War and Social Upheaval: The Dutch Portuguese War (1602-61)
Figure 1.--Spanish King Philip II shortly after the Portuguese King Henry diedleaving no heir (1580). Philip ised the opportunity unite Iberian Penisula and add the Portugues Emote to his already huge empire. As the Spamish were allready at war with the Dutch Republic this meant that Portugal was also now at war. The Dutch seized Salvador and the valuable the valuable sugar producing area of Brazil (1624) Than an eraly versdion of the Empire stikes back occurred. Spanish forces retook Brazil, relieved the port of Genoa from the French, and Brenda from the Dutch. The Dutch returned Brazil (1630). This painting of the the Recovery of Bahía de Todos los Santos was painted by Fray Juan Bautista Maíno.
The Dutch-Portuguese war figured into the Dutch War for Independence. The Dutch incursions into Brazil proved the greatest threat to the Portuguese. The Portuguese became involved with the Hapsburg attmpt to supress the Reformation in Germany and the related rebellion of the Dutch. A succession crisis in Portugal led to a personal union under the Habsburg rule after the War of the Portuguese Succession, Spanish King Philip II of Spain thus controlled Portugal as part of the Iberian Union (1580). This meant that Portugal and Brazil became involved in the Dutch War of Independence (1581-1648). Philip II prohibited trade with the Dutch (1581). The Dutch were at a disadvantage in land warfare with the Spanish, but their expanding naval fleet gave them the ability to strike at the colonies. The result was the Dutch-Portuguese War (1602-61). The War was waged by the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company against the Portuguese Empire. The War primarily involvedDutch privateers attacking Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, India and the Far East. The war was essentially an extension of the Dutch War for Independence, sometimes called the Eighty Years War, fought in the European Low Countries by Spain. The conflict provided the opportunity for the Dutch to gain an overseas empire and weaken the Portuguese. English forces aided the Dutch to an extent, but also fought a series of naval wars with the Dutch. Spanish forces aided the Portuguese. And the sugar wealth of Brazil was an attraction. Brazil did not have a navy as such, but they conducted naval war with privateers. Queen Elizabeth in England did the same, but focused more on the Spanish. The Dutch, an important 17th century naval power, seized Bahia for a brief period. Dutch privateers began plundering the largely unprotected Brazilian coast. They sacked Bahia and even captured the capital Salvador for a brief period (1604). The Dutch also attacked the Portuguese African possessions. The Cariibean sugar boom based on slave labor began in Brazil. The Dutch occupoation meant that they zcquired the technologu= nbd would help spread it to eyhe Csribbean.
