15 Facts About Dutch Republic

1. The Dutch Republic rounded out their diet with the plentiful fish, butter, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables that were produced domestically.

2. Dutch Republic conspired with the Bugis of Bone, who were led by Arung Palakka, and succeeded in overthrowing Gowa in 1669.

3. The first stadtholder of the Dutch Republic was William I of Orange, who joined with Dutch nationalists and led the struggle for independence from Spain.

4. Dutch Republic were the second colonial power to influence the history of Central Africa.

5. The Dutch Republic claimed the western half of New Guinea in 1828, but their first permanent administrative posts, at Fakfak and Manokwari, were not set up until 1898.

6. The Dutch Republic decided not to ally themselves with anyone, and kept out of all European wars especially the First World War that swirled about it.

7. Dutch Republic banks at this time still held much of the world's capital.

8. The Dutch Republic recovered their trade, while the English economy was seriously hurt and its treasury nearly bankrupt.

9. At first many Dutch Republic ships were captured and the English scored great victories.

10. Dutch Republic was the official language, but a dialect had formed that was quite distinct from Dutch.

11. The Dutch Republic never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India.

12. Dutch Republic ships hunted whales off Svalbard, traded spices in India and Indonesia and founded colonies in New Amsterdam (now New York), South Africa and the West Indies.

13. The Dutch Republic expanded their commercial empire into Africa and Southeast Asia as well, done largely by the Dutch East India Company, instituted in 1602.

14. The Dutch Republic created a commodities market where the goods being loaded and shipped on the docks could be traded publicly.

15. Dutch Republic was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so-called Generality Lands.