Sunday, September 16, 2018

The Dutch Question {Part of the War of Austrian Succession}


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In the midst of the War of Austrian Succession, in 1743, the Dutch had to answer a very loud cry made by their people. At that point of time, time being February of 1743, the Dutch had a majority Orangist rule, following a take-over of the seats the previous year. This is normal for the Dutch and had been a part of annual life, the Orangists vs the Republicans. 

At this point of time, the Dutch were leaning dangerously close to a breakout of war against the French-Bavarian coalition in the War of Austrian Succession. This being an especially popular opinion among the Unitists, people in the Orangist party who wished to unite with the English, as opposed to the Orthodox Orangists who were mostly against entry to the war. The Republicans, who believed in a non-prince head of state, themselves were divided between two groups, the Pacifists, and the Restorists. The Pacifists being those who wanted to keep the peace between all Europeans and the Dutch. The Restorists were those who wanted to take back Austrian-controlled Belgium in an effort to unite the Nederlands or Low Countries.

This led to a divide where Restorists and Unitists united against the Orange-Republicans, those for war, against those against war. The Restorists had longed to take back Flanders and Waloonia, which had been occupied by the French as an invasion of Austrian-controlled Belgium. While the Unitists didn't oppose this idea, they managed to convince the Restorists that to do so would mean an alliance at the least with the English. 

This fierce divide led to the Maand Gratis Bloed, the name given to the month of March of 1743 where the Restorists and Unitists would perform acts of tarring, arson, and vandalism against known supporters of the Orange-Republicans. The Orangists in power responded by sending the head of the Restorists, Roelof Dirks, to the gallows. The cycle repeating for much of the month of March, up until the 5th of April. On the 5th of April, upon a carriage ride to Binnenhof*, William IV - Prince of Orange-Nassau was ambushed and killed by members of the Restorist-Unitist coalition.



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The debate over whether or not the Dutch should enter the war quite ironically ended at the beginning of a Civil War.


The Restorist-Unitists made it clear that they were not going to let the Orange-Republicans stop a war against the French-Bavarians. Upon multiple minor battles and skirmishes, they were able to regain from the county of Friesland, all the way down to Utrecht. From there the lines broke, cavalry was ineffective and artillery would get stuck in the Dutch Wetlands of Holland/Utrecht. Small skirmishes would lead up to massive charges where no one would gain the advantage. The Restorist-Unitists managed to rack up a surprise landing of the northern Holland, which included taking The Hague, over the course of three months the Orange-Republicans were pushed down to Zeeland and Northern Flanders. 

By August of 1743, the Restorist-Unitists had taken full political power, the Orange-Republicans still controlling Zeeland and Flanders**, although at this point standing no chance at controlling the Dutch people anymore, simply being a refuge for their previous supporters to flee into upon the start of the 'Augustus Bloedvergieten'***. 



Although the Restorist-Unitists had Won the Dutch Civil War, the Orange-Republicans weren't gone, and would certainly re-establish themselves in one way or another!





*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binnenhof

**By August the people of Flanders had agreed to uphold refuge of the Orange-Republicans

***This will be elaborated on more in an Extra! Extra! post.

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