Of Rebels And Republics

Kumarbi

Kumarbi

I now present my first timeline. Been working on it for about a year now, though I only have been writing for about a month. This timeline will hopefully end up being pretty long, though this part will only cover events up to 1757. If you have any comments or critiques I encourage you to voice them. If you think this is the worst thing you have ever read, I encourage you to go easy on me.

Warning: Bad jokes ahead.


Of Rebels and Republics


Part 1: Seven Wars​
 
Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Chapter 1: The Battle of New Amsterdam


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Pieter Stuyvesant makes the decision to resist the English invasion. A somewhat romanticised painting by the Amerikaner artist Johan L. Jerom Ferris.


In late August of the year 1664, the city of the New Amsterdam was facing quite a conundrum. In a time of peace between the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Provinces, an English fleet had sailed into the waters outside of the city and was looking quite threatening. The decision of what to do fell on the shoulders of one grumpy looking man by the name of Pieter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of New Netherland. His initial reaction was to immediately surrender to the English in order to protect the population of the city from English aggression. Thankfully he was driven from this path by the timely intervention of a lawyer by the name of Johannes De Decker, who convinced Stuyvesant of his plan of resistance. Stuyvesant would allow the British to wait near the city as he prepared to capitulate, while De Decker would go up the Hudson to Fort Orange and gather the forces necessary to resist the British occupation.


On August 29th, De Decker left the city for Fort Orange. As he traveled up the river, Stuyvesant set a date of September 5th for a negotiated capitulation of New Amsterdam. The English forces He could only hope that De Becker would return with troops by that date or he would be known forever as the man who lost New Amsterdam. The following days were filled with an anxious feeling mixed with a strong undercurrent of dread throughout the city. The date of capitulation came and Stuyvesant arrived on the main ship of the invasion force and met with the expedition’s captain, Richard Nicolls. Just as Stuyvesant was about to sign away the colony, the captain was notified of action on the shore. The forces from Fort Orange had arrived. A large contingent of troops along with Mahikan allies arrived and attacked the British forces occupying New Amsterdam. Shortly after the attack, despite his pleas, Stuyvesant was captured by Captain Nicolls and held for the remainder of the battle.


The Battle of New Amsterdam would go down in the history of Dutch America as the primary factor in New Netherland remaining under Dutch rule. The poorly defended city could have easily fallen to the invading force if it had not been for the quick thinking of Johannes De Decker and Pieter Stuyvesant. The battle lasted for over a day of fighting until Nicolls fled the harbour and returned to England. Before they left, the defenders of New Amsterdam managed to make of trade of captured English officers for Director Stuyvesant.


The news soon reached the Netherlands of the attack on New Amsterdam. The Dutch leaders were eager to get back at the English for their many trespasses over the previous months against the Dutch. The Dutch Provinces officially declared war on September 27 1664. The English followed suit several days later. The Second Anglo-Dutch War was on.


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Peter Stuyvesant, last Director-General and first Governor of New Netherland. Just look at that face.
 
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Kumarbi

Kumarbi

With the good responses so far I might as well add some stuff that I missed in my first post.

POD: The POD is that the smallpox outbreak of 1663 that ravaged the Fort Orange region OTL does not occur. This means that the Fort has a large enough population to provide relief for New Amsterdam. This also is enough to convince Stuyvesant to go along with De Decker's plan and seek the Fort's help.
 
Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Chapter 2: The Second Anglo-Dutch War

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James, duke of York, principal English architect of the second of the Anglo-Dutch Wars and future king of England, Scotland and Ireland. Seen here looking fashionable.

The Battle of New Amsterdam was not the only cause for the beginning of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English had been purposely riling up tensions with the Dutch for around a year at that point. The idea for a war had primarily been that of the king’s brother, James, duke of York, who hoped that provoking a war could lead to England taking control of the Dutch trade empire.[1] The failure to capture New Netherland was the first major English setback in reaching this goal, and it would only get worse from there on.

Most of the war’s major battles occurred in the North Sea between England and the Netherlands. The early stages of war had the Dutch going up alone against the English. By 1665, both sides had begun to gather allies to themselves. England gained the Holy Roman state of Münster, an old enemy of the Dutch, as an early ally. The Dutch Provinces in turn sought out England’s old enemy France. With new additions to the forces on either sides the war expanded beyond the North Sea.[2]

Although it was unsure early on who was going to win the war, by the end of 1665 it was fairly certain that England was going to lose. Early on, the English proved themselves capable at fighting the Dutch, but in 1665 the country was racked by a great tragedy that destroyed their chances of victory. Beginning in 1665, the countryside of England was ravaged by a great plague that killed thousands and greatly weakened England’s resolve. Due to the war going on at the same time, the plague was given the ironic and propagandistic name of the “Dutch Plague”, which soon stuck.[3]

By the early months of 1666, the Dutch and their allies were ascendant. The Dutch had held their own against the English on open sea and had repulsed the forces of Münster on land. They had successfully defended their colonies from invasion and their enemy’s resolve was crumbling. The war came to it’s final end with an English defeat in June of 1666. This was followed by the signing of a treaty in the city of Breda in the Netherlands in July. The treaty recognized Dutch control of Surinam and New Netherland, as well as recognizing the Dutch Provinces’ First Anglo-Dutch War acquisition of the rich island of Run in the Spice Islands.[4]

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One of the great battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in the midst of the North Sea.



[1] All occured OTL.
[2] Also all occured OTL though one year later.
[3] Called simply the “Great Plague” OTL.
[4] Returned to England OTL.

Coming soon:
The Rensselaer family causes problems for Pieter Stuyvesant.
Stuyvesant gets a short-lived promotion.
Johannes De Decker gets fame and glory.
Peace doesn’t last long.
 
Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Map Time!

Just thought I'd catch up on the current time period relative to the POD with a map.

This should fit with my alternate year 1666 as well.

Not created or owned by me.

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Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Mrstrategy said:
What's going on with Spain andFrance they probably like to take territory from England
Click to expand...
France did not get much from this war. Both OTL and ITTL they joined both to weaken the British and to hopefully seize the Spanish Netherlands. They did not achieve this goal, leading to shaky relationships with the Netherlands after the war. I will explain more in my Third Anglo-Dutch War chapter. Spain did not involve itself in this war.
 
Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Chapter 3: Back in New Netherland

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The City of New Amsterdam, circa 1670. The Bouwerij is in the upper right corner near the wall.

In the aftermath of the war, big changes were coming to New Netherland. The Battle of New Amsterdam gave the Estates General enough of a shock to convince them to act on the question of protecting New Netherland’s continued existence. It was apparent that not only did the colony need more security, it also needed more people. The decision was made to increase settlement in New Netherland by abolishing the patroonship system and implementing a stronger central government for the colony.[1] In keeping with this plan, the Estates General also transferred a large number of the colony’s government functions away from the WIC.[2] The transfer worked quite well, both due to political changes in the homeland as well as the fact that many of the colony’s new leaders had included former WIC leaders.[3] The WIC was facing severe economic troubles by that point and would later be shut down entirely by the Estates General in 1673. One of these leaders was no less than Pieter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of New Netherland and hero of the Battle of New Amsterdam, who was given the new position of Governor.

His job was not one that any other would envy. Almost immediately after he took his new position in 1667, he had to deal with a powerful and disgruntled patroon by the name of Jeremias Van Rensselaer, son of WIC founder Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. Van Rensselaer controlled a large strip of land near Fort Orange and had provided much of the Forts supplies and ruled the most populous settlement in the upper North River valley.[4] He still had an large amount of power both in the colony and in the Netherlands. He was not going to passively accept his patroonship being taken away. In response, he had demanded that Stuyvesant guarantee his brother Nicholas the position of Governor after Stuyvesant’s death or retirement, in order to ensure his family's continuing high position. Stuyvesant could not accomplish any of this without permission from the Estates General, which would never be given. He decided on a compromise with the Van Rensselaer, he would reserve government positions for several different Van Rensselaers including Jeremias’s six year old nephew Kiliaen.[5]

The other major issue that Stuyvesant dealt with during his three year term was the relations with the Indians. Fort Orange was sitting on what was technically Mahikan land.[6] Due to good relations with the Dutch, the Mahikan had not complained for decades. But as the white population of New Netherland increased, there came a need for a permanent settlement on who owned the land. The negotiations over the Fort would come to a head with the signing of a permanent treaty with the Mahikan in 1669 that preserved the good relationship between them and the Dutch. If only the relations with the Haudenosaunie would remain as friendly in the future.[7]

Stuyvesant’s term as governor came to an end with his retirement in 1670. As his last service to New Netherland, he donated his own home in New Amsterdam, known as the Bouwerij (En. farm), as the residence of the Governors of New Netherland. After he left, he retired to a large farm in the North valley and died two years later. His successor to the post of Governor might be familiar to you. Johannes De Decker had returned to the Netherlands after the war’s end, expecting to get the appropriate hero’s welcome for his actions and soon return to his old job. Although he was the talk of Amsterdam for some time, his second wish would not be fulfilled. As soon as he returned to the homeland, he found himself thrust into the position of being his old friend Stuyvesant’s representative in Old Amsterdam. Through the three years of Stuyvesant’s governorship he familiarized himself with the halls of power in the home country and when Stuyvesant prepared to retire, the choice for Governor was him.

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The Van Rensselaer Manor House in modern day Rensselaer Patroonship, NH U.P.A.

[1] Patroons were basically quasi-feudal lords employed to aid in settlement.
[2] Dutch West India Company
[3] See Chapter 4 for Dutch politics details.
[4] North River=Hudson River
[5] All are OTL. This family basically ran a feudal fief in Upstate New York until the 1830s OTL.
[6] Mohican
[7] Iroquois

Coming soon:
The prelude to the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
Dutch politics yay!
Things get much more divergent-y
 
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Kumarbi

Kumarbi

Chapter 4: Dutch Politics Shuffle

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Johan De Witt, 17th century Dutch Republican leader.

The effects of victory in the war were felt in the Netherlands soon after the signing of the Treaty of Breda. The war had coalesced Europe into two loose alliances. On one side was the alliance of France and the Netherlands, on the other side was England and it’s allies. In the years immediately before the second war, the Dutch Provinces had seen their military might on land fall into neglect as the ruling regenten[1] merchant class put all of their investment into the building up of the supposedly “invincible” Dutch navy. This period of naval emphasis (naval gazing?) coincided with the political dominance of Johan De Witt, a prominent regenten Republican leader of the Stadtholderless Period.

The lackluster performance of the Navy in the Second Anglo-Dutch War would be the motivating factor behind a transfer of investment from the Navy to the Netherland’s small land army. This, along with a strong alliance with France, lead to a much better situation with the Netherland’s security from invasion than could have been.

The declining importance of naval power
would ultimately spell an end to De Witt and his faction’s dominance. Frustrated by continuing obstruction of his plans, De Witt left government in 1671. Although many of those who opposed De Witt were themselves republicans, his absence would allow the House of Orange to reassert itself on the political stage. The Orange, led by the young and charismatic Prince William[2], would latch on to the cause of military reform in order to present itself as a viable alternative to De Witt and the regenten Republicans.

[1] En. regents or more accurately patricians
[2] OTL King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland

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Dutch States Army soldier of the 17th century.

Coming soon:
More regular and large updates
Twice per week for the forseeable
future
The Third Anglo-Dutch War
Dutch America doubles it's size
 
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