Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
- Thread starter Gabingston
- Start date
The Dutch? Am I right? I don't keep up with European stereotypes, I'm the stereotypical uninformed American 😂😂.
I just looked into this, but not only did Denmark have colonies in India but evidentially Sweden did too so that could be something to consider down the road.
The Kalmar Union will have at the very least a few trading posts in India for this reason, whether their holdings in the subcontinent go beyond said coastal trading ports is yet to be determined.
I'm gonna split the Dutch Revolt into two updates. The first part will be the leadup, which I'm keeping as it was IOTL, and the second part will be the actual revolt. What role should the Kalmar Union play in the Dutch Revolt? I think it's very plausible that the Kalmar Union would intervene on the side of the Dutch in the 80 Years' War, considering the strong commercial ties between the two regions and the Kalmar desire to weaken the Spanish. I'd love to hear from you guys on this topic.
I believe that the Union would intervene for the reasons you have but also on a religion standpoint. Considering that the leadup is similar I assume that the Dutch become protestant, so its very likely the Kalmar Union would intervene to help out what could be described as a Protestant uprising against a major catholic power that the union dislikes. They have very good religious and strategic reasons to intervene
Chapter 13: The Dutch Revolt Begins
Union of The Three Crowns: The History of The Nordic Empire
Chapter 13: The Dutch Revolt Begins
Chapter 13: The Dutch Revolt Begins
After covering Poland, I think it’s time to cover another region I’ve planned on touching on, that being the Low Countries. The Low Countries had for a while been one of Europe’s wealthiest and most mercantile regions, with cities like Antwerp and Bruges being some of Europe’s most important cities during this era (although the latter was in decline by the 16th Century due to the inlet it was connected to filling with silt). However, despite its wealth, the Low Countries were not part of any independent Dutch state, as it was ruled by the Habsburg dynasty. The Habsburgs had inherited the Low Countries in 1482 upon the death of Mary of Burgundy, the last ruler from the House of Valois-Burgundy. Shortly after the Habsburg succession to the throne in the Low Countries, the big cities of Flanders revolted against the Habsburgs due to their desire to protect their autonomy. However, these revolts were eventually suppressed, and the Low Countries were solidified as a Habsburg possession, and things stabilized after that. Philip I, the ruler of the former Burgundian Netherlands and King of Spain was born and raised in the Low Countries, and thus understood what was needed to govern the region. The same was true of his son Charles V, who was also born and raised in the Low Countries, so the first half of the 16th Century was by and large stable in the region.
Things would begin the change upon the abdication of Charles V as Lord of The Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy in favor of his son Philip II in 1555. While both his father and grandfather were born and raised in the Low Countries, Philipp was born and grew up in Spain, and was thus not as equipped to rule in the Low Countries (I dare you to take a shot everytime I use the term “Low Countries”, including that last usage is optional). Due to said Spanish upbringing, Philip was viewed as a foreigner within the HRE, the Burgundian Netherlands very much included. Philip’s policies certainly didn’t help that perception, as many of his initiatives were quite unpopular with the public. This was particularly true in the religious department, as while his father Charles V had been anti-Protestant, Philip II took this to a whole other level. The crackdown on Protestants in the Spanish Netherlands got so harsh that even many Catholics (who still made up the majority of the population at this time) thought it was going overboard. Philip also instituted a reform to the organization of the Catholic Church within the Spanish Netherlands, splitting the three pre-existing dioceses in the Low Countries into 14, which upset some of those within the Church hierarchy in the Low Countries.
In addition, the residents of the Spanish Netherlands had paid loads of taxes during the Spanish wars against the French, most notably in Italy, which needless to say wasn’t very popular among the Dutch. Philip had appointed Antoine Perrenot de Granville, a statesman from Besançon to the Council of State, and he proved to be very unpopular with the Dutch members of the council, in large part due to his involvement with the Inquisition and becoming the Archbishop of Mechelen (and a Cardinal for that matter) due to the aforementioned church reorganization. Ten prominent Dutch noblemen formed the League Against Granville, petitioning the king to remove Granville from his position in the Council of State. Upon these petitions going unanswered, several prominent nobles left the Council of State, including figures like Philip de Montmorency, William of Orange and Lamoral, Count of Egmont. Granville was eventually recalled, but that wouldn’t be the end of the troubles in the Spanish Netherlands, far from it.
In April of 1566, several hundred Dutch noblemen, both Protestant and Catholic, petitioned the Spanish Netherlands’ regent Margaret of Parma to tone down the anti-Protestant placards, in what became known as the Compromise of Nobles. Margaret proceeded to suspend the anti-Protestand placards and send two of the Council of State’s members to Spain to get an official response from Philip II. This ceasing of the placards enabled Protestants to spread their views more easily, often holding large public services. The two aforementioned nobles that were sent to Spain to meet Philip made their case to accept the petition. Philip, however, wasn’t sold, and wrote multiple letters to Margaret stating that the petition had been denied. Once the news of the petition’s rejection reached the Netherlands, the Protestants weren’t so enthused. The news of the rejection was followed by the Beeldenstorm, a wave of iconoclasm that involved the sacking and vandalism of Catholic churches and institutions. This led to battles between Calvinist rebels and Spanish troops in the winter between 1566 and 1567. The Spanish leadership in the Netherlands such as Margaret of Parma attempted to calm the situation by giving some more concessions to the Protestants, such as allowing them to have their own churches, but by this point the rebellion was in full swing. Not to worry, though, as the Protestant rebellions were put down by the end of May 1567, and Margaret sent news to Philip that The Netherlands were back under Spanish control.
Unfortunately for Margaret, news traveled very slowly during this time period, and Philip’s actions reflected that. He was convinced that things were flying out of control in The Netherlands, and that he needed to send in the military to restore order. Thus, he sent in an army of 10,000 men commanded by the Duke of Alba into the Low Countries to pacify the region. By the time the news that it’d already been pacified reached Philip, it was too late, and the military operation had already begun. Alba’s troops arrived in August of 1567, and quickly began restoring order to a region that had already seen order restored months prior. Alba then went about prosecuting perceived enemies of the Spanish crown in the Netherlands, including some prominent Catholic noblemen who had merely tolerated Protestants. In total over 1,000 people were executed by Alba and the Spanish, igniting outrage among the public. With the arrival of Alba and the crackdown upon the opposition, some Dutch noblemen like William of Orange went into exile to avoid prosecution and plan a response. The rebels struck back against the empire the following year, with three separate incursions being carried out by the opposition in 1568. While this was by and large a failure, it marked the point of no return into all-out warfare in The Netherlands between the Spanish and the Dutch rebels. This story still has a long way to go, so stay tuned for more. For now, though, have a happy Halloween.
Here is a map of the Netherlands at the time of the Dutch Revolt (source here). For context, orange is the Habsburg Netherlands, dark purple is the Prince-Bishopric of Liege, pink is the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy and light purple is the Prince-Bishopric of Cambresis. IOTL, the Netherlands wound up being split between the independent Dutch Republic in the north and the remaining Habsburg Netherlands in the south, which lasted for two plus centuries and led to permanent divisions within the region. However, with there being more Scandinavian support for the Dutch Revolt ITTL, possibly going into full-on military intervention on the side of the rebels, I could see more of the Netherlands joining TTL's Dutch state, potentially everything except for Luxembourg (I.E. the area in the southeast that is cutoff from the rest of the Habsburg Netherlands by Liege). More likely it'd be OTL's Dutch Republic plus Flanders, with Wallonia and Luxembourg staying loyal to the Habsburgs (although I could see Wallonia going to France). The addition of Flanders and potentially Wallonia would make the Netherlands an even stronger power than IOTL, adding the rich cities of Antwerp and Brussels to the realm (one of which would likely be the capital in lieu of Amsterdam). In addition, there is also the possibility of the independent Dutch state taking the south while the Habsburgs hold the north, basically the inverse of OTL. While I'd most like to see the former two scenarios, the inverse one would definitely be an interesting scenario. I'll let you guys leave your thoughts on this, and I may end up making a poll, but I just wanted to throw this out there. I just started work on the second Dutch Revolt update, which should be out around the middle of this month, so I'll see you guys there.
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Tbf I like the Netherlands being bigger ittl than otl and ally with Kalmar and eventually England. Seeing the Dutch basically control the south makes not a lot of sense.
Here is a map of the Netherlands at the time of the Dutch Revolt (source here). For context, orange is the Habsburg Netherlands, purple is the Prince-Bishopric of Liege, pink is the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy and Prince-Bishopric of Cambresis. IOTL, the Netherlands wound up being split between the independent Dutch Republic in the north and the remaining Habsburg Netherlands in the south, which lasted for two plus centuries and led to permanent divisions within the region. However, with there being more Scandinavian support for the Dutch Revolt ITTL, possibly going into full-on military intervention on the side of the rebels, I could see more of the Netherlands joining TTL's Dutch state, potentially everything except for Luxembourg (I.E. the area in the southeast that is cutoff from the rest of the Habsburg Netherlands by Liege). More likely it'd be OTL's Dutch Republic plus Flanders, with Wallonia and Luxembourg staying loyal to the Habsburgs (although I could see Wallonia going to France). The addition of Flanders and potentially Wallonia would make the Netherlands an even stronger power than IOTL, adding the rich cities of Antwerp and Brussels to the realm (one of which would likely be the capital in lieu of Amsterdam). In addition, there is also the possibility of the independent Dutch state taking the south while the Habsburgs hold the north, basically the inverse of OTL. While I'd most like to see the former two scenarios, the inverse one would definitely be an interesting scenario. I'll let you guys leave your thoughts on this, and I may end up making a poll, but I just wanted to throw this out there. I just started work on the second Dutch Revolt update, which should be out around the middle of this month, so I'll see you guys there.
Hmm having a Dutch British monarch line establish themselves in the 19th century would be interesting especially if the British try using the Dutch colony of otl nieu Amsterdam (maybe new Brussels ittl?)
The first English colonies in South Africa will be founded in the early-mid 17th Century around The Cape. As for an English/British Angola, that's too far out for me to make a definitive conclusion, but it is within the realm of possibility.
I think that it's very possible especially if the British want to tap into the slave trade to put slaves in the South since Angola was a significant part of the slave trade, and I'd see the businessmen in Angola being pissed that their product is being murdered in droves by unruly Scots Irish from their home country in the coming centuries lmao.
If you feel ambitious enough, why not try out a Scandinavian Louisiana? In our timeline Napoleon actually proposed to exchange Louisiana for Danish Iceland in order to weaken British Naval Power in the Atlantic so it would be interesting to see a Scandinavian Louisiana and possibly earlier than when Napoleon proposed it IOTL.
Source: https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/pdf/10.7767/jbla.2007.44.1.187
Source: https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/pdf/10.7767/jbla.2007.44.1.187
While interesting I think it’s a serious overstretch and separates the Scandinavian colonies from being contiguous
I could see it happening, but I'm not planning on it. The main reason the French settled in Louisiana IOTL was to feed their Caribbean cash crop colonies, but the Kalmar Union already has that covered, as I plan on having a lot of cod from the Grand Banks sold to the Nordic Caribbean. Honestly I think the most likely to settle Louisiana ITTL might still be the French, probably followed by the Spanish and English.
They'd connect via outposts in OTL's American Midwest.
I personally don't suspect the Kalmar Union would prioritize east of the Mississippi River. If anything I can imagine them concentrating west of the Mississippi if Nordic Louisiana were to happen at all. They could potentially supplement the Caribbean and possibly Scandanvia itself due with grain from the Great Plains that can supplement cod with nutrients that cod can't provide and is more arable than much of the Kalmar Union itself. Just my two cents.
The Scandinavians will eventually expand into OTL's Canadian Prairies and American Upper Midwest, I'll tell you that much. Further south than, say, Chicago is more questionable.