Five Brothers and a War

History—1700 to 1800 AD

Willem III died in 1702. The period between his death and the appointment of Willem IV in 1747 was called the Tweede Stadhouderloze Tijdperk (“Second Governor-less Period”). During this period the office of Stadhouder was left vacant in the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht, though in other provinces that office was filled by members of the House of Nassau-Dietz (later called Orange-Nassau) during various periods. Holland’s Golden Age waned in the 1700s, as, and also because, the British Empire was rising. There were a number of nations that grew faster economically than Holland did, so the decline of Holland was as much a faster period of growth from other countries as it was an actual decline within Holland. It is not unusual for the generations following greatness to lose the essence and the underpinnings of that greatness as they bask in their own newfound glory and wealth. It occurred to all previous empires, and happened to Holland as well. Corruption, nepotism, a lack of vision and industriousness permeated the culture as the fruits of previous success were enjoyed. A weakened political Holland, one that did not play nearly as important a role in Europe as it had for the past century, also met with economic trouble. One large force was that the wealthy within Holland were investing their considerable cash into higher-yield portfolios outside of Holland, where those investments could ride the growth wave of those other countries. This had at least three effects: the rich got richer; the other nations grew even

faster; Holland’s economy was stifled. In the 1740s, a series of skirmishes with the French showed the degree to which the defenses of Holland had deteriorated. The feeling created within the population was one of vulnerability, which in turn led to a clamoring to reinstitute the Stadhouder position. Willem IV had been the Stadhouder of the two northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen. He married Princess Anne, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain. They had two children, Princess Caroline of Orange Nassau, who died at the age of 44, having married Karl Christian of Nassau Weilburg, and Willem V, Prins van Oranje.

holland

Prins Willem IV van Oranje

Five Brothers and a War

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