In modern historiography, known as the Netherlands Revolution, the Eighty Years War (1568 - 1648) is the struggle of Seventeen provinces (the personal union of states in the Lower Countries) for independence against the most powerful Spanish empire in Europe under King Philip II.
It's not about a long war. Throughout 80 years, it manifested itself in many separate uprisings, as well as long-term periods of ceasefire (in 1609-1621). The struggle for independence led to the secession of the Northern and Southern Netherlands and the formation of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
The most widely accepted view is that the Dutch revolution began with the looting of churches and convents in 1566.
The reasons for the uprising are explained by the poor economic situation of people, high taxation, and the oppression of the new Calvinist religion.
The rupture of relations between Catholics and the king, on the one hand, on the other hand, by Calvinists and disgruntled nobles who demanded freedom of religion, led to rebellion. The leader of the Calvinists was William I of Orange.
To suppress the rebellion, Philip sent to the Lower Countries a new governor, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, who very energetically set about solving his task. On the day he arrived in Brussels at the head of a select army, he approved the Riot Council - better known as the Bloody Council because of the many death sentences carried out. The council was created to punish instigators of political and religious problems in the Netherlands. In total, under the Duke of Alba, between 1867 and 1573, about 18,000 people were executed in the Netherlands.
The Dutch revolution began with two unsuccessful invasions, in 1568 and 1572, of William of Orange with a mercenary army consisting of naval Geuze, irregular Dutch ground and naval forces. Due to the scarce funding of the army and little public support for the invasion, they were doomed initially.
But quite unexpectedly, the Geuze captured the city of Brille on April 1, 1572, which became a sign for Calvinists in the provinces of Holland and Zealand to rebel again.
The Spaniards were mostly successful, but the Dutch revolution cost them huge cash expenses. In this regard, peace talks were launched, however, they failed. Meanwhile, the Duke of Alba, who did not like the Lower Countries, primarily because of the humid climate, asked Philip several times to relieve him of his duties as governor. Philip, in the end, agreed and in 1573 Luis de Rekensens was appointed the new governor. But in 1576 he suddenly died.
In addition to the fact that at that time there was no successor, for several months the salaries were not paid to the mercenaries, and serious discontent arose in the Spanish troops, resulting in a rebellion called “Spanish Fury”. The soldiers defeated and sacked Antwerp, killing 10,000 of its inhabitants.
The revolution in the Netherlands continued, as these circumstances further strengthened the determination of the rebels to seek independence.
On November 8, 1576, Ghent peace was concluded. Holland, Zealand and the southern (Catholic) provinces agreed on religious tolerance and mutual cooperation in expelling the Spaniards from Dutch soil. Other northern provinces also joined the Ghent Agreement.
On January 6, 1579, the alliance was weakened by the apostasy from the Ghent agreement of the Walloon provinces, which signed the Union of Arras, with which they expressed loyalty to the Spanish king. In response, on January 23, 1579, a union was created in Utrecht against Spanish governorate, uniting the seven northern regions of the Netherlands and laying the foundations for a future independent Republic.
By 1588, the Spaniards, under the governor of the Netherlands Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, re-conquered the southern Lower Countries. The birth of the Dutch republic in the north came under attack. But Spain simultaneously led military companies against England and France, which allowed the Netherlands to launch a counterattack
During the period of the Twelve-year Armistice (from 1609), the borders of the Dutch state were finally fixed.
By and large, the Dutch bourgeois revolution covers the first fifty years of the struggle between Spain and the Netherlands (1568 -1618). Over the past thirty years (1618–1648), the conflict between Spain and the Netherlands has been combined with the pan-European war known as the Thirty Years War.