Treaty of Westminster (1674)

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For the treaty that ended the First Anglo-Dutch War, see Treaty of Westminster (1654).

Treaty of Westminster (1674)
TypePeace treaty
Signed19 February 1674
LocationWestminster
Sealed5 March 1674
Effective5 March 1674
Signatories
Parties
LanguageEnglish

The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England, the treaty provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland (now New York) to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667. The treaty also provided for a mixed commission for the regulation of commerce, particularly in the East Indies.

It was signed on 19 February 1674

Catholicism at an opportune moment. The English were dismayed by the unexpected fact that Dutch raiders had managed to capture more English ships than vice versa and that New Amsterdam
had been retaken by the Dutch in 1673.

Background

In 1672, England and France

United Provinces. France threatened to conquer the Spanish Netherlands, which would harm English strategic interests. The war, more or less a private project of Charles and never popular among the English people, now seemed to most to have become a hopeless undertaking.[citation needed
]

The English had also been convinced by Dutch propaganda that the war was part of a plot to make their country

papism, the disbanding of the standing army (commanded by York) and the removal of pro-French ministers.[1]

When the situation threatened to escalate, Charles, on the advice of the French envoy but against the opinion of the

Louis XIV of France. He made plans to capture the regular treasure fleet sailing from the Dutch East Indies. He removed his enemies from office, among them Chancellor Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, the main opponent of York's marriage. At the same time, Charles tried to lessen fears by reaffirming anti-Catholic measures such as the suspension of the Royal Declaration of Indulgence and by publicising many of his secret treaties with France.[2]

To his dismay, Parliament became more adversarial, now strongly incited by Shaftesbury. Some called for

William III of Orange, the stadtholder of Holland and grandson of Charles I of England, to become king if Charles died by excluding the Duke of York. That came as no surprise to William, who had secret dealings with Shaftesbury and many other English politicians. William had agents working for him in England, such as his secretary, Van Rhede.[2] Spain assisted him by threatening to declare war and meanwhile bribing parliamentarians.[3] The States-General had supported the pro-Dutch peace party of Lord Arlington in a more formal manner by making a peace proposal in October and by regularly distributing manifests and declarations in England that explained the official Dutch position and policy.[2] In 1672, England and France had agreed never to conclude a separate peace, but the States now revealed to Charles that they had recently received a peace offer from Louis.[3]

When in late December, General François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg withdrew the bulk of the French occupation army from Maastricht to Namur, Charles lost faith completely and decided to disentangle himself from the entire affair.[3]

Procedure

Charles felt that continuing the alliance with France had become a grave threat to his personal position and expected that Parliament would no longer fund the war.

William III of Orange convinced them that there was some chance of bringing Charles into the war against France eventually, which this had to take precedence over petty considerations of retribution that were unworthy of their high office. Furthermore, Spain had not yet declared war on France and was willing to do so only if England made peace because it feared English attacks on its American colonies.[5]

On 4 January 1674, the

prorogued by him in November, for that occasion the very same day.[7] While addressing both Houses, Charles first emphatically denied the existence of any secret provisions of the Treaty of Dover[7] and then produced the peace proposal, to the great satisfaction of the members,[7] who, in turn, had to pretend surprise although Parliament had been informed by the Dutch beforehand of its full content.[5] After some days of debate, the treaty was approved by Parliament.[7]

This news was met with open joy by the populace.

Lord Keeper on 10 February by placement of the Great Seal.[8] On 17 February at 10:00 a.m., it was publicly proclaimed at Whitehall.[8] It was approved by the States of Holland and West Friesland on 4 March,[8] (New Style) and ratified by the States General on 5 March.[8] It was proclaimed in The Hague on 6 March. Due to the different calendars in use in the two countries and the complex procedure, when a single date is given the literature is not in agreement.[citation needed
]

Terms

Most of the initial peace conditions demanded by the English in the

Staten Land", on the Norwegian coast.[6] Also, it was made explicit that the Dutch had to salute any Royal ship carrying the English flag, no matter how small it was or how numerous the Dutch fleet was in encountering it, a point that had proven to be very contentious: the so-called Merlin Incident had been a pretext for the war. It was qualified by the condition that Dutch fishery would in no way be impeded by that right.[citation needed
]

The treaty conditions of 1668 regulating trade and shipping were reconfirmed. Within three months an Anglo-Dutch commission would meet to solve trade conflicts concerning the East Indies.[3] As for territorial disputes, the treaty was a typical status quo ante arrangement:

That whatsoever countries, islands, towns, ports, castles, or forts have or shall be taken on both sides, since the time the late unhappy war broke out, either in Europe or elsewhere, shall be restored to the former lord or proprietor, in the same condition they shall be in when the peace itself shall be proclaimed.

The condition implied that

St Eustatius and Tortola, which had been taken by the English in 1672, were to be returned.[citation needed
]

Despite the peace, the brigade of British troops under Charles's bastard son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, supporting the French, would not be withdrawn from the French Army and would be allowed to recruit in Britain until the end of the Franco-Dutch War.[9] Charles continued to receive secret subsidies from Louis as long as the brigade fought on the French side.[10]

Implementation

As the peace could not be communicated quickly to all parts of the world, different dates had been determined upon which legal hostilities would end. From the Soundings of England, i.e. its southwestern continental shelf edge, to the coast of Norway, fighting should end by 8 March; south to Tangier by 7 April; from there to the Equator, by 5 May; and in the rest of the world, after 24 October 1674.[11]

Due to the slow proliferation of information at the time, conflicts could still occur after the declaration of peace. The Battle of Ronas Voe took place on 14 March 1674,[12] when the VOC East Indiaman Wapen van Rotterdam was captured in Ronas Voe, Shetland, by HMS Newcastle.[13] It, along with HMS Cambridge and HMS Crown, were sent instructions to capture the vessel,[14] which had become stranded in Shetland because of poor weather that had caused the ship to lose its masts and rudder.[15] Wapen van Rotterdam was taken back to England as a prize of war.[16] A contemporary Dutch newspaper reported that four hundred crew were originally on board Wapen van Rotterdam, but only a hundred prisoners were later being transported by Crown,[12] which suggested that up to three hundred crew may have been killed although additional prisoners might have been transported on the other English ships.

Eventually, William would force Charles to

House of Orange, which had militarily supported his father, Charles I of England, during the English Civil War and so Charles II actually received very little.[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ^ Blok 1925, p. 217.
  2. ^ a b c Blok 1925, p. 218.
  3. ^ a b c d Blok 1925, p. 220.
  4. ^ a b c Troost 2005, p. 126.
  5. ^ a b c d Shomette & Haslach 2002, p. 291.
  6. ^ a b c Shomette & Haslach 2002, p. 292.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shomette & Haslach 2002, p. 293.
  8. ^ a b c d e Shomette & Haslach 2002, p. 294.
  9. ^ Zwitzer 1990, p. 33.
  10. ^ Blok 1925, p. 236.
  11. ^ Shomette & Haslach 2002, p. 298.
  12. ^ a b Amsterdamsche Courant 1674.
  13. ^ Bruce 1914, pp. 101–102.
  14. ^ Pepys 1904, pp. 247, 249–250.
  15. ^ Pepys 1923, p. 30.
  16. ^ London Gazette 27 March 1674, p. 2.

Sources

External links

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