The United Provinces Of The Netherlands And Prussia

The Rise of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Prussia The United Provinces of the Netherlands and Prussia both rose to become prominent players in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Dutch rose to power first, through resisting Spanish control and gaining their independence. The House of Orange was thwarted from gaining absolute authority and establishing a monarchy, so by 1700 the Dutch provinces became a republic. Later in the 17th century than the Dutch’s rise was the growth of Prussia under the smart ruling Hohenzollern family. This brought absolutism fully into Prussia, with Frederick William being the first major ruler during the development of Prussia as an European power. Despite geographical factors not being
These two regions, the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Prussia, both were at a geographic disadvantage and surrounded by established, ambitious neighbors. For the United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the Dutch Republic, this meant that by living in an area mostly below sea level they would be prone to flooding from both the North Sea and the Rhine River. The Dutch people went as far as to drain out parts of the sea to expand their landmass, and at least one Dutch town flooded their land to protect in from the Spanish army. In the 17th century, Prussia was a discontinuous state made up of three different regions. This naturally made the country tough to defend and govern over. The region had so few natural resources that it received the nickname “Sandbox of Europe”. However, even with these disadvantages and a small population they were able to raise one of Europe’s largest armies at that time. When historians look back at both the rise of the Dutch Republic and Prussia, one of the most surprising things is that they were both able to grow as European powers, undeterred by France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire all being within short distance of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. On the other hand, Prussia shared borders with the Holy Roman Empire (of which some of its discontinuous parts were located in),
For example, the Dutch were ruled by the provinces, except when they agreed to give power temporarily to the leader of the House of Orange. This would occur only when there was a significant military threat to the Netherlands during this time period. On the other hand, Prussia was purely an absolutist state once they rose to power. It was the Hohenzollerns who ruled, beginning with “the Great Elector”, known as Frederick William. He got the nickname of the Great Elector because Frederick WIlliam had one of the seven votes of who would become the next emperor of the Holy Roman Empire once the previous emperor had died or left his position in any other way. Prussia used the equivalent of a study guide for a test in an attempt to become as powerful as many of the western European countries. The Netherlands independently set up their republic, without studying the way previous societies had set up their government. However, Frederick William was smart, and visited the Netherlands to see how they were able to achieve economic prosperity despite their geographic disadvantages which the Prussians had to deal with too. Frederick William then would later invite in the French Huguenots and their money to Prussia because they were being persecuted once again in France after the Edict of Nantes was revoked