving local powers and privileges, the Utrecht League, in which the Constitution of the Dutch Republic obligated the provinces to maintain the privileges and freedoms of all signatories. Since the national government is based on provincial councils and town councils, its power and authority are heavily decentralized.
Although this was also the case with the West India Company, the day-to-day operations of the company were not as cumbersome as its federalistic structure suggested, since some provinces (especially the province of the Netherlands or rather the towns of Amsterdam) actually had a higher status than others, which was also a fact clearly stated in the distribution code. This regulation sets out both the relative powers of each department or chamber of commerce and the performance that each department or chamber of commerce must achieve in order to equip vessels and other corporate activities.
It stipulates that Amsterdam's performance is four-ninths of the total, Zeeland is two-ninths and the other three parties, namely Metz, Noordkvatier and Stad en Lande (or Groningen), each account for one-ninth.
The supreme board of directors of the West India Company, the "Heren XIX" ("Gentlemen Nineteen"), met 2~3 times a year, and as the colony grew, the duration of the meeting became longer and longer. Although the board of directors is nominally 19 members, the actual number of members is more than 19. Eighteen of them are representatives from five chambers of commerce, with the 19th seat reserved for delegates to the United Provincial Assembly. However, in 1623, the original rule was changed to add two chief investment directors (one each in Amsterdam and Zeeland).
These individuals report to the specific investors for whom they are responsible. In addition to representing the Republic of investors engaged in traditional overseas trade, the West India Company hoped to attract investors from the new investment community.
War and peace
From the beginning, the West India Company was closely associated with the United Provincial Council, which communicated with the Nineteen-member Committee of the West India Company on a wide range of matters and helped it coordinate military affairs overseas. In addition, the provinces provide 1 million guilders for funding. However, despite the newly formed company's efforts to win over domestic and foreign investors, it took them more than 2 years to become solvent.
There was a stark contrast between merchants who traded in the East Indies before 1602, and merchants who were active in the Atlantic world before 1621, who strongly wanted to invest in the East India Company, and merchants who refused to accept the West India Company. Some potential investors saw the West India Company as a scheme designed to engage in nepotism, a tool for directors to provide jobs for their poor friends in need. Some feared that the company's positions would be occupied by ambitious rather than truly capable people, while others were apprehensive about the precedent of the East India Company, which allegedly often adopted arbitrary policies that conflicted with the interests of shareholders.
More generally, investors' hesitation stemmed from the belligerent nature of the West India Company and the targeting of overseas possessions in the Iberian Peninsula, many of whom considered the overseas possessions of the Iberian Peninsula to be beyond reproach
Later, the author of a pamphlet explained that the main motive for throwing money at the new company was not to make money, but to fight the enemy. In other words, the supporters of the West India Company may not be smart investors, they are just devout patriots. From the point of view of favor for investors, investing in the West India Company is tantamount to buying patriotic lottery tickets.
The inland cities of Leiden, Utrecht, Haarlem, and Deventer attracted considerable investment, and their city councils were all proponents of Calvinism that promoted the West India Company. The Mennonites are said to have rejected shares in the West India Company because they wanted the company to commit violence under the cover of commercial activity, while Roman Catholics did not invest at all, despite being the wealthiest.
The mood of war will translate into a positive response policy. In August 1623, the Committee of Nineteen held an important meeting of the board of directors at the West-Indisch Huis, an extremely magnificent building leased and added by the firm in Amsterdam.
The Provincial Assembly considered that the recent resumption of hostilities in the Netherlands was insufficient to bring the war to a successful end, and the Committee of Nineteen listened to the Provincial Assembly. As one director put it, it was necessary to "cut off the nerves and blood vessels of the annual income of the King of Spain, through which blood and the living soul flowed through his massive body". In other words, the war must extend to the Americas – the source of silver that fueled the Habsburg war machine.
Therefore, new fronts must be opened. The Spaniards were equally eager to resume the war. They do not expect to recover the provinces they once lost, because that is no longer possible, and they want to ensure a better peace through war.