Dutch Invasion of Portuguese Brazil (1630s)

Timeline

1. 1630Olinda and Recife · PernambucoIn February 1630 a Dutch West India Company fleet under General Hendrick Loncq arrived off the coast of Pernambuco, landed, and quickly captured the two principal cities of Olinda and Recife. The outnumbered Portuguese garrison was forced to retreat inland, and the Dutch promptly renamed Recife Mauritsstad, making it the administrative center of Dutch Brazil.
2. 1630–1637Pernambuco and its surrounding interior · PernambucoThe remaining Portuguese garrison joined forces with local planters, indigenous peoples, and some African slaves in guerrilla resistance, hindering Dutch expansion inland. However, because the Iberian Union prevented Portugal from conducting independent diplomacy or securing adequate naval reinforcements, the resistance remained at a long-term disadvantage. Dutch-controlled territory continued to expand, and sugar output was gradually taken over by Dutch merchants.
3. 1637–1639Mauritsstad (Recife) · PernambucoIn 1637 Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen was appointed governor of Dutch Brazil, pursuing a relatively tolerant religious policy, attracting cooperation from Portuguese settlers, and sponsoring naturalists and painters to record Brazil's nature and culture. Dutch Brazil reached its zenith, controlling some 1,600 kilometers of coastline and commanding one of the world's leading sugar-producing regions.