Dutch Invasions

The Dutch Invasions in Brazil were a series of incursions by the Republic of the United Provinces (Holland) during the 17th century. They took place in Bahia in 1624, in Pernambuco in 1630 and in Maranhão in 1641.

The purpose was to regain and maintain control over sugar production and trade in the Northeast, resulting in Dutch control of this region for almost 25 years.

The Flemish suffered from Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese resistance, from inadaptations to the climate, diseases and other bad weather, forcing them to abandon their possessions in 1654.

Main Causes

From the outset, it is worth mentioning that, from the beginning, the sugar enterprise was financed by the Dutch, who were expelled from the Brazilian sugar trade as soon as the Iberian Union was established, which merged the crowns of Portugal and Spain into one.

As the Flemings were enemies of the Spanish Crown, they were prohibited from landing in Portuguese lands and, for this reason, they created in 1621, the “Dutch Company of the West Indies”, with the aim of recovering the profitable trade that had been lost.

Thus, mercenaries in the service of the Republic of the United Provinces invaded the sugarcane lands to control the production of the mills in the Northeast.

Historical Context:Summary

In 1598, the Dutch made their first incursions with the Dutch navigator Oliver Van Noord , who tried to loot Guanabara Bay.

A few years later, in 1624, the first Dutch invasion of northeastern Brazil began, however, it was restricted to Bahia.

In the same year, under the command of Jacob Willekens , about 1500 men conquered the city of Salvador, until, the following year, a powerful fleet formed by Portuguese and Spanish (52 ships and 12 thousand men) reconquered the lost territory.

In February 1630, realizing the vulnerability of the region of Pernambuco, a rich and less protected captaincy, a squadron of 56 ships landed on the coast, taking Olinda easily.

The same is not true in Recife, which was occupied with great difficulty, thanks to guerrilla techniques used by the defenders.

In 1635, the Dutch forces in Pernambuco easily reached 5500 armed men. Thus, without the expected reinforcements, the resistance commanded by Matias de Albuquerque (1580-1647) from Arraial de Bom Jesus, he fled to Bahia in 1635, leaving the region to the Dutch.

With the conquest of the territory, it was necessary the presence of a figure that centralized the political and military functions of the “New Holland”.

Thus, Count João Maurício de Nassau (1604-1679) was appointed general administrator of Dutch Brazil, who arrived in 1637, accompanied by numerous liberal professionals, such as doctors, architects, scientists and artists. However, due to the weak military defense of Olinda, the city of Recife is designated as the headquarters of Nova Holanda.

During his government, there was a strong stimulus to the recovery of sugar production, as well as the realization of urbanization works in Recife, with evident reflexes on regional development.

In 1640, Portugal achieved its independence from Spain and, in the following year, a ten-year armistice was signed between Portugal and Holland, which allowed the Dutch to consolidate their domination, especially after the invasion of Maranhão in 1641, when they extended their boundaries between Ceará and the São Francisco River.

In the year 1643, due to disagreements with the Dutch West India Company, Mauritius of Nassau returns to Europe.

Shortly thereafter, the peaceful situation with the local planters begins to deteriorate, as they are no longer able to pay the debts incurred with the Dutch, culminating in the Pernambucan Insurrection from 1645.

From there, and with the military assistance of the Portuguese and English, the Brazilian Portuguese expelled the Dutch definitively from Brazil in 1654.

Read Also :

• State of Paraíba
• Exercises Colonial Brazil
• History of Pernambuco
• Battle of the Guararapes

Exercises

To test your knowledge, here are three entrance exams on the subject:

1. (Fuvest) They were, respectively, important factors in the Dutch occupation of Northeast Brazil and in their subsequent expulsion

a) the involvement of Holland in the slave trade and the disagreements between Maurício de Nassau and the West India Company.
b) Holland's participation in the sugar economy and the indebtedness of planters to the West India Company.
c) Holland's interest in the gold economy and the resistance and non-acceptance of foreign rule by the population.
d) Holland's attempt to monopolize colonial trade and the end of Spanish domination in Portugal.
e) the exclusion of the Netherlands from the economy.

2. (PUC-RS) The Dutch invasions of Brazil in the 17th century were related to the need for the Netherlands to maintain and expand its hegemony in the sugar trade in Europe, which had been interrupted

a) by the commercial monopoly policy of the Portuguese Crown, reaffirmed in retaliation for the anti-colonial mobilization of the great landowners.
b) by the English interests that dominated the trade between Brazil and Portugal.
c) by the Pombaline policy, which aimed to develop the processing of sugar in the colony itself, with the support of the British.
d) by the commercial interests of the French, who were present in Maranhão, in relation to sugar.
e) by the War of Independence of the Netherlands against Spain, and its consequent reflexes in the Portuguese colony, due to the Iberian Union.

3. (UEPR) Read the text:

"Nassau arrived in 1637 and left in 1644, leaving the mark of the administrator. His period is the most brilliant of foreign presence. Nassau renewed the administration (...) It was relatively tolerant of Catholics, allowing them the free exercise of worship , as well as with the Jews (after him there was not the same tolerance, neither with the Catholics nor with the Jews - a strange fact, since the Companhia das Índias relied on them a lot, as shareholders or in eminent positions). giving it diversions, improving the conditions of the port and the urban core (...), making art museums, botanical and zoological parks, astronomical observatories."

(Francisco Iglesias)

This text refers to:

a) the arrival and installation of the English Puritans in New England, in search of religious freedom.
b) the Dutch invasion of Brazil, during the period of the Iberian Union and the foundation of Nova Holanda in the sugar-producing Northeast.
c) the French invasions on the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the installation of a cosmopolitan society in Rio de Janeiro.
d) Flamenco rule in the Antilles and the creation of a modern society, influenced by the Renaissance.
e) the establishment of the Sephardim, expelled in the Iberian Reconquest War, in the Netherlands and the foundation of the West India Company.

Exercises Answer :

1. Letter B
2. Letter E
3. Letter B