Reinterpreting the Dutch Forty Years War, 1672–1713

144 Pages·4.043 MB·English

by  David Onnekink (auth.)

Reinterpreting the Dutch Forty
–
Years War, 1672 1713
DavidOnnekink
Reinterpreting
the Dutch Forty
Years War,
–
1672 1713
DavidOnnekink
DepartmentofHistory
UniversityofUtrecht
Utrecht,TheNetherlands
ISBN978-1-349-95135-2 ISBN978-1-349-95136-9(eBook)
DOI10.1057/978-1-349-95136-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016956242
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A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book has had a long gestation. In 2004, I was awarded a three-year
postdoctoral VENI-grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research(NWO)onideologyandDutchforeignpolicy,whichresultedin
several articles and (co-)edited volumes, mainly War and Religion after
Westphalia(1648–1713)(Farnham,2009),IdeologyandForeignPolicyin
Early Modern Europe (1650–1750) (Farnham, 2011) and Pamphlets and
PoliticsintheDutchRepublic(Leiden,2011).BythenIwascaughtupina
long-term project on the Peace of Utrecht. During that time the ideas
about my book shifted decisively when my attention was captured by
critical discourse analysis and its opportunities for early modern studies
on foreign policy. It took some time before I decided to rethink the
original draft and produce this book. I can only hope that its slow
maturation has provedto be fruitful.
ThroughouttheyearsIhaveaccumulatedmultipledebts.Thisresearch
projectwassponsoredbyNetherlandsOrganisationforScientificResearch
(NWO)between 2004and2008,during which mostofthe researchwas
done. I am thankful to the Research Institute of History and Culture of
the Universiteit Utrecht (OGC) for its support. The Huntington Library
in San Marino and the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library in Los
Angeles alsosupported myresearch in theirfacilitiesin2005.
Theideasforthisbookhavebeendiscussedwithanumberofcolleagues
whom I wish to thank for their intellectual generosity. Obviously it does
not mean that they agree with the main thesis of this book, and I remain
solely responsible for any shortcomings. I would like to thank: Duncan
Bell, Lucien Bely, Emma Bergin, Femke Deen, Sebastiaan Derks,
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
RaymondFagel,LindaFrey,MarshaFrey,Liesbeth Geevers,Maartjevan
Gelder, Beatrice de Graaf, Michiel van Groesen, Duco Hellema, Julian
Hoppit, Jonathan Israel, Margaret Jacob, Ed Jonker, Nigel Little, Esther
Mijers,ArjanNobel,MichelReinders,HansRigholt,TonvanderSchans,
Koen Stapelbroek, Erik Swart, Geoffrey Symcox, David Trim, Coen
Wilders and the late Joop van Wijngaarden. I am also thankful to Steven
Pincus,whoseworkhasbeentheinitialinspirationforthisproject.Jeroen
DuindamandWijnandMijnhardtservedasmentorsduringthefirstyears
of my research and have been very supportive. I am also very grateful to
the students of the History Department of the Universiteit Utrecht who
took classes on the War of the Spanish Succession and the Peace of
Utrecht that I gave together with Renger de Bruin. I am very thankful
tocolleagueswhohavereadandcommentedonadraftofthemanuscript:
Tony Claydon, Jeroen Duindam, Lotte Jensen, Charles-Édouard
Levillain, Luc Panhuysen, Yolanda Rodríguez Pérez, Gijs Rommelse,
MartineVeldhuizenandtheanonymousreferee.Theyprovidedthorough
feedback, saving me from a number of errors and helping me to improve
the quality of the book. Also thanks to Sven Hermans for his assistance
withreferences,KateDelaneywhohasthoroughlyeditedmytextandthe
editors of Palgrave Pivot who have been most supportive: Molly Beck,
PeterCarey,NikitaDhiwar,OliverDyer,JennyMcCallandJaneMoulds.
I dedicate this book to my wife Martine Veldhuizen. If not for her
continuous support and scholarly advice this book would not be here.
Whilstworkingonthisbook,weexperienced‘thebestoftimes’whenour
daughtersRebecca(2012)andHannah(2015)wereborn,and‘theworst
oftimes’whenHannahdiedinhospitalinMarch2015.Hernamemeans
‘Graceof God’ andthatishow wewill alwayssee her.
C
ONTENTS
1 GeneralIntroduction 1
Introduction 1
The Forty Years’War 3
RevisionistHistoriography 5
Post-revisionist Criticism 7
Approach 8
Notes 10
2 ForeignPolicyDiscoursesandtheConstructionofIdentities 17
Method 17
Realist Discourse 20
LiberalDiscourse 21
Protestant Discourse 24
Political Parties 25
RepublicanDiscourse 27
OrangistDiscourse 30
Conclusion and Operationalization 32
Notes 32
3 TheFranco-Dutch War(1672–1678) 37
Introduction 37
The Franco-DutchWar(1672–1678) 39
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPolitical Documents 41
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inFormalPublished Documents 46
vii
viii CONTENTS
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPopular Publications 48
Conclusion 57
Notes 59
4 TheNine Years’ War (1688–1697) 65
Introduction 65
The Nine Years’War(1688–1697) 67
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inFormalPublished Documents 69
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPolitical Documents 72
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPopular Publications 78
Conclusion 83
Notes 85
5 TheWar of the SpanishSuccession (1702–1713) 89
Introduction 89
The Warofthe SpanishSuccession (1702–1713) 91
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPolitical Documents 93
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inFormalPublished Documents 100
Foreign PolicyDiscourses inPopular Publications 104
Conclusion 113
Notes 115
6 GeneralConclusion 123
Notes 132
Index 133
CHAPTER1
General Introduction
Abstract Inthegeneralintroduction,DavidOnnekinkmakesthecasefor
reinterpretingtheDutchFortyYears’War(1672–1713).Heexplainshow,
accordingtohistorians,theDutchRepublicbecamelockedinaprolonged
defensivestruggleagainstFranceintheFranco-DutchWar(1672–1678),
theNineYears’War(1688–1697)andtheWaroftheSpanishSuccession
(1702–1713).Hethenproceedstoshowhowthisinterpretationrestson
theoretical assumptions generated by structure of politics and realism,
assumptions that have been challenged by post-revisionist scholars.
Onnekink then discusses an analytical model devised by Lene Hansen,
whoproposestorethinkforeignpolicyasadiscursivepractice.Thismodel
forms the basisforthe casestudies inthisbook.
Keywords Realism(cid:1)Post-structuralism(cid:1)Foreignpolicy(cid:1)DutchRepublic
(cid:1) FortyYears’ War (cid:1)Internationalrelations
INTRODUCTION
TheauthoroftheTrueInterestofEurope,apamphletjustifyingtheDutch
war against France in 1702, dedicated his work to the ‘free fought
Batavians’ who had taken up arms in the past against the ‘mighty King
of Spain’ to preserve their ‘Liberty and Religion’. And they should do so
again, now that the King of France threatened their ‘dearly bought free-
dom’. The Forty Years’ War, the cluster of wars between the Dutch
©TheAuthor(s)2016 1
D.Onnekink,ReinterpretingtheDutchFortyYearsWar,1672–1713,
DOI10.1057/978-1-349-95136-9_1
2 REINTERPRETINGTHEDUTCHFORTYYEARSWAR,1672–1713
Republic and France between 1672 and 1713, was interpreted by the
Dutch through such narratives. The ‘foreign policy story’ of the defence
of liberty against tyranny was rooted in the myth of Batavians revolting
against the Roman Empire, but also rehashed Reformation narratives
about the defence of true religion against Catholicism. The Forty Years’
War itself saw the emergence of a new ‘story’, the rise of France as a
‘universal monarchy’. The pamphleteer argued that the King of France
had attempted to ‘elevate himself as universal monarch of Europe’.1
These foreign policy discourses were thus rooted in identity discourses.
The Dutch Republic was represented as a free Protestant state, whereas
France wasCatholic andtyrannical,intenton enslaving Europe.
The Forty Years’ War against Louis XIV has been primarily studied
through the prism of realism and has been explained by scholars such as
JorisVoorhoeveasa‘longbattleagainstFrenchimperialism’.2According
toJohanAalbers,‘theRepublicwasforced...tofightalandwar’between
1672and1713.3Thisstrategicdeterminismprecludeschoiceanddebate
and renders foreign policy discourses irrelevant; these are just discourses.
Until quite recently, most historians have argued that there was little
domestic debate on the direction of foreign policy during this period; in
the faceof obviousaggression, debatewashardly needed.
Thisbookintendstorefutethisimage.Itarguesthatthehistoriography
of the Forty Years’ War is flawed. The image of the Dutch Republic
fighting against ‘French imperialism’ is not an objective interpretation
but a selective interpretation of a seventeenth-century narrative which in
itself was discursively constructed. Indeed, the very terminology, such as
‘universalmonarchy’,used by historians isborrowed directly from seven-
teenth-century identity discourses. Likewise, the modern realist interpre-
tationoftheFortyYears’Warasaconflicttorestorethebalanceofpower
inEuropeisunsatisfactory,asbalanceofpowerisnota‘timeless’concept
ofinternationalrelations(IR)butsimplyadiscursiveprismthroughwhich
contemporaries viewed the conflict. I thus argue that the modern inter-
pretation of the Forty Years’ War as a major struggle against French
expansionism is not in any meaningful way ‘objective’, but rooted in
seventeenth-century foreignpolicydiscourses.
ThisbookcallsforareinterpretationoftheFortyYears’Warthrougha
methodological reshuffle. I argue that seventeenth-century discourses
werenotsomuchareflectionofstrategicreality,butwerelargelyrespon-
sibleformouldingthatreality.Itakemycuefromrecentdevelopmentsin
IR theory based in discourse analysis. This book will show how ‘basic