Bilateral distribution plan of the Southern Netherlands

The Bilateral distribution plan of the Southern Netherlands was a secret agreement in the Eighty Years' War took shape in consultation between the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of France and sought the Southern Netherlands into two pieces, and both states according to a pre Negotiated area delimitation would push their limits. The proposal to split was in 1635 founded by Richelieu, who wanted to become more involved in European politics, and the Dutch Republic.

It was confirmed on February 8 1635 entered into a treaty, the Traité de Partage, but the performance turned out differently than expected. The division "of the border Taele" ultimately was not achieved because the expected uprising of the southern nobility did not take place.

Contents

 * 1 Prior
 * 2 Convention on the partition plan
 * 3 Attempted execution
 * 4 Consequences
 * 4.1 Against Offensive from south
 * 4.2 Loss of Arras and French Flanders
 * 5 Effects

Prior
Prince Frederik-Hendrik

After the death of Archduke Albert of Austria was Archduchess Isabella of Spain forced to continue alone govern. In a conspiracy of nobles held in 1632, the idea of ​​dividing the southern Netherlands emerge. The princess buttoned negotiations with the Northern Netherlands to the Twelve Year Truce in a peace treaty to put, but the Dutch showed no signs of compliance. Rather, Frederick Henry of Orange, governor of the Republic undertook a successful campaign along the Meuse . He also turned out to be a much more capable and more driven politician than his deceased half-brother Maurice . For example, he tried one against hunting in the armor. Through the support of the provinces he got a good counterweight to the moods of the States General and was able to maintain sufficient grip on the general management. Through the ' Secrete worries 'committees consisting of alternating members of the States General, Frederick Henry could exert influence. Through an understanding with France to maintain, he proposed mutual conquest and division of the Southern Netherlands. In a secret bilateral agreement of April 15, 1634 were the Dutch Republic and France finally agreed on the preparation of the basic distribution based on an older idea of the secret partition plan Van den Bergh and Warfusée was based.

Convention on the partition plan [ edit ]
The Richelieu ( Philippe de Champaigne, 1637 or 1642)

The actual treaty, the Traité de Partage was on February 8, 1635 by the Republic of Frederick Henry of Orange, represented by Adriaan Pauw and Johan de Knuyt, withFrance in under Cardinal Richelieu closed. It was agreed several points including the bilateral distribution plan of the southern Netherlands, which was now made concrete.Instead of a buffer state, Cardinal Richelieu suggested splitting the Southern Netherlands for along the "border of Taele."

In the final treaty were Brabant and Malines assigned to the Republic, but with the Walloon provinces almost all Flanders to France. The Dutch would Noord-Brabant andLimburg occupy, while the French Artois, the current French Flanders , and Wallonia and Montmedy would annex. The proposed boundary ran from Blankenberge northBruges to Rupelmonde. A piece Diets country, Dunkirk , Ypres , Geraardsbergen in the South and Bruges , Ghent , Dendermonde in the North would attack France.

With seditious pamphlets would be first encouraged the southern provinces to revolt against Spain within three months. They would then be in a sovereign body is to be united, preserving religion and freedoms under the protection of His Majesty and the States General, the entire coastal area between Gravel Ingen and Blankenberge, besides namesand Thionville , in French hands would come while Holly , the Land of Waas , Breda , Gelderland and Stevensweert would be added to the Republic, "because the new state would be unable to defend itself" ... In case the country would, however, refuse 'to shake off the Spanish yoke ', the ultimate plan was to the country as a whole to divide the two allies along a line extending from Blankenberge to Rupelmonde , then along the Scheldt, along the northern border of Hainaut, the Namur and Luxembourg. Designer of the first plan was Richelieu, which is basically a buffer state target between France and the Republic, which he would rather not as a neighbor.

[Attempting to perform edit ]
Looting of Tienen on a post in 1635.

On May 19, 1635 France Spain declared war and withdrew the French army through Luxembourg the Spanish Netherlands in the direction of the assembly Maastricht . Here joined the French army at the State troops. Both armies were led by Frederick Henry of Orange .

But the response in the Southern Netherlands in the manifesto that on June 2, 1635, a few days after the declaration of war from France to Spain (May 19) called to arms, turned all else to unpack. Along with the Prince-Cardinal, who replied on 24 June, the country saw in the French just yet law robbers, instigators of heresy and disturbers of the Catholic religion, and that made ​​them in the Southern Netherlands totally undesirable.

On May 20, 1635 Frederick Henry defeated the French army, the Duke of Savoy Thomas French-Carignano near Huy .

The French army of 20,000 men that had been seized in May from Luxembourg, crossed to Maastricht to join according to an old plan of Frederick Henry at his army and together hold an impressive march to Brussels with 40,000 fighters. But Tienen, the first Brabant town on their way, refused to open the gates. This was followed on 10 July astorming and looting of the city as an example. The women were raped, and the city - accidentally - burned to the ground.

The siege of Louvain by a State-French army on July 3 failed, and other cities stubbornly kept the gates shut, and were prepared to defend themselves at the risk of undergoing the same fate as Tienen.

The planned uprising in the southern Netherlands so forthcoming. The attacking army was now in a predicament, obliged to march forth between closed fortresses, in the open country and faced the troops of the Cardinal-Infante, Ferdinand of Austria, which were quartered in barracks under the Brussels ramparts. On July 4 the allies slunk off toRoermond, en route bombarded by peasants who killed their stragglers "like rabbits".

[Against Offensive from south edit ]
Now retorted the Cardinal-Infante, who joined the Flanders Army reinforcement of 15,000 Imperial, led by Ottavio Piccolomini , had received a bold campaign to Fort Schenk , one of the gates of the United Provinces, which he fell in hands. Then he took Goch, while his lieutenants the city of Limburg and some neighboring places like Gennep and Diest won.

Frederick Henry could not fail, without actually attacking, watch how went the moves, while the French in the Betuwe wintered were mown down by misery and a terrible typhoid fever that extended from their camp in the provinces and made ​​over many casualties.

The Cardinal-Infante made ​​it to Roermond he besieged to surrender. When he decided to also Picardy attack, Frederick Henry could Schenkenschans take back, because the expected additional support troops for the Prince Cardinal among Matthias Gallas were not showing up on time. While in 1637 Piccolomini undertake certain to hold against the French in the south, the Prince of Orange did through the capture of Breda on October 10, his military glory and increase its political influence. The territory of Breda, then the bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch, was quite the left bank of the lower Maas now in the power of the Republic.

Fort Liefkenshoek, Fort Lillo.

In 1638 Frederick Henry undertook to take a bold attempt Antwerp, but in the battle of Kallo was his army on 20 June vigorously by the army of Flanders in the clobbered and scattered. Also in his campaign against Gelderland in August he had to succumb to the rushed army led by the Prince Consort.

Before the Battle of the Downs,Reinier Nooms .

Since the war with France, the land route was closed, the Spanish were forced troop reinforcements to transport the Netherlands by sea. This' second Armada, "20,000 men in number, led by Antonio de Oquendo was in the Channel by the Dutch admiral Maarten Harp Tromp met and despite protests of King Charles I of England embedded at 'The Downs' in southern England. The Battle of the Downs that followed on October 21, 1639, the Spaniards took 43 ships and six thousand men.

The military operations on land were the rest of the year without appreciable benefit to one or the other. While the Cardinal-Infante the failure of Frederick Henry on Holly and Gelderland foiled, took the French by taking Hesdin the defeat which Piccolomini June 7 under the ramparts of Thionville had done to the Marshal Feuquières. Because of the recall by the Emperor of Piccolomini, the Cardinal-Infante had a situation for the insufficient forces and failed in the siege of the French at Arras to break. The surrender of the city on August 9, 1640 was a tough loss for the southern Netherlands, on which many other cities would follow Artois. In the north, Frederick Henry won the city Gennep, in the Duchy of Cleves, while in the south the French their conquests in Artesia continue with intake of La Bassée, Lens and Bapaume. The troops moved into their winter quarters, when they kill the Cardinal-Infante found that on 9 November at the age of 33 died of smallpox.

[Loss of Arras and French Flanders edit ]
Antwerp at the time of the siege in 1646.

The mighty provinces of the Republic, especially Holland, who were in the minority, meanwhile gradually turned against Frederick Henry. This was particularly evident after the marriage of his son William to Princess Mary Stuart in 1641, that the links between the House of Orange and the British royal family were cited. The prestige of the House of Orange was thus increased, so that now the royal court of France Frederick Henry as "His Highness" appealed a title normally reserved for kings. When he was in The Hague with his wife Amalia van Solms also went with a quasi royal court, especially grew in the Dutch republicans fear of a monarchical power under the political leadership of the House of Orange. In 1643 Holland knew even drive a large troop reduction by. In the years that followed, Frederick Henry increasingly lost control of his mental and physical abilities and Holland was again able to work politically to the above plan.

In 1646 he did despite his illness a final attempt to conquer Antwerp, which failed, however. The Republic retained Fort Liefkenshoek and blocked the Scheldt to obstruct the Antwerp commerce.

Frederick Henry died in 1647 on March 14 after his health had been deteriorating for some time. He was succeeded by his son, governor Willem II . On April 11 the same year, Archduke Leopold of Austria, brother of the emperor, governor of the Southern Netherlands. He would be a number by the French conquered cities recover, including Ypres.But Arras and French Flanders were the southern Netherlands permanently lost.

[Effects edit ]
The stalemate in the Eighty Years War remained and the war raged on.