PEOPLES AND EMPIRES

THE EIGHTY YEARS WAR & MUHAMMAD OF THE WEST

THE EIGHTY YEARS’ WAR 1568-1648

DUTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

CAUSES

Heavy taxation by Spain.

Support and guidance from the

government was hampered by the size

of the Empire. It took at least four

weeks to get a response from the

throne. Because of this the Seventeen

Provinces often acted without

permission from the throne.

The Beeldenstorm (Iconoclastic Fury) of

1566 stripped all non-Roman Catholic

Churches of statuary and other religious

decorations.

THE EIGHTY YEARS’ WAR 1568-1648

DUTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

TIMELINE1568-1572 The Council of Troubles starts a campaign of repression against heretics and insurrectionists.

9,000 accused, 1,000 executed, many more fled. Taxes increased to fund the war.

1572-1576 Sea Beggars expelled from England captured Brill. Rebels won the battles of Borsele and

Reimerswaal. Spanish troops mutinied at Zierikee because they had not been paid in two

years.

1576-1579 The Pacification of Ghent was signed withdrawing Spanish troops and suspension of the

placards against heresy. Holland formalized the defensive Union of Utrecht.

1579-1588 Orange conceded defeat and signed the Union of Utrecht. The secession of the States-

General was formalized by the Act of Abjuration. In 1584 Orange was assassinated. Queen

Elizabeth of England extended a protectorate over the Netherlands.

1588-1609 The Dutch Republic resurges. The Dutch States Army triples in size to 50,000, made up of

mostly Scottish, English, German and Swiss mercenaries.

1609-1621 The Twelve Years’ Truce. Statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt convicted and beheaded.

1621-1629 Dutch ships ordered out of Spanish ports and trade embargoes renewed. Holland and Spain

engaged in economic-warfare.

1629-1635 Wesel and ‘s-Hertogenbosch surrendered to Frederick Henry of the Republic. Peace talks

failed.

1635-1640 The Treaty of Alliance was signed between the French and the Dutch. No Spanish-Netherland

invasion ever materialized. The Dutch navy won the Battle of the Downs.

1640-1648 The Peace of Münster was signed on January 30,

1948, ending the Eighty Years War.

1798-1801

NAPOLEAN’S EGYPTIAN

CAMPAIGNE

MUHAMMAD OF THE WESTNapoleon Bonaparte led a campaign into

Egypt to damage British trade in the

eastern Mediterranean and threaten

British India. Napoleon viewed himself

as a liberator of the Egyptians from the

Ottoman Empire rather than as a

conqueror.

June 9, 1798 – French fleet arrives at Malta. After

taking the island by force, Napoleon frees the

Barbary and Italian prisoners for humanitarian and

political reasons.

July 1, 1798 – Fleet arrives in Alexandria.

July 20, 1798 – The French are victorious in the

Battle of the pyramids.

July 22, 1798 – Officials in Cairo surrender the city.

August 1, 1798 – The British navy attacks the French

naval fleet during the Battle of the Nile. The

Mediterranean Sea is put under British control.

August 24, 1798 – The Institut d’Égypt was founded.

October 22, 1798 – Inhabitants of Cairo revolted.

Napoleon quelled the revolt with the use of the army.

January to April 1799 – Napoleon traveled to Syria to fight

the Ottoman army in battles at Arish, Jaffa, Mount

Tabor, and Acre.

July 25, 1799 – Back in Egypt, the Ottoman and French

armies meet in the Battle of Aboukir. The French army

prevails and takes high-ranking prisoners on a triumphant

procession through Cairo.

August 23, 1799 – Napoleon departs Egypt for France.

August 31, 1801 – Menou capitulates to the

British, allowing the French army to be repatriated in

British ships.