Dutch forces capture Olinda

The States General chartered the Dutch West India Company (WIC), giving it monopoly rights over Dutch commerce in the Atlantic and Americas and powers to wage war, build forts, and govern. The company...

A Dutch West India Company (WIC) fleet seized Salvador, the capital of Portuguese Brazil. The occupation targeted a major sugar-producing colony and port in a region whose wealth depended on...

After a year-long occupation, a large Iberian expedition forced the Dutch garrison to surrender Salvador. The episode shows that Dutch colonial expansion faced organized resistance and depended on...

Piet Hein’s WIC fleet captured a Spanish silver convoy near Cuba. The prize financed the company’s Atlantic war effort. The event belongs to an imperial struggle over American silver, shipping, and...

A WIC fleet landed near Olinda and Recife, beginning a major invasion of Portuguese Brazil. Dutch plans to seize sugar wealth relied on plantation production sustained by enslaved Africans, while...

The WIC occupied Recife, a key harbor and commercial center. The port became the base of Dutch rule in northeastern Brazil and a node in Atlantic sugar and slave-trading networks. Its strategic...

The WIC authorized a campaign to seize Curaçao from Spain. The decision was part of a wider project to control Caribbean ports, shipping, and strategic routes. Curaçao would later become a major Dutch...

Johan van Walbeeck’s WIC expedition took control of Curaçao. The conquest brought the island into a Dutch imperial system built around military power and Atlantic commerce. Indigenous Caquetío...

The remaining Spanish force on Curaçao capitulated to the Dutch. Dutch control of the island consolidated after the conquest, while Indigenous inhabitants faced displacement and coercive colonial...

The Portuguese garrison agreed to surrender Elmina Castle to the Dutch. The fort became a major center of Dutch trade and, later, the transatlantic slave trade. Its history must be read through...