Dutch East India Company formally dissolved (31 December), and its debts and possessions taken over by the Batavian Republic

1568

Abortive revolt in the Netherlands crushed by Alva. Execution of Egmont and Hoorn at Brussels (June)

1572

The sea-beggars’ capture of Den Brid (April) followed by a new surge of revolt in Holland and Zedand. Massacre of St. Bartholomew (August)

1579

Union of Utrecht (January) between the seven northern and self-styled United Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and Friesland. The regions subsequently captured formed the ‘Lands of the States-General' or 'The Generality’

1580

Union of the Crowns of Spain and Portugal in the person of Philip II

1581

Prince William I of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, and the States-General of the Seven Provinces, formally renounce their allegiance to Philip II of Spain

1584

Assassination of William I (July). Rise of the Muslim empire of Mataram in central Java begins, 1582-1613

1585

Parma’s capture of Antwerp followed by accelerated emigration of Calvinists and capital from the southern Provinces to the northern. Leicester’s abortive governor-generalship in the Seven Provinces. First Iberian embargo on Dutch shipping (May 1585)

1588

Prince Maurice appointed Stadtholder. Anglo-Dutch defeat of the Spanish Armada

1590-1600

Great expansion of Dutch seaborne trade to the Mediterranean, West Africa and Indonesia

1600

Foundation of the English East India Company. The first Dutch ship reaches Japan. Unification of Japan under the de facto rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate after the battle of Sekigahara, 1600-1863

1602

Foundation of the Dutch East India Company

1605

Dutch capture Amboina and drive the Portuguese from the Moluccas

1606

Dutch fleet blockades the Tagus. A Spanish expedition from the Philippines recaptures part of the Moluccas. Unsuccefully Dutch attacks on Mozambique and Malacca

1607

Heemskerk destroys a Spanish fleet off Gibraltar

1609

Inauguration of the Ten Year Truce with Spain, Dutch factory at Hirado in Japan

1610-12

Dutch settlements founded in Guiana and the Amazon region, these last beeing subsequently destroyed by the Portuguese. Fort Mouree founded on the Guinea Coast (1612)

1614

Dutch fur-traders active on the Hudson River

1618-19

Synod of Dordrecht. Execution of Oldenbarneveldt. Outbreak of the Thirty Years War. Dutch found Batavia on the ruins of Jakarta. Anglo-Dutch rivalry in the East Indies temporarily changed into an Alliance in 1619-23. Mataram reaches the height of its power under Sultan Agung (1613-45). Achin reaches the height of its power under Sultan Iskander Muda (1615-36). Islamization of Macassar.

1621

Expiration of the Twelve Years Truce. Establishment of the Dutch West India Company

1624-5

Dutch take and lose Bahia. Spinola captures Breda. New Amsterdam founded on Manhattan Island. Dutch repulsed at Puerto Rico and Elmina. Death of Maurice, who is succeeded by his brother, Frederick Henry, as Stadtholder

1628-9

Piet Heyn captures the Silver Fleet (September 1628). Dutch capture Hertogenbosch, Spaniards unsuccessfully besiege Bergen-op-Zoom. Mataram unsuccessfully besieges Batavia. Death of Jan Pietersz Coen

1630

Dutch begin the conquest of Pernambuco (NE. Brazil)

1637

Frederick Henry recaptures Breda. John Maurice completes conquest of Pernambuco. Van Diemen makes an alliance with Raja Sinha of Kandy against the Portuguese in Ceylon

1638-9

Dutch capture Elmina in Guinea and begin conquest of coastal Ceylon 1630. 1639 M. H. Tromp destroys a Spanish Armada in The Downs (21 October)

1640

Catalonia and Portugal revolt from Spain, which subdues the former in 1656 And recognizes the independence of the latter in 1668. Dutch defeat a Portuguese Armada off Pernambuco

1641

Dutch capture Malacca (January), the Maranhao and Luanda (August) from the Portuguese, with whom they also conclude a Ten Year Truce at The Hague (June). The Dutch are now the only Europeans allowed in Japan (Deshima at Nagasaki) till 1853

1644-5

Dutch naval expeditions force the passage of the Sound and protect Dutch trade in the Baltic. John Maurice’s departure from Pernambuco, followed by rebellion in NE. Brazil against the Dutch. Manchus inaugurate their conquest of China

1647

Death of Frederick Henry, who is succeeded by his son, William II, as Stadtholder

1648

Spain recognizes Dutch independence by the Treaty of Munster (January). Portuguese recapture Luanda and Benguela (August)

1650-1

Premature death of William II after an abortive coup-de-main against Amsterdam. Abolition of the office of Stadtholder (save in Friesland and Groningen), and inauguration of the -period of the so-called 'True Freedom'. Passage of the English Navigation Act discriminating against Dutch seaborne Trade

1652-4

First Anglo-Dutch War, ending in a decisive Dutch defeat in the North Sea and regional Dutch victories in the East Indies and the Mediterranean. Van Riebeeck founds the settlement at Cape Town-Johan de Witt becomes Grand Pensionary of the Province of Holland and the effective leader of the Republic until 1672. Portuguese expel the Dutch from NE. Brazil. Arnold de Vlaming completes the conquest of the Amboina group (1650-6)

1658-9

Dutch intervene in the Baltic and relieve the pressure of the Swedish attack on Denmark. Dutch complete the conquest of coastal Ceylon (1654-8)

1661-3

Dutch make peace with Portugal and complete the conquest of Malabar from the Portuguese. Coxinga captures Formosa from the Dutch, and the Spaniards evacuate the Moluccas. First Dutch attack on Macassar

1664

English take some Dutch forts on the Gold Coast and the North American Colony of New Netherlands in time of peace

1665-7

Second Anglo-Dutch war, culminating in the Dutch raid on the Medway and the Treaty of Breda. Final subjugation of Macassar by Speelman and Aru Palakka

1668

Triple alliance between Dutch Republic, England and Sweden

1672-4

Third Anglo-Dutch War and invasion of the Republic by the French. Murder of the brothers De Witt (August 1672) and re-establishment of the Stadtholdership in favour of Prince William III. Revolt of Trunajaya inaugurates the decline of Mataram which recognizes Dutch suzerainty by Treaty of 1677 1679 Death of John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen and Joost van den Vondel 1682-4. Subjugation of Bantam by the Dutch. Manchu conquest of Formosa 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes followed by influx of Hugucnot refugees into the Republic

1688-97

War of the League of Augsburg. William III becomes King of England (1689). Sino-Russian Treaty of Nertchinsk (1689). Treaty of Ryswijk (1697). Coffee tree introduced into Java from Arabia
1702 Death of the King-Stadtholder, William HI, and inauguration of the second Stadtholdedess period in the Republic

1702-13

War of the Spanish Succession. Treaty of Utrecht, Civil war in Mataram and first Javanese War of Succession

1717-23

Second Javanese War of Succession

1740-3

Massacre of Chinese at Batavia followed by extension of fighting into the interior of Java and a new war in Mataram, ending with further cession of territory by the Susuhunan

1747-8

Republic involved in the War of theAustrian Succession and its territory invaded by the French. Abortive middle and working-class movements against oligarchic misrule. William IV made Stadtholder of all seven Provinces, and the office is made hereditary in the House of Orange

1751

Death of William IV, and practical resumption of regent-oligarchic rule during minority of his son

1749-55

Third Javanese Succession War ending with the division of Mataram into the states of Djokjakarta and Surakarta

1756-63

Seven Years War, during which the Dutch profit as neutrals but suffer from considerable English interference with their seaborne trade. A Dutch expedition to restore their position in Bengal miscarries completely and is annihilated by the English (1759)

1766

William V assumes the functions of the Stadtholdership. Rivalry between the pro- and anti-Orange factions in the Netherlands grows steadily worse from now onwards

1780-4

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War with catastrophic effects on Dutch seaborne trade and colonial power. Growth of anti-Orangist feeling among the self-styled ‘Patriotten’ (Patriots)

1787

Armed Prussian intervention restores full power to the Stadtholder. Thousands of Patriotten seek reguge in France 1793 Republic involved in the French Revolutionary War. French invasion, at first successful, checked at Neerwinden (18 March)
1794-5 Another french invasion, facilitated by a severe frost, is virtually unopposed (December-January). The Stadtholder flees to England (18 January 1795), and the old regime collapses ignominiously. First English occupation of the Cape of Good Hope

1799

Dutch East India Company formally dissolved (31 December), and its debts and possessions taken over by the Batavian Republic (From the Dutch Seaborne Empire (1600-1800) (R Boxer)