Editing Dutch Republic (section)

=== Seventeenth century ===
The republic reached the height of its power during the seventeenth-century [[Dutch Golden Age]]. Its merchants built a shipping network across European ports, while Amsterdam became a centre of trade and finance. The [[Dutch East India Company]] received a charter in 1602 to conduct trade in Asia. The [[Dutch West India Company]] followed in 1621 and operated in the Atlantic world.

Commercial expansion supported Dutch naval power and overseas colonies. The republic fought Portugal over colonial trade and fought three naval wars against England between 1652 and 1674. In 1672, an alliance led by France and England attacked the republic during the [[Rampjaar]]. The crisis ended the First Stadtholderless Period and brought [[William III of Orange]] to power as stadtholder.

William III became king in Britain and Ireland in 1689 while retaining his Dutch offices. The republic joined coalitions against France under [[Louis XIV]] and remained a European military and financial power through the War of the Spanish Succession.