The fleet as an ideological pillar of Dutch radical republicanism,1650–1672

Abstract

The premature death in 1650 of Willem II, Prince of Orange, enabled the regents of the States of Holland to institute a civil administration, the ‘True Freedom’, in the Dutch Republic. For much of this regime’s 20-year ascendancy the principal task of its head, Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, was the defence of the country and its maritime commerce against a variety of international threats. De Witt took it upon himself to instigate the creation of a powerful permanent fleet. He came to show an increasing identification with the fleet and an appreciation of its symbolic and patriotic importance that transcended its defensive role. Depictions of the fleet provided it with iconographic significance. This article argues that the fleet became an essential ideological pillar of the republican regime in its struggle to maintain itself against external threats and to secure a degree of acceptance by the predominantly pro-Orange public.