Political Tensions Between The Commonwealth and The Republic
During the English Civil War the Dutch stadtholder Frederick Henry had given major financial support to Charles I of England, to whom he had close family ties, and had often been on the brink of intervening with his powerful army. When Charles was beheaded, the Dutch were outraged by the regicide. Oliver Cromwell therefore considered the Dutch Republic as an enemy. Nevertheless the Commonwealth and The Republic had many things in common: they were both republican and protestant. When after the death of Frederick Henry his son stadtholder William II of Orange tried to fulfill the monarchical aspirations his late father had always fostered by establishing a military dictatorship, the States of Holland made overtures to Cromwell, seeking his support against William, suggesting vaguely the province of Holland might join the Commonwealth.
Read more about this topic: First Anglo-Dutch War
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