Secrete resolutien van de edele groot mog...

Johan de Witt
1717

In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic emerged as a major political and economical player, establishing several overseas colonies in the Eastern and Western hemisphere. The Secret Resolutions (1717) is a posthumously published collection of private actions of grand pensionary Johan De Witt, who was brutally murdered by a mob in 1672 by rival factions supporting the noble Orange family. It serves both as an attempt to repair the political legacy of De Witt and as a manual for present-day politicians. The six volume compendium contains numerous and detailed descriptions of the Dutch political strategies: it discusses negotiations, peace talks, secret alliances and intelligence meetings on all continents and negotiations with the English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Scandinavian countries. For example, the book gives numerous preparatory texts for the Treaty of Breda (1667), in which the Dutch seceded New Amsterdam (New York) to the English, in exchange for the control of Surinam.

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