Overview

This study offers the first complete overview of the remarkable public finances of the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces. Wantje Fritschy has analysed the development and structure of its public revenue and expenditure. She argues that a ‘tax revolution’ and the ‘fiscal resilience’ of the provinces together were more important for its surprising performance than Holland’s public debt alone, and the institutional and economic characteristics of its ‘urban system’ were more important than wealth due to foreign trade. Comparisons with the fiscal systems of three more centralized states - the Venetian Republic, Britain and the Ottoman Empire - underline the crucial importance of long-term ‘urbanization trajectories’ in understanding early-modern fiscal performance. It was not because it was federal that the Dutch Republic collapsed.

Full Product Details

Author:   Wantje Fritschy
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   9
Weight:   0.826kg
ISBN:  

9789004341272

ISBN 10:   9004341277
Pages:   430
Publication Date:   01 June 2017
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PREFACE GENERAL INTRODUCTION The question at stake Possible answers Political institutions Mentality Economic factors 'Urban systems' and state formation The approach of this book The structure of this book PART ONE The development of the fiscal system of the Dutch Republic Introduction: a new state 0.1 The Union of Utrecht: the start of a new state? 0.2 Historical backgrounds and institutional characteristics From Revolt to Republic The institutional legacy of the Habsburgs The States General, Holland, the Council of State and the stadholder The fiscal articles of the Union of Utrecht 0.3 The concept 'public finance of the Dutch Republic', the data and the estimates Public finance of and in the Dutch Republic The reliability of data and estimates 1. Financing the first phase of the revolt against Spain (1566-1572) 1.1 Calvinist donations and the credit of the Prince of Orange 1.2 A prince in search of new sources of finance 1.3 The first financial decisions of the 'free' States of Holland 1.4 Conclusion 2. From under-taxed part of an empire to heavily taxed republi 2.1 Holland and the Spanish Empire Holland's fiscal system under the Habsburgs Alva's attempt at centralization Castile's fiscal system 2.2 The development of Holland's fiscal system until 1609 The increasing amounts needed for the war Holland's 'tax revolution' Direct and indirect taxes The tax burden before and after the Revolt Loans as a source of revenue: 'short' term obligations and long term annuities Holland's 'real' financial revolution Holland's fiscal system at the start of the Twelve Years Truce 2.3 The other provinces The importance of Zeeland The 'general means' and the States General The 'general means' and the provinces: urban resistance and urban acceptance The 'quotas-system' and the fiscal performance of the provinces 2.4 The financial scope of the 'Generality' Former royal domains and other confiscated property as sources of public revenue Foreign financial support Generality taxes Generality-loans Privateers booty and customs ('convooien en licenten') 2.5 Conclusion 3. Public finance of the Dutch Republic in the 17th and 18 th centuries 3.1 The increasing public expenditure of the Dutch Republic War expenditure Debt service Other public expenditure 3.2 The resilience of the provincial revenue systems The 'institutional structure' of the public revenue of the Republic The 'social-economic structure' of the public revenue of the provinces Price-increasing taxes on general consumption and tax riots Price-increasing indirect taxes on 'luxury' consumption The increasing role of direct taxation The 'tax morale' of Dutch citizens The tax burden in Holland and in Overijssel 'Capital' or 'coercion': the role of loans in Dutch war finance A comparison with the centralized tax system of 1807 3.3 Conclusion PART TWO The fiscal system of the Dutch Republic in international comparative perspective Introduction 4. A comparison with the Venetian Republic 4.1 Common characteristics and long term differences Much in common Differing long term domestic developments Another maritime state and its 'Year of Disaster' 4.2 'Survive and prosper on the cheap' The structure of public expenditure A 'peaceful republic' and an 'expenditure bottom'? 4.3 Taxation in a centralized and a federal urbanized republic Differences in public revenue and in wealth The fiscal contributions of 'centre ' and 'periphery' in the two republics 4.4 Differing debt developments 'Mountains of debt', forced loans and 'citizenship' Voluntary loans based on trust and private interest Debt sizes, interest burdens and interest rates Public banks and public loans in both republics 4.5 Conclusion 5. A comparison with Great Britain 5.1 The comparability of Britain and the Netherlands 5.2 National public finance: a long term perspective 5.3 Public expenditure in two maritime states Total public expenditure before and after c. 1690 A comparison of military expenditure before 1688 The structure of Dutch and British public expenditure since c. 1690 5.4 Public revenue in two commercial states Total public revenue compared Non-parliamentary and parliamentary taxation Customs in a large monarchy and a small republic Indirect taxation, urbanization and centralization The EIC, the VOC and public revenue 5.5 A comparison of loan financing and public debt Foreign merchants and the king's subjects versus cities and citizens Downing and the Dutch example '1672' in Britain The long road of Britain's 'financial revolution' A quantitative comparison of the British and the Dutch public debt 5.6 Conclusion 6. A comparison with the Ottoman Empire 6.1 Two incomparable states Why was Ottoman public revenue so low? 6.2 Contrastive long term trajectories of state formation Contrasting population developments Contrasting patterns of land use 'State-driven' versus 'economy-driven' urbanization trajectories The consequences for public finance of different urbanization trajectories 6.3 A quantitative comparison of public revenue The extremely low level of state revenue in the Ottoman Empire The marginal importance of domestic indirect taxation 'Coin clipping' as a source of public revenue 6.4 Deficits, 'advance payments', advances and debt Iltizam The malikane-system The esham-system Public debts and the interest prohibition 6.5 Conclusion GENERAL CONCLUSION Epilogue APPENDIX: The taxes in the Dutch Republic ABBREVIATIONS PRIMARY SOURCES AND DATABASES REFERENCES INDEX

Reviews

The book is one of the most outstanding results of a long sequence of research that has seen the publication of important works and fundamental datasets on the Dutch public finance during the Ancien Regime. [...] The book is a splendid example of the passion of a scholar who has spent many years in researching and thinking . Luciano Pezzolo, in TIJDSCHRIFT SOCIALE & ECON.GESCHIEDENIS 16 (1), 2019.

""The book is one of the most outstanding results of a long sequence of research that has seen the publication of important works and fundamental datasets on the Dutch public finance during the Ancien Regime. [...] The book is a splendid example of the passion of a scholar who has spent many years in researching and thinking"". Luciano Pezzolo, in TIJDSCHRIFT SOCIALE & ECON.GESCHIEDENIS 16 (1), 2019.

Author Information

Wantje Fritschy (Ph.D. Leiden 1988) is retired senior lecturer in Economic and Social History and professor in the History of Early Modern Public Finance at VU University Amsterdam; she has led a large research project on public finance in the Dutch Republic at the Huygens Institute of Netherlands History (Huygens ING) in The Hague.

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