History of the world economy - Polyak GB

11.3. The economy of the Netherlands (Holland) in the XVI century.

Industry and trade

Since 1555 the Netherlands is a duchy of Spain. It was a developed, rich land. But not all provinces in the Netherlands were equally developed. Industry (wool and linen production) and trade were especially developed in Flanders and Brabant.

At the end of the XVI century. The first manufactories arose with the use of hired labor. Capitalist relations were emerging. In the competitive struggle against manufactory production, the guild craft was defeated and fell into decay.

In the industry, the development of the production of carpets, glass, metal. Antwerp was decorated with cloth, glass, sugar, soap, in Brussels - carpets, in Liege - weapons. In Amsterdam and Saadama shipbuilding has developed extensively. The centers of the wool industry were Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht. It produced a thin and sailing cloth. An important role was played by fishing. In the middle of the XVI century. From the Amsterdam port more than a thousand vessels went out to fish.

The growth of trade was significant. The main city of Brabant - Antwerp in the XVI century. Became the all-European center of trade and credit. All European banking houses had their offices here. Vessels with colonial goods came directly to Antwerp and from here on the rivers traveled to the interior of Europe.

At the Antwerp Commodity Exchange, goods were sold in large quantities. Antwerp was until 1576 a financial center, where you could get a loan. After the defeat of the Spaniards, the role of the center of international trade passed to Amsterdam.

Agriculture

In the central provinces of the Netherlands, the peasant was legally free and rented the land from the feudal lord. The "price revolution" ruined some of the landowners and their lands passed into the hands of farmers. In agriculture, the employment of wage labor began. The three-field crop rotation system was replaced by a more progressive fruit-shift system. However, there were still few capitalist farms in the village. The predominant landlord and church land ownership prevailed. The peasantry performed various feudal duties, and paid tithes for the church. In some southern provinces, serfdom remained.

Capitalist relations in agriculture developed more rapidly in the northern provinces. The nobility itself switched to capitalist methods of economic management. Great importance was attached to grass growing and soil fertilization.

Since the beginning of the XVI century. The works on construction of dams were widely developed. On fertile land, reclaimed from the sea, developed a high-intensity livestock, which gave meat, cheese, butter. Legally free peasants produced marketable products. The capitalist rent of the land was born. There were commercial agriculture and specialization of the districts. In the province of Zeeland, wheat and dyes were cultivated. On the irrigated lands of Holland, productive livestock breeding was developed. In a number of areas of Flanders, flax and others were cultivated.

The causes of the bourgeois revolution

By the middle of the XVI century. Most of the Netherlands has made significant progress in capitalist development. The role of the capitalist system in the country's economy has increased. Presence of survivals of feudalism, especially in the south, hampered the development of productive forces: the guild system hindered the growth of manufactory production, customs restrictions hampered the expansion of the domestic market. The feudal remnants hampered the development and productive forces of the village.

External power - feudal Spain - defended the feudal regime in the Netherlands. For Spain, the Netherlands appeared to be a source of income (40% of income) - a "cash cow", which gave four times higher sums than all its overseas colonies. The rule of Spain in the Netherlands relied both on the armed forces and on the Catholic Church, which defended the feudal regime and the rule of Spain.

With the development of industry and the formation of a single market, the Dutch bourgeoisie collided with feudal Spain. This contradiction developed into a bourgeois revolution, which took the form of a national liberation, anti-Spanish war. It was an early bourgeois revolution, which occurred at the beginning of the manufacturing period.

In the second half of the XVI century. The Spanish authorities carried out economic repressions against the Dutch bourgeoisie: they imposed high customs duties on the Spanish wool imported here; Prohibited Dutch merchants from entering and trading in the Spanish colonies. The industry and trade of the Netherlands suffered a serious loss. In addition, the activities of the Inquisition intensified.

The uprising that began in 1566 covered 12 provinces of the Netherlands from 17. The troops of the Spanish government occupied the Netherlands. The Duke of Alba, appointed by the Governor of the Netherlands, established a terrorist regime in the country. The executions of heretics and the confiscation of their property have become important sources of income for the Spanish treasury. In 1571, an alcabala was introduced - a system of taxes: 1% - on all movable and immovable property, 5% - from the sale of real estate, 10% - from the sale of each product.

Such a strong blow to the industrial-trading Netherlands suspended the economic life of the country - unemployment, hunger followed, the people's war against the Spanish invaders began.

The consequences of the bourgeois revolution

In 1572 there was a general uprising in the northern provinces, and in 1576 - in the southern provinces. In 1579 the Utrecht Union was concluded, the Republic of seven United Provinces was formed, headed by the Netherlands as the most developed economically. The independence of the United Provinces Spain recognized in 1609.

Thus, the Netherlands revolution - the first bourgeois revolution in history (1566-1609) culminated in the emergence of a new bourgeois state - Holland.

The revolution transferred power to the bourgeoisie and ensured its full domination in the economic and political life of the country. It freed the bourgeois society of the Netherlands from feudal absolutist shackles, limiting its development. In the north of the country all conditions for economic development were created on the basis of capitalist production relations. The bourgeoisie of Holland, freed from payment of part of its income from feudal Spain, quickly enriched itself and invested capital in the creation of manufactories.