Editing Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (section)

==Background==
Although [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and the [[Dutch Republic]] had been allies since the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, the Dutch had become very much the junior partner in the alliance and had slowly lost their former dominance of world trade to the British. During the [[Second Stadtholderless Period]], the Dutch Republic had more or less abdicated its pretences as a major power and this became painfully evident to the rest of Europe during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]]. Near the end of that war in 1747, an [[Orangist revolution]] restored the [[stadtholder]]ate with vastly increased powers for the stadtholder and made the stadtholderate hereditary. This did not lead to a resurgence of the republic as a major power because of what many in the republic saw as the mismanagement of the stadtholderian regency during the minority of stadtholder [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]], and subsequently during his own reign. Instead, the republic remained stubbornly neutral during the [[Seven Years' War]], which enabled it to greatly neglect both its army and navy. The stadtholderian regime was pro-British, with the stadtholder being a grandson of King [[George II of Great Britain]], but his opponents for this reason favoured France, and those opponents were strong enough in the [[States General of the Netherlands]] (the governing body of the Republic whose "first servant" the stadtholder was) to keep Dutch foreign policy neutral.<ref>{{Harvnb|Israel|1995|pp=985–998, 1067–1087, 1090–1097}}</ref>

Initially, the British considered the Dutch allies in their attempt to stamp out the rebellion in their North American [[Thirteen Colonies]]. They attempted to "borrow" the mercenary [[Scots Brigade]] of the [[Dutch States Army]] for use in the Americas, in a similar manner to the [[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian]] and [[Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Brunswicker]] contingents they hired and deployed. This was strongly opposed by the Dutch sympathizers of the American Revolution, led by Baron [[Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol]], who managed to convince the States General to refuse the British request.<ref>{{Harvnb|Edler|2001|pp=28–32}}</ref>

More importantly, Dutch merchants, especially those from Amsterdam, became involved in the supply of arms and munitions to the American rebels soon after the outbreak of American Revolutionary War. This trade was mainly conducted via the Caribbean [[entrepôt]] of [[St. Eustatius]], an island colony of the [[Dutch West India Company]]. There, American colonial wares, such as tobacco and indigo, were imported (in contravention of the British [[Navigation Acts]]) and re-exported to Europe. For their return cargo, the Americans purchased arms, munitions, and naval stores brought to the island by Dutch and French merchants. In 1776 the governor of the island, [[Johannes de Graeff]], was the first to salute the [[Flag of the United States#First flag|flag of the United States]], leading to growing British suspicions of the Dutch. In 1778, the Dutch refused take Britain's side in the war against France. The British invoked a number of old treaties (1678, 1689, 1716) to have the republic support them militarily, but as in the [[Seven Years' War]], the Dutch government refused.<ref>{{Harvnb|Edler|2001|pp=42–62}}</ref>

After the French declared war on Britain, Amsterdam merchants also became heavily involved in the trade in naval stores with France. The French needed those supplies for their naval construction, but were prevented from obtaining those themselves, due to the blockade by the [[Royal Navy]] (France being the weaker naval power in that conflict). The Dutch were privileged by a concession obtained after their victory in the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]], known as the principle of "free ship, free goods", which was enshrined in the Anglo-Dutch Commercial Treaty of 1668, reconfirmed in the [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)]]. This early formulation of the principle of [[Freedom of Navigation]] exempted all but narrowly defined "[[contraband]]" goods carried in Dutch ships from confiscation by the British [[prize court]]s, in wars in which the Dutch remained neutral. According to the treaty [[naval stores]], including ship's timbers, masts, spars, canvas, tar, rope, and pitch, were not contraband and the Dutch, therefore, were free to continue their trade with France in these goods. Because of the still-important role of the Dutch in the European carrying trade, this opened up a large loophole in the British [[embargo]]. The British then unilaterally declared naval stores to be contraband and enforced their embargo by arresting Dutch and other neutral ships on the high seas.

This led to strong protests by the affected Dutch merchants, who demanded institution of [[convoy]]s escorted by the [[Dutch States Navy]], to protect them against the Royal Navy and British [[privateer]]s. According to customary international law, such convoys were (and still are) exempt from the right of [[Visit and Search]] by belligerents. Initially, the stadtholder managed to prevent this, but strong diplomatic pressure by France, that selectively applied economic sanctions to Dutch cities supporting the stadtholder in this policy, forced his hand in November 1779. The States General now ordered him to provide the escorts and the first convoy, under command of Rear Admiral [[Lodewijk van Bylandt]], sailed in December. This led to the humiliating [[Affair of Fielding and Bylandt]] on 31 December, which enraged Dutch public opinion and further undermined the position of the stadtholder. The incident motivated the Dutch to seek admission to the [[First League of Armed Neutrality]], which espoused the principle of "free ship, free goods", especially after Britain formally abrogated the Commercial Treaty of 1668. The Dutch hoped to gain the armed support of the other members of the league to maintain their neutral status.<ref>{{Harvnb|Edler|2001|pp=95–138}}</ref>