ABSTRACT
In the late 1590s, the French wars of religion preoccupied Philip II and his advisors in Madrid. They decided that Spain should intervene to prevent Protestant Henry of Navarre from gaining the French throne. Parma was ordered to place some forces in the Netherlands on the defensive and then invade France with the rest. Parma was, in effect, forced to be fight on two fronts. Maurits took the opportunity, and Dutch forces lunged south, taking Breda. Then Maurits and William Lodewijk deployed the Dutch forces east and north-east in a victorious campaign, taking several cities. The Dutch Army reforms of Maurits and William Lodewijk once again paid off with skilful use of artillery and sieges. Parma was successful in his intervention in France but on the other front, Netherlands, was unable to check Maurits’s campaign. Harassed by King Philip, Parma died. Maurits had made substantial gains, and the territory under Dutch control was significantly increased. The Spanish Netherlands government was placed under Archduke Albert and Isabella. Both were wise and adopted a policy of peace and reconciliation. Albert attempted contact with the Dutch to facilitate a ceasefire and peace. However Dutch politicians, under Oldenbarneveldt, had other ideas.
