The Great stadholder, Dutch 18th century

Parma

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In 1709 the Dutch made an agreement with Townsend on behalve of the British for a barrier treaty. It were roughly two lines. Orange dots. Further the treaty comprised for the Dutch very favorable commercial co sessions.
How ever the battle of Malplaquet did not forced a break through and the war continued. Marlborough fame and fortune at the British court was declining and despite his great achievement between 1709 and 1712 he was forced to resign. Marlborough lead the Allied armies into France. In the meantime the British government changed hands and the British made a separate peace agreement.
The Dutch and Austrians were left alone and start to siege Landries, in order to break the last French defense line and to achieve better positions during the peace negotiations. However the fortified towns of Conde and Valencienes were still occupied by a strong garrison.
While Prince Eugene lead the siege of Landrecies Prince Friso of Orange was tasked with the securing of the communication lines, in which the field fortification of Denain was crucial.
Prince Friso made a good impression on Marlborough during the battle of Malplaquet and Prince Friso become a sort of pupil of the General.
Since Friso had only a limitied number of men under him he ordeered to make extensive lines of defenses around Denain. Since the earthworks were crumbling fast the occupieng forces made several lines of wooden poles and pikes and "cheval frise". Further Prince Friso kept both ponotton bridges and in secret, without informing Eugene he ordered five Battalions from Fagel, the commander of nearby town to reinforce his Garrison.
Villars commanded the French army and when Eugene opened the trenches he start to move his army. He brilliant outmaneuvered Eugene, and if the French were not detected, they might over run the garrison of Denain. However the french were detected on time and the Allied Garrison of Denain could hold the french massive assault just long enough. The French army was routed and started to flee to their pontoon bridges crossing the river, disaster struck when two of the bridges collapsed. More than halve the french army was destroyed and Villars was imprisoned. When the campaign season ended not only Ladrecies was taken but also Conde, Vallencienes, Avennes and Cambrai.
 

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Since the British already made peace with the French the Dutch came with a rather radical different peace demand.
The commercial article of the earlier Twonsend agreement were watered down, further all barrier towns of the so called second line, like Ghent and Halle were removed.
The were replaced by other places. The new proposal was nearly all territorial gains the French made in the former Spanish Netherlands of the last fifty years. Including Dunkirk and Gravelines, which fortifications and harbor facilities would remain intact. In the former proposal these should be demolished.
Further they demanded Upper Gelre. In 1709 the last will of King William III of Orange Nassau was negotiated at the Hague between Prince Friso of Nassau and Frederick I of Prussia and the Dutch Republic. The following was agreed, Lingen would remain Prussia, Friso would be compensated with the County of Loon. The Prince Bishop of Liege sided with France and during the whole war he lived in France. Moers would return to Friso. The Dutch Republic kept occupying Upper Gelre and annexed this part. Her forces also forced the Prussian occupying troops from Moers. All estates and palaces in the Dutch Republic would go to Friso of Nassau. Due to the annexation of Upper Gelre all the debt would go to Friso as well, whihc would be partly arranged between Friso and the State General. Further the Republic demanded several territories around Maastricht.
Since there were no commercial objectives for the British and the French only wanted to end the war, and since the Dutch removed the claim to garrison towns and cities within the Southern Netherlands the Austrians accept as well . The Dutch demands were granted at the Peace of Utrecht and confirmed at Rastad in 1713.
 
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Johan Willam Friso, of Nassau Dietz:

He was the son of Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, and Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau who were both first cousins of William III. As such, he was a member of the House of Nassau (the branch of Nassau-Dietz), and through the testamentary dispositions of William III became the progenitor of the new line of the House of Orange-Nassau.

With the death of William III, Prince of Orange, King William III of England, the legitimate male line of William the Silent (the second House of Orange) became extinct. John William Friso, the senior descendant of William the Silent's brother and a cognatic descendant of Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III, claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces held by William III. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands.

John William Friso's position as William III's heir general was opposed by King Frederick I of Prussia. He also claimed,and occupied, parts of the inheritance , Lingen and Moers. Both territories were occupied by a Dutch garrison but since Prussia and the Ditch Republic were allies against France the Republicans in the Dutch government did not fully support the inheritance claim by Friso. Under William III's will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange. However, the Prussian King Frederick I also claimed the Principality of Orange in the Rhône Valley, of which he later ceded the territory to France.

The five provinces over which William III ruled – Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel – all suspended the office of Stadtholder after William III's death. The remaining two provinces – Friesland and Groningen – were never governed by William III, and continued to retain a separate Stadtholder, John William Friso.

On coming of age in 1707, John William Friso became a general of the Dutch troops during the War of Spanish Succession, under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, and turned out to be a competent officer. He commanded Dutch infantry in the battle of Oudenarde, siege of Lille, and battle of Malplaquet.

In 1711, when traveling from the front in Flanders to meet the King of Prussia, Frederick I, in The Hague in connection with his suit in the succession dispute, he experienced a near death event. On the 14 July when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather he nearly drowned but managed to come to shore. It is possible that this event made a mark on his character.
The prestige that he acquired from his military service favored his stature and when the negotiations in the Hague started he showed a remarkable determination and diplomatic skill not only towards the Prussian delegation but also towards the Dutch delegates who wanted to keep Prussia in the alliance.
in order to save his inheritance.
The result of the conference was ; Friso would share the title Prince of Orange with Frederick of Prussia. LIngen would go to Frederick while Moers and all estates in the Nehterlands would go to Friso. The Dutch government would claim, for Friso the county of Loon, part of the Prince Bishop of Liege as compensation of the loss of Lingen. All depts would go to Friso with exeptations of the one which were mortgaged on the county of LIngen.
No arrangements were made for the title stadholder in the other provinces except Friesland and Groningen.

Friso returned to the front when the military campaign started agian in 1712. During this period he was accepted by the senior command due to heis bravery and Duke of Marlborough acted more or less as his tutor until Marlborough was sacked by the British government.
 

Parma

Since 1689 the Dutch Republic was led by the state pensioner ( sort of Prime Minister) Anthony Hensius. He extreme skilled negotiator and excellent in settle thing, however towards France he turned uncompromising. The Peace treaty of Utrecht was a great personnel victory for him although he was challenged by some opponents in the Republic due to the loss of the commercial favorable articles of the Peace treaty.
Never the less his prestige and, already, large influence increased considerable. Hensius was persuaded by the Secretary of the Council of States, Simon van Slingelandt, to reform the Confederate type of government of the Dutch Republic.
During the so called Second Large Meeting, between 28 November 1716 and 14 September 1718, the Provinces and cities were limited in their autonomous power and rights in favor of the central government. The Council of States was elevated in to the central governing body. (in OTL this happened from 28 November to 14 September 1717 but with no result)
Anthony Hensuis died in 1720, before his death he visited Hondschote, now in the new Generalitiy Lands, were his family originated from. He was succeed by Willem Buys.
The reforms transformed the Dutch Republic from a Confederation in to a more centralised Federation.
This reformed central government opened the way to more efficient tax collection which was desperately needed. The Dutch Republic was almost in constant war since 1672, first the Dutch war then the Nine years was and last the War of the Spanish succession. All this wars made a huge impact on the State finances. The debt and the interest on this debt of the Republic was tremendous. Since 1725 Simon van Slingelandt was treasurer general of the Republic and he and the new elected state pensioner, Willem Buys successfully reformed the tax collection system. This resulted in the reduction of the state debt and by 1736 in a surplus.
Ever since the end of the Spanish Succession War Prince Friso pursued the title of Stadholder. This title also meant the general commander of the State army. In order to ease the Orange party, backing the Prince, a compromise was made. All Provinces agreed to elect him as Stadholder, but only as general commander, not with the governing authorities as his predecessors had. To prevent he would use his power as commanding general of the State army the army was drastically reformed as well.
The reforms was pure on the recruiting part. The army was transformed in a pure professional army, partly of hired army units in to a conscript army. The conscript system was inspired on the Swedish and Prussian model. Since both nations were ruled by absolute monarchs and still largely a serfdom society the conscript systems were transformed to the more liberal Dutch society. In principle all the boys who were baptised and recorded in the church books and still alive at age eighteen were part of the conscript ballot. If you were not selected by the ballot system you had to pay for the guy who was drafted. If you were drafted but did not wanted to serve you could pay you out at the ballot committee. Fisher men and sailors were exempt. The recruits were trained during ten months and after that they had to train every month within their district were they lived. The army units or companies, were located to the area's were the men lived and worked.
 
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Silesia and Saxony borders are represented as they were at 1700.

In 1733 France got involved with the War of the Polish succession, in which it opposed Austria.
Although it was not in the initial French interest to expand the front to the Austrian Netherlands and despite diplomatic efforts of the Dutch Republic war was declared on 25 November 1733.
The war aim of the French was to regain the losses they had after the Peace of Utrecht.
Due to the war with the Dutch Republic, Great Britain got involved as well. The French how ever concentrated their activities on continental Europe and not at sea or North America or Asia.
The French advanced with a large force in dived in two head on to the Barrier forts and cities. The Dutch mobilized for the first time their conscript army already since the end of October. Despite initial confusion and mis-communication an army of 60000 men marched South to reinforce the standing army of 25000 men garrisons and Austrian troop. From the UK 10000 men would come. All under command of Prince Friso. They were confronted by an invasion army of around 96000 French who lay siege to Lille and Menin.
Friso surprised the French in his swift and aggressive advance. In order to lift the sieges he positioned his army in such way the French were forced to attack Friso. Friso positioned his army in a defense manner, knowing his troops were largely civilian soldiers, and remembering experiences of his previous war.
In two consecutive battle the French had to leave the field of battle and consequently had to retreat to french territory. The French made a separate peace with the Dutch and the British on February 1734, leaving the Austrians Netherlands.
The whole affair had repercussions in the Austrian Netherlands. First the Dutch successfully showed they committed them self by defending the Southern Netherlands, also in their own interest, but it greatly improved the view of the Dutch garrison troops in Flanders and Brabant. The prestige of Prince Friso rose considerably.
On the mid long term the influence of the Dutch Republic grew considerable at the expense of the Austrians.
Since 1725 State Brabant was elevated to a Province with full representations in the Dutch republic governing bodies. The whole affair increased the intrigue and subversion in the Austrian authority from the Austrian Netherlands and form an independent state. Some conspirators saw this in combination with a unification the the Dutch Republic.
It were the representatives of Brabant who were behind the overtures of the change of power within the States of Flanders and the States of Brabant of the Austrian Netherlands.
Ever since the arrival of Maria Elisabeth, sister of the Emperor as ruler of the Austrian Netherlands, the influence of the local high nobility increases at the expenses of the States and cities of Brabant and Flanders. A matter of which influenced the process, was the religious disputes within the Catholic church, the Jansenisme and the attempts of Maria Elisabeth to end the remaining protestant communities left in the Southern Netherlands.
Only between 1740 and 1741 after the death of Maria Elizabeth, and the confusion after the death of Emperor Charles the VI and the succession by his daughter Maria Theresa of Austria, the magistrates of the cities and the States of Flanders and Brabant took matters in their own hand in what was nothing more than a coup at the expense of the nobility and clergy who supported the Austrians. In the mean time the influence of Prince Friso in the Republic increased considerable. In a very short period of time and coincidences of events, the Dutch Republic made a deal with France, the States of Flanders and the States of Brabant. The States of Brabant and Flanders form the federate Union of the Netherlands, which in turn form a confederation with the Dutch Republic. The Dutch Republic withdraw from the treaty with Austria. Luxembourg is left to the French and the Austrians had to organised the defense of Luxembourg on their own. In the UK this came for the supporters of the Hanoverian King as a shock and called it nothing more than a be-trial, on the other hand it was cheered by the opposition who did not saw any benefit in a continental war. They found the UK could better exploit the war overseas. Due to this in fight in UK politics the separate peace the Dutch made with the French did not change much in British and Dutch relations.
All this changes were confirmed at the peace of Aachen in 1748.
The Dutch Republic will lift all restrictions to shipping to Flemish and Brabant cities and towns, despite objection of Amsterdam.

Bentheim
In 1752 the count of Bentheim, Frederik Charles, mortgage the county to the Dutch Republic. His other option was to loan it to Hanover but the Dutch Republic offered a more favorable condition and a seat in the State General. The last was the governing body of representatives of all Provinces controlling the Counsel of States. The County of Bentheim de-facto become a part of the Dutch Republic after 1752.

East Frisia and Cleves
When in 1756 a new war in Europe and later the whole world erupted the Dutch Republic and the Union of the Netherlands remained neutral. It was however an armed neutrality which made mobilization again necessary as well as an increase of investments and activities of the New State Navy.
The war, later called the Seven years war was fought between mainly the UK, Prussia, Hanover, Portugal versus Austria, France, Spain, Russia, Sweden Saxony and Naples. The alliances were formed after the diplomatic revolution.
By 1760 the war turned very precarious for Prussia. In order to raise funds to continue the war Frederick II of Prussia loaned with the financial well to do Dutch Republic. The Dutch, grown wary of the expansion of Frederick and Prussia at their Eastern border were keen to expand their barrier territories East in order to better protect Frisia and Groningen. Prusia agreed to sell, the in 1740 acquired, East Frisia and mortgage the County of Cleves.

Prince Bishoprich of Munster
The Seven years War or how this was later called, was a heavy burden for the Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop of Cologne, he was one of the Electors, a Prince-Bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, and Osnabrück, and a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. He sided first with France and later with Great Brittain. This changing of sides only increased the pillaging of foreign troops which disrupted the economy of his realm and there for his income. His financial troubles were such that he lend large sums of money from the Republic with the lands around the river Eems, Bocholt and Vreden as security. Since he could not meet his payments the territories were occupied by State troops in 1760 a year before his death.
 
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Canals, Polders and Steam engines

The city of Utrecht desired a direct water way with the "Zuiderzee" the large enclose lagoon. How ever de shorts route was over the territory of Holland which blocked any attempt for digging a canal over their county. The idea to build a canal East to the small river Eem and than to the "Zuider zee" already exist since eh 1640-ties but due to a variety of circumstances never materialized. In 1720 a new attempt was made by a public company "Provincal Utrecht Company" With the sell of shares the canal was payed. The plans were nearly identical of the very detailed plans of 1664. In 1721 the first spade went in the ground and by 1724 the first boat navigated the canal. The canal completed the net work of waterways which gave the city now waterways in all directions, also to the large rivers South of it like the Rhine. These connections caused an significant increase in trade and industry, especially the latter increased considerable. The economic growth made it possible to execute an other old plan from more than fifty years ago, which was the expansion of the city. In 1728 the city expanded to the South and North the plan was largely based on the plans of Moreelse from 1664 and the more fancy full plan of Meyster form 1670.
In OTL the Company was a hoax like many enterprises in that era in Europe.
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In the hart of the County of Holland, between Amsterdam, Haarlem and Leiden a great lake wa situated. The lake provided fish, fresh water for the breweries and a mean of transport. Ever since the seventeen century there were plans to drain this canal. However as many time the plans were blocked due to economic or financial reasons. By 1730tie the lake turned to be a liability for the three large cities since it grew after every storm and endangers the three major cities. The economic benefits did not match any more whit the danger of flooding.
The cost for drainage how ever were still enormous it was estimated it would take 150 to 200 windmills to drain the lake not to mention the cost of purchasing land in order to dig the rin- canal and dyke around it.
In 1720 Nicolaas Kruik came with a proposal to build a large lock to improve the water levels of the city of Leiden and her surroundings, he also motivated his plans to be used ot drain Lake Haarlem, as the lake was called. The plan was adopted by, Johan van den Bergh, the mayor of Leiden who become the driving force behind the drainage of the lake. Even so the time to convince and to find funding for this great enterprise took considerable time. By 1735 the first spade went into the ground and by 1748 the lake was drained. The drainage of the lake was world news, not only due to its size but fore most it was drained with the use of steam engines or fire engines as they were called at that time. Even a news paper in the Thirteen Colonies made news of it.The steam engines were an idea of Nicolaas Kruik, who saw the first engine in 1722 at the Palace Nieuwborg near the Hague, the palace of the Stadholder Prince Friso. The Steam engine was used to pump water in a raised basin which was used to power the fountains of the garden. The engine used in the garden was a Newcomen engine from the United Kingdom. Nicolaas Kruik convinced earlier his former employer the Water council of Schieland to use a Newcomen engine to support existing windmills at a polder near Rotterdam. This engine was a improved version of the Newcomen engine which was designed by a monk from the Southern Netherlands were they were they were used by mines owned by monasteries around Mons. After initial suspicious by farmers, the engine proved to be very successful.
By the time the steam engines were build to drain the Haarlem lake the original Newcomen engine had evolved in a more energy efficient machine, due to improvements made by nameless monks, and blacksmiths.

Nicolaas Kruik was the founder of the Meteorological institute in 1727 and the State Water Council, a federal body who over saw all regional water councils. However he was only active involved with he Meteorological institute, the establishment of his ideas were an example of the federalisation and centralisation of the Dutch Republic.
Between 1740 and 1744 an other idea of Kruik was realised by digging a water way through the Hook of Holland which provide a direct sea connection for Schiedam and Rotterdam without any locks. The new water way shorten the time for sea going ships, who did not have to navigate along shallow waters and sand banks.






IOTL the first steam engine in the Dutch Republic was build in 1776 in Rotterdam to pump water out of a canal in the city to an other canal, followed in 1781 with a second engine at an estate in order to fill a basin who powered the fountains of the garden and a third one in 1788 in order to drain a polder near Rotterdam. They were all Newcomen engines. The Haarlem Lake was drained in between 1840 and 1852.


Nicolaas Samuelszoon Kruik (Latin: Nicolaus Samuelis Cruquius; 2 December 1678, West-Vlieland – 5 February 1754, Spaarndam), also known as Klaas Kruik and Nicolaes Krukius, was a Dutch land surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weatherman. He is remembered most today for the Museum De Cruquius bearing his name.

He was a perfectionist who liked to measure things and he calculated temperature measurements in Fahrenheit from 1706 to 1734. His historical calculations are still used today . He not only measured weather changes in wind speed, rainfall, air pressure, temperature, and humidity, but also measured sea level. His method of visualizing planes of water level to illustrate contours of depth (isobaths) in his map of the Merwede (1728) was the first of its kind.

He was an advocate of pumping out the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem lake), which was done a century after his death.
He became a surveyor at the age of 19 and began to draw maps, a lucrative job in his day. Though born in Vlieland, he moved to Delft a few years after he was born and it is there in 1705 that he started his first weather observations. In 1717 at the age of 39, though firmly established as a respected surveyor, he moved to the family farm in Rijnsburg outside Leiden and chose to study in Leiden under Herman Boerhaave, at that time the most famous scientist in the Netherlands. He signed himself in as "Krukius, medical student, born in Delft". Thanks to Boerhaave, Kruik became a member of the Royal Society of London. The secretary of the Royal Society at that time, James Jurin, started the first European network of meteorological weather stations, and the Dutch members played a large part. Kruik was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1724.

In 1721 and 1723 Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli travelled to Holland and he and Boerhaave stimulated Kruik to keep systematic observations in the belief that climate changes had an effect on public health. Kruik started to travel the various beaches and rivers in the Netherlands and study the waterlevels while continuing his mapmaking work. On these trips he was sometimes accompanied by Boerhaave and Marsigli. While studying the Merwede, he began to form plans to help keep the lower areas of the Netherlands dry.

It was at this time that Kruik changed his name to the Latin Cruquius after his first publications of maps and measurements. In 1725 he wrote a famous letter to Willem 's Gravesande, a Dutch professor of physics and astronomy at Leiden, proposing an empirical deductive research method to solve the water problems of the Netherlands. This letter started the chain of events in working that eventually led to a plan presented to the United Provinces to create a water defence plan in 1727. It was this unified water plan that in turn led to the creation of Haarlemmermeer bij pumping the Haarlem lake dry more than a century later.
In 1733 he became a member of the 'Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland', the Dutch Waterboard Agency, and worked as a Waterboard inspector in Spaarndam. It was here that he met Jan Noppen (1706–1734), the Halfweg inspector, who started the earliest continuous weatherstation in Zwanenburg with measurements 3 times daily of temperature, air pressure, humidity, and rainfall.

An eccentric man, Kruik wrote music, and had an obsessive need to measure things. This need included measuring his own weight and amount of urine daily. According to contemporary accounts, only Boerhaave could successfully work with him.
 
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