Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years' War, also called the Dutch Revolt, was fought from around 1566 or 1568 to 1648 in the Habsburg Netherlands between scattered groups of rebels and the Spanish government, driven by the Reformation, Spanish centralization, heavy taxation and disputes over the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities. Philip II of Spain at first regained control of most rebel territory, but widespread mutinies inside the Spanish army then sparked a general uprising, and under William the Silent Catholic and Protestant provinces briefly united through the Pacification of Ghent before that broad coalition fractured. Despite continuing Spanish military success, the provinces of the Union of Utrecht declared independence in 1581 and formed the Dutch Republic in 1588, and after a stalemate produced the Twelve Years' Truce from 1609 to 1621, fighting resumed until the Peace of Munster in 1648 recognized Dutch independence. The Dutch Republic, joined from 1588 by allies including England, France and Portugal, fought the Spanish Empire throughout.