The Kettle War

When a larger force with overwhelming firepower face a much smaller force they are not expected to lose. They are especially not expected to surrender before any major fighting is done, but sometimes strange things happen when tensions are high.

Author’s Note

I unfortunately had to use Wikipedia as my main source of information due to a lack of online sources. I found many books that talk of this subject but could not access them in time to write this article, and I did not realise this soon enough to start on a different topic. I will say that the Wikipedia article appeared to be reliable but as with any open source website caution must be taken, therefore I plan to come back and revise this article when I have access to more reliable sources.

Background

Between 1568-1648 seven Dutch states rose up and fought to gain independence from the Spanish Empire. The 80 Years War, also known as the Dutch Revolt, finally ended with the northern Netherlands gaining their own country called the Dutch Republic. The Netherlands were now split into two parts, the northern part was ruled by the Dutch Republic and the southern part was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire.

As one can see the only waterway to Antwerp is the Scheldt River, Courtesy of the University of Liege

The Dutch gained control of a river along the border of the two nations during the war. The River Scheldt was important because it was the main access to the port of Antwerp, a major city for the Holy Roman Empire. During and after the war the Dutch Republic used barriers to prevent merchant and supply ships from reaching the port at Antwerp. This barrier system was causing the Empire to lose massive amounts of money. Several times they attempted to remove the barriers through diplomacy but failed each time, mainly because the Dutch were reaping huge profits through goods that had to pass through their country in order to reach the city.

In 1781 the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II demanded that the barriers be removed, but the Dutch refused. Again in 1784 Joseph II demanded the removal of the barriers and that the Dutch return occupied land to the Empire, threatening war if his demands were not met. Again the Dutch Republic refused. The Emperor then decided to send three ships from Antwerp into the Scheldt in order to force its reopening.

Emperor Joseph II, Courtesy of Regensburg University

Fighting

The three Holy Roman ships left the port of Antwerp, headed by the flagship Le Louis, and made their way up the Scheldt towards the barriers. In response to the invading ships the Dutch Republic sent the small ship the Dolfijn to intercept them. On the evening of October  8, 1784 the Dolfijn fired a single shot at Le Louis hitting a soup kettle on deck. Despite their strength, Le Louis alone outgunned the Dolfijn, the three ships surrendered.

Angered by the surrender Joseph II declared war on the Dutch Republic on October 30 of that year. The Dutch did not have a large army or navy but they spread propaganda about the Holy Roman Empire and were able to raise militias across the country. Two new warships were put up by the Admiralty of Friesland for the Dutch cause, but for an unspecified reason they were unable to leave port and were later dismantled.

Holy Roman forces attempted an invasion of Dutch territory and skirmishes were seen along the two countries' borders. One notable event was that the Roman forces broke several dikes and flooded lowland regions, causing many to drown.

Settlement

After the skirmishes both countries came to the negotiating table, mediated by France, and settled on the 1785 Treaty of Fontainebleau. The river Scheldt would remain closed however the Dutch Republic would compensate the southern Netherlands by paying 2 million guilder a year, though some sources claim it was as high as 10 million guilder. As the years passed the North and South Netherlands would reach agreements on allowing access to the Scheldt.

Sources

https://books.google.com/books?id=AvKxAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT313#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_War

https://www.britannica.com/event/Eighty-Years-War

https://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/dutch%20republic.htm