Dutch Brazil - The Significance of Spain

The Significance of Spain

The Low Countries had long been part of the Spanish Empire; however, in 1568 the Eighty Years' War broke out, and the Dutch established the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. A consequence of the war was the raiding of Spanish lands, colonies and ships by Dutch fleets. In 1609 the two countries signed a twelve-year peace treaty in which the Dutch Republic was allowed to trade with Portuguese settlements in Brazil, since Portugal was in a dynastic union with Spain from 1580 to 1640. The Dutch also agreed to delay the creation of a West India Company, a counterpart to the already existing Dutch East India Company. In 1621 the twelve-year peace treaty expired and the Dutch West Indian Company was immediately created. War resumed, and through the new company, the Dutch now started to interfere with the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in America. In 1624 the Dutch sent a large expedition to invade Brazil.