During the Republic of the United Netherlands, important state tasks such as waging war at sea were outsourced to capitalist 'entrepreneurs'. These commercial wars were an important source of power during the Golden Age. But in the end, the focus was on short-term gain and the Republic went under. This is what historian Pepijn Brandon concludes in his dissertation.
Actually, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, which came into existence in 1588 as a result of the struggle against the Spanish king, was not a country at all. The seven provinces that made up this Republic were competitors rather than allies in many areas. They only worked together to fight the Spaniards more efficiently.
The Republic had no official capital, although representatives of the provinces met regularly in The Hague. There it was decided on the war against Spain, which lasted until 1648. But the implementation thereof and the expansion and monitoring of the international trade routes was a matter for the traders themselves.
Trade companies such as the VOC and the WIC waged their own private trade wars on the world's seas without interference from the States General. Building warships, guarding the Republic's waters and collecting tolls was done by five Admiralties. Private entrepreneurs were largely in charge there too.
The Republic's naval wars were mainly aimed at commercial profit. Because the state worked closely with economic elites, warfare and shipbuilding were highly efficient. The Republic became immensely rich and powerful in the seventeenth century.
Short-term thinking
But according to many historians, this is also the reason why the Republic stagnated and slowly crumbled in the eighteenth century:The loose structure proved no match for powerful, centralized and bureaucratic states like France and England, which became real world powers at that time.
According to Pepijn Brandon, who recently obtained his doctorate cum laude for his thesis Masters of War. State, capital, and military enterprise in the Dutch cycle of accumulation (1600-1795), it's different. “The ultimate loss of influence on the world stage was not simply due to economic decline or state inefficiency,” he says. “Due to the entanglement of commerce with the state, wrong choices were simply made.”
According to Brandon, the system of 'brokerage' – the commercial outsourcing of war tasks – continued into the eighteenth century. It was even further perfected in many shipyards. According to Brandon, it is a myth that with the rise of the aristocracy, job hunters appeared everywhere and the once so successful Dutch craftsmanship was over. France and England were even very jealous of this Dutch success model.
However, because of the entanglement of commerce with the state, the choice was made to invest in small, fast warships to protect the trade routes. “Because of the direct influence of commercial elites on the state, a short-term interest was chosen, namely making commercial profits,” says Brandon. “Long-term interests, such as building a powerful fleet to achieve lasting supremacy at sea, were lost sight of.”
“The special structure of the Dutch state, in which entrepreneurs kept a very direct grip on politics through federally organized brokerage arrangements, became an important barrier to entering into competition with a state like England that could operate much more independently,” says Brandon. P>