The ''Groot Desseyn'' (Dutch for 'Grand Design') was a plan devised in 1623 by the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

to seize the Portuguese/Spanish possessions of the

Iberian Union The Iberian Union is a historiographical term used to describe the period in which the Habsburg Spain, Monarchy of Spain under Habsburg dynasty, until then the personal union of the crowns of Crown of Castile, Castile and Crown of Aragon, Aragon ...

in Africa and the Americas, in order that the Spanish would not collect enough money for their war against the Netherlands.

History

After the

Twelve Years' Truce The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Habsburg Spain, Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like Kingdom of France, France began tre ...

ended, the

was founded on 3 June 1621. This company was granted the monopoly on trade in the Atlantic by the States-General of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. After capital had been raised for the company, the company's directors, the Heeren XIX, devised the ''Groot Desseyn'' in October 1623. The plan was to first seize the capital of Brazil, São Salvador da Bahia (Salvador), and then the main Portuguese fort on the coast of

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, São Paulo de Loanda (Luanda). In this way, the company would control both the lucrative sugar plantations in Brazil and the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. Control of the trade itself was necessary because of the high mortality rate from the plantations' harsh conditions and tropical diseases such as

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

First attempt (1624–1625)

A fleet was swiftly assembled to capture Salvador. In December 1623 and January 1624, the fleet left the Republic in two groups, which were assembled in the

Cape Verde islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. Under Jacob Willekens, the force captured Salvador on 8 May 1624. The Dutch in Salvador then assembled a force to attack Luanda. Under Piet Hein, the fleet tried to capture the city but failed, because Filips van Zuylen had tried to capture the city a few months earlier as well and prompted the Portuguese to fortify and add reinforcements. In Brazil, however, the Dutch were more successful. Despite already being anticipated by the Spanish-Portuguese Empire, the Dutch siege succeeded when 1,000 Dutchmen surrounded the fort and caused most of its defenders to flee. When the Spanish Crown heard of the sudden loss, a fleet with 12,000 men was assembled to recapture the city. They succeeded after a long siege, capturing the fort in May 1625 - one whole year after the fort had previously been taken. After the capture of Elmina on the Gold Coast of Africa failed, the ''Groot Desseyn'' was temporarily abandoned. The Dutch would still succeed in their original ''Groot Desseyn'' attempt in 1637 by conquering both the previous two targets and much of the nearby lands; the rich West African (Dutch) Gold Coast and Brazilian New Holland included. Although conflict with the native peoples continued, Spain would decisively drop its claims at the end of the Eighty Years' War.

Second attempt (1630–1650)

Things changed for the better for the company when Piet Hein captured the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628. The company was suddenly flush with resources and set out to try once again to capture the Portuguese Atlantic colonies. The slave port of

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; ) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade. Its populatio ...

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

had already been seized in 1627. A fleet under the leadership of

Hendrick Lonck Adm. Hendrick Corneliszoon Lonck (or Loncque and Loncq) (born 1568, Roosendaal – 10 October 1634, Amsterdam) was a Dutch naval hero, being the first Dutch sea captain to reach the New World. Biography He was born in Roosendaal in the south ...

then managed to capture Recife and

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state ca ...

in early 1630. A separate group took Arguin in 1633; in 1637, Elmina also fell. Two attempts to recapture Salvador failed, however. In 1641, a fleet under the leadership of

Cornelis Jol Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (baptised 9 January 1597 – 31 October 1641), nicknamed ''Houtebeen'' ("pegleg"), was a 17th-century Dutch corsair and admiral in the Dutch West India Company during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Re ...

finally managed to capture Luanda. The Dutch West India Company was now at the height of its power, and the ''Groot Desseyn'' seemed to have more or less succeeded. The tide soon began to turn, however. In 1645, the Dutch lost the Battle of Tabocas on the Brazilian mainland, which would prove the first of many defeats in Brazil. Meanwhile, the cost of constant warfare brought the company at the brink of

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. In 1647, at the end of its charter, the company was recapitalized with 1.5 million Dutch guilders from the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

and the Dutch Republic took over the war effort in Brazil. Luanda was recaptured by Portugal in 1648, and two Battles of Guararapes, the first in 1648 and the second in 1649, effectively ended Dutch involvement in Brazil. Between 1652 and 1654, the Dutch tried to recapture Recife, to no avail. The ''Groot Desseyn'' had failed.

Caribbean

From about 1623 until 1641 or later the Dutch regularly sent fleets into the Caribbean. They captured ships and inteferred with trade but rarely took territory. Their greatest achievement was

Piet Heyn Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War. Hein was the first and the last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet which tra ...

's capture of the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628.

Notes

References