ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how ideology shaped the framework within which policy decisions were taken. It explains that contrary to what Realist and Structure of Politics historians have argued, the events in 1672 can be understood only by taking into account the fact that contemporaries interpreted politics through an ideological prism. The chapter claims that an integrated interpretation, which functionally connects foreign and domestic events, must attribute to the ideological dimension a central place in the analysis. It analyses the events of 1672 that led to the invasion of the Dutch Republic and the subsequent Orange revolution. Historians have tended to present the Dutch Republic as an innocent victim of Anglo-French aggression, leaving as relatively unimportant the discussion of what foreign policy it pursued. In most Dutch historiography, the striving for universal monarchy by Louis XIV is taken for granted. There is evidence that in 1672, the Dutch were also seen as to be striving for universal economic dominance.
