The three Anglo-Dutch wars of the seventeenth century are traditionally seen as mercantile confrontations. This view has been challenged by political historians. Firstly, this article discusses the historiographic developments in this field. Secondly, it aims to explore the relationship between Anglo-Dutch mercantile competition and political and diplomatic relations in the period 1650 to 1674. It favours an integrated approach in which all these dimensions are taken into account.The article argues that the 1667 Peace Treaty of Breda was a major turning point in Anglo-Dutch relations after which mercantilism ceased to dominate Anglo-Dutch political relations.2 For example, Colbert's prohibitive tariffs that were meant to exclude Dutch and English competition from the French market, or the various English Acts of Navigation that were intended to harm Dutch shipping and create an English staplemarket.
The premature death in 1650 of Willem II, Prince of Orange, enabled the regents of the States of Holland to institute a civil administration, the 'True Freedom', in the Dutch Republic. For much of this regime's 20-year ascendancy the principal task of its head, Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, was the defence of the country and its maritime commerce against a variety of international threats. De Witt took it upon himself to instigate the creation of a powerful permanent fleet. He came to show an increasing identification with the fleet and an appreciation of its symbolic and patriotic importance that transcended its defensive role. Depictions of the fleet provided it with iconographic significance. This article argues that the fleet became an essential ideological pillar of the republican regime in its struggle to maintain itself against external threats and to secure a degree of acceptance by the predominantly pro-Orange public.
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