The Treaty of Westminster, concluded between the Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell, and the States General of the United Netherlands, was signed on 5/15 April 1654. The treaty ended the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654). The treaty is otherwise notable because it is one of the first treaties implementing international arbitration as a method of conflict resolution in the early modern era. A secret clause, obliging the States of Holland to enact the Act of Seclusion, played an important part in Dutch internal politics during the First Stadtholderless Period.

Negotiations

The negotiation of the treaty started long before the war. The Commonwealth of England had been established only in 1649, and the new state was seeking international recognition. Older established states, like the Dutch Republic, looked somewhat askance at the "upstart" England, which was ruled by "king killers." The Dutch Republic had actively supported the royalist cause in the English Civil War because of the family ties between the stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange and the English royal family. The death of William II in 1650 and the establishment of a new States Party regime in the Dutch Republic cleared the way for a thaw in Anglo-Dutch diplomatic relations. One might add that the restrictions on competition embodied in the Act also harmed the English economy, especially English consumers, and producers in the Caribbean and American colonies. possibly on the instigation of St. John, who was aggrieved by his cool treatment in The Hague.

Meanwhile, relations between the two countries became tense, when, in answer to depredations of English privateers against neutral Dutch shipping in an undeclared maritime conflict between the Commonwealth and France, the Dutch started a program of naval expansion, by which the English (who had recently expanded their own fleet) felt threatened. After a naval incident about saluting the English flag in the "English Seas" the First Anglo-Dutch War started and the negotiations were suspended.

Peace negotiations

150px|left|thumb|English commissioner [[John Lambert (general)|John Lambert]]

Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell and Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt agreed to open peace negotiations in London in June 1653. The Dutch government sent a delegation, consisting of the commissioners Beverningh, Nieupoort (for the States of Holland), Van de Perre (for the States of Zeeland), and Jongestal (for the States of Friesland). Their English counterparts were Lawrence, Lambert, Montagu, and Lisle. The negotiations started where they had left off in 1652: the Dutch reiterated their 36 articles and demanded access to the American colonies; the English replied with a restatement of their demand for reparations and their previously rejected proposal for a political union between the two countries. Cromwell proposed that "while the two countries should retain their municipal laws" the two countries should "be under one supreme power, consisting of representatives of both countries" and "natives of both countries should mutually enjoy their privileges, without any difference or distinction." The first demand was accepted, but the second at first appeared unacceptable to the Dutch ambassadors, who returned home. Secret direct negotiations between Cromwell and De Witt (represented by Beverningh), led to agreement on the matter of the exclusion of the Prince, however without the knowledge of the States General of the Netherlands. A secret clause, requiring the enactment of what became known as the Act of Seclusion by the States of Holland as a precondition for ratification of the treaty by the Commonwealth, would be added to the treaty that would only bind the States of Holland. Cromwell 19/29 April 1654).

Aftermath

left|thumb|200px|[[William III of England|Prince William in martial attire in 1654 by Gerard van Honthorst]]

With hindsight, the most momentous provision in the treaty was the secret clause concerning the Act of Seclusion. When the secret eventually leaked, it caused a political crisis in the Dutch Republic. Eventually, De Witt was able to remain in power, and the furore subsided. The Act of Seclusion remained in effect, playing a part in Dutch internal politics, until the very end of the De Witt regime, even after the Restoration seemingly obviated its existence. and the E.I.C. remained in fact blocked from freedom of trade in the East Indies (this freedom for British commerce would be achieved only in the Treaty of Paris of 1784, ending the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War).

On the other hand, the Dutch realized few of the objectives in their 36 articles. Matters like the freedom of the seas (as regards Dutch shipping), the principle of "free ship, free goods" (the inviolability of neutral shipping in time of war), and the restriction of the concept of contraband, had to wait till the Treaty of Breda (1667) and the Treaty of Westminster (1674).

The matter of the fraught phrase respecting the laws and ordinances of both states by each other's merchants in each other's dominions went by default when the Dutch commissioner Van de Perre died during the negotiations (He had been the champion of the Dutch West India Company which was especially hurt by the Navigation Act, and had therefore been the driving force behind the Dutch attempts to get the Act repealed, or at least amended). This clause therefore remained in the treaty, but the Dutch did not agree to interpret this as a recognition of the Navigation Act. Instead, the Dutch peace delegation remained behind to try and negotiate a repeal of the Act, but this effort was unsuccessful.) was first agreed on as a means of conflict resolution in an international treaty.

The Dutch were also unsuccessful in obtaining ratification of the 1650 Hartford agreement concerning the border between New Netherland and Connecticut.

Furthermore, the Dutch promised in art. 13 of the treaty to go on saluting the flag of English warships in the "English Seas" (i.e. mainly the English Channel) "as in the times of Queen Elizabeth." This did not, however, imply an admission of sovereignty of England over those "English Seas."

Thirdly, the treaty contained the provision that rebels designated by either of the two countries were to be banished. This first of all targeted the pretender Charles Stuart, who had since 1648 found asylum in the Republic at the court of his sister Mary and her husband stadtholder William II. He subsequently had to move to the Spanish Netherlands. Ironically, a similar clause was to be included in the treaties Charles II himself concluded with the Republic in 1662, 1667 and 1674, after his Restoration, but then aimed at the regicides.

The island Run in the East Indies, which had been claimed by the E.I.C. since at least 1623, but had always been denied to them by its rival, the militarily-stronger V.O.C., was formally ceded to the E.I.C. This cession, however, did not take practical effect till March 1665. The island was taken back by the V.O.C.in November 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and formally ceded to the V.O.C. by the Treaty of Breda in 1667 in part-exchange for New Netherland.

Notes

References

  • Text of the treaty, at

See also

  • List of treaties