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Dutch East India Company trade system

Type Object Region Netherlands Time 1651–1660

The VOC trade system was the largest intercontinental commercial empire of the 17th century, peaking in power and expansion between 1651 and 1660.

Timeline

  1. 1651London · BritainBritain's Cromwell government issued the Navigation Acts, requiring goods entering English ports to be carried on English ships, directly striking at the Dutch re-export trade system and severely threatening the VOC's European distribution channels.
  2. 1652–1654North Sea and English Channel · Northern European watersDuring the First Anglo-Dutch War, VOC fleets suffered British naval attacks in the North Sea with heavy merchant shipping losses. The company promptly adjusted routes, strengthened armed merchant convoys, and rerouted some Asian cargo via northern European routes to Amsterdam to evade the British blockade.
  3. 1654Westminster · BritainBritain and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch were forced to recognize Britain's Navigation Acts to some degree, but the VOC's Asian trade routes were maintained and the company continued to dominate East Indies trade.
  4. 1655–1660Batavia (present-day Jakarta) · JavaAfter the war the VOC used Batavia as its Asian headquarters, continuously strengthening trading posts in Sri Lanka, India's Malabar Coast, the Persian Gulf, and Nagasaki in Japan, forming a complete commercial network linking Europe and Asia; the annual value of goods shipped to the Netherlands kept rising during this period.

Sources