This article is about the Dutch United Provinces. There was also a nation called the United Provinces of Central America.
History
Before 1581, the area of the low countries consisted of a number of counties and duchies. Through marriage or sale, these states all ended up in the hands of the Habsburg emperor Charles V and his son, king Philip II of Spain. In 1568, the Netherlands revolted against king Philip because of his persecution of the Protestants and his high taxes. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War.
In 1579, a number of the northern Netherlands signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defense against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the declaration of independence, in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II.
The United Provinces first tried to choose their own lord, and they asked the Duke of Anjou and later the Earl of Leicester to rule them. This was not a success, and in 1588 the provinces became a Republic.
The Republic was officially recognized in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and lasted until French revolutionary forces invaded in 1795 and set up a new republic, called the Batavian Republic and later the Kingdom of Holland.
The Netherlands became independent of France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" are used. In 1816 it joined with Belgium to be the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and then the Kingdom of the Netherlands after Belgium became independent.
Politics
The republic consisted of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so called Generality Lands. These were governed directly by the States-General. The States-General was seated in The Hague, and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces of the republic were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen. Each province was governed by the Provincial States and by a stadtholder. In theory, the stadtholders were elected and subordinate to the States-General. However, the princes of Orange-Nassau were chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces. There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Regents, supporters of the States-General.
See also: History of the Netherlands, Dutch Golden Age, Francis van Aarssens