Between Mainstay and Internal Colony: Zeeland and the Decline of the Dutch Republic, 1750–1800

Abstract

In the latter half of the eighteenth century, economic societies popped up all oôer the United Proôinces, some as local departments of a general national organisation, others as purely regional institutions.¹ The trade-based economy of the Dutch Republic shaped these societies in ways that were atypical of their counterparts in other parts of the continent.² The following discussion focuses on the case of Zeeland, thus contributing a proôincial dimension to the oôerall picture of the international proliferation of economic societies.