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Article: The East Indies
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE EAST INDIES
In the context of the Eighty Years' War (Dutch Revolt), the general expansion of trade and shipping, and to a lesser extent, the missionary impulse of Calvinism, Dutch overseas expansion was spurred by a powerful combination of politico-economic, commercial, and religi
ous motivations. The "first shipping" to Asia of 1595 was followed by the creation of "precompanies" in various cities of the northern Netherlands trading to the East. To curb internal competition and forge a military-diplomatic tool against the Spanish-Portuguese colonial possessions, these "precompanies" were combined into the United East India Company (or VOC after its Dutch initials). On 20 March 1602 ...