<P> The Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England sympathised with the Dutch struggle against the Spanish, and sent an army of 7,600 soldiers to aid the Dutch in their war with the Catholic Spanish . The English army under command of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was of no real benefit to the Dutch rebellion . Philip II, the son of Charles V, was not prepared to let them go easily, and war continued until 1648, when Spain under King Philip IV finally recognised the independence of the seven north - western provinces in the Peace of Münster . Parts of the southern provinces became de facto colonies of the new republican - mercantile empire . </P> <P> After declaring their independence, the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland formed a confederation . All these duchies, lordships and counties were autonomous and had their own government, the States - Provincial . The States General, the confederal government, were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives from each of the seven provinces . The sparsely populated region of Drenthe was part of the republic too, although it was not considered one of the provinces . Moreover, the Republic had come to occupy during the Eighty Years' War a number of so - called Generality Lands in Flanders, Brabant and Limburg . Their population was mainly Roman Catholic, and these areas did not have a governmental structure of their own, and were used as a buffer zone between the Republic and the Spanish - controlled Southern Netherlands . </P> <P> In the Dutch Golden Age, spanning much of the 17th century, the Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers, alongside Portugal, Spain, France and England . Science, military, and art (especially painting) were among the most acclaimed in the world . By 1650, the Dutch owned 16,000 merchant ships . The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company established colonies and trading posts all over the world, including ruling the northern parts of Taiwan between 1624--1662 and 1664--1667 . The Dutch settlement in North America began with the founding of New Amsterdam on the southern part of Manhattan in 1614 . In South Africa, the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in 1652 . Dutch colonies in South America were established along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains, among them Colony of Surinam (now Suriname). In Asia, the Dutch established the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and the only western trading post in Japan, Dejima . </P> <P> Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world . In early modern Europe it had the wealthiest trading city (Amsterdam) and the first full - time stock exchange . The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as phenomena such as the boom - bust cycle, the world's first asset - inflation bubble, the tulip mania of 1636--1637, and the world's first bear raider, Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount . In 1672--known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar (Disaster Year)--the Dutch Republic was at war with France, England and three German Bishoprics simultaneously . At sea it could successfully prevent the English and French navy entering the western shores . On land, however, it was almost taken over internally by the advancing French and German armies coming from the east . It managed to turn the tide by inundating parts of Holland, but could never recover to its former glory again and went into a state of general decline in the 18th century, with economic competition from England and long - standing rivalries between the two main factions in Dutch society, the republican Staatsgezinden and the supporters of the stadtholder the Prinsgezinden, as main political factions . </P>

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