| For two centuries, the Dutch exercised economic and military power all out of proportion to the nation's size. They sailed to every comer of the earth on a relentless search for commercial profit, making the nation proud, wealthy, and envied. These feats were accomplished mainly as a result of an attitude, derived from Calvinism, that is well expressed by the motto of Rotterdam: "It is necessary to sail, not to live." <1> By the later 18th century, however, this "golden age" of the Netherlands was rapidly tarnishing, as the emerging giants of England and France began to squeeze the United Netherlands down closer to its actual size. The Dutch were no more willing to accept their decline than any nation would be, especially since poverty and weakness were so visibly replacing the prosperity of earlier times. Predictably, the frustration and anger of many people became focused on a symbol of everything that no longer worked, of everything that had gone wrong -- the Stadholder. Indeed, the recognized qualities of William V made him an impeccable scapegoat. In 1781 he actually declared: "I wish I were dead, that my father had never been a Stadholder . . . I feel I have no ability to be at the head of so many affairs." <2> The way was clear for those determined to restore Dutch glory, the Patriots. The corrupt Stadholder would be removed and new leadership would be infused into the stifling regent class, making the nation vital and powerful again. The Patriots were prepared to do what many nations do when threatened with a fall: revolt. Of course, they did this in a uniquely Dutch way. However, the Stadholder soon reached the limit of this patience. After two small towns, Elburg and Hatten, in Gelderland -- a province firmly loyal to the Prince -- declared their independence from the Stadholder, William agreed to intervene militarily. The towns were taken and held against only meager resistance. the Stadholder had intended this operation to be a show of force that would intimidate the Patriots, <67> but naturally, the opposite happened. The unity and resolve of the burghers was strengthened. They set up a military cordon around Holland and Utrecht, raised funds for an army of 6,700, and Prepared the defenses of Utrecht for a siege. Amidst renewed patriotic fervor, the Amsterdam Regents gave their formal approval to the Act of Association. Perhaps daunted by all this, the Prince attempted to occupy another small Patriot town, Vreeswijk. He lost this time, decisively. The Patriots were now rather confident; after all, they had beaten the traditional commander of the only other military force in the country at the time Patriots- Elburg |  |