A large part of playing EUIV revolves around colonization of the known world. Admittedly, there are many nations which one can use to play the colonizing game. England, France and the Iberian duo of Castille and Portugal are all valid choices. But if you have studied your world history well you will know that there is one more nation which had been a prime colonial power[en.wikipedia.org] during the Age of Discovery. Moreover, this nation seriously challenged the supremacy of all the aforementioned great powers in matters of overseas trade and expansion. That is right, I am alluding to the Netherlands, which in my opinion is one of the most fun colonizing powers to play in this game.

Not only does the Netherlands have a myriad of unique flavor events and mechanics (more so if you have the Res Republica DLC) associated with her, she also presents a worthy challenge to players who enjoy the fulfilling experience of starting as a minor nation and gradually working their way towards world domination via projection of naval and commercial might. I shall attempt to illustrate the steps involved in pursuing this goal that when accomplished, will also gain us two nice Dutch-oriented achievements:

1. Je maintiendrai
   
2. Sinaasappel!

The Dutch Trading Empire in history


Jacob van Heemskerk (1567-1607), Dutch explorer and admiral. Notable exploits include the capture of Portuguese carrack Santa Catarina off the coast of Singapore in 1603. Its cargo, worth 2.2 million guilders, contributed to a twofold increase of the Dutch East India Company's capital.


Piet Heyn (1577-1629), Dutch privateer and admiral. Led the Dutch fleet to decisive victory that resulted in the capture of a Spanish treasure fleet in the Battle in the Bay of Matanzas during the Dutch War of Independence.

Before starting any Netherlands game you will notice one obvious fact: the country does not yet exist at the default start date of 1444.11.11. In order to be eligible to form the Netherlands and gain the Je maintiendrai achievement, one needs to start as a country with Dutch as its primary culture. There are four such nations, namely Friesland, Gelre, Utrecht and Holland.

Except Holland, the other three are all OPMs (one province minor).

Out of the four, Holland is the recommended nation for the purpose of forming the Netherlands. For starters, Holland controls two provinces, one of which, its eponymous capital, has the added advantage of also being a coastal center of commerce in the English Channel trade node. More importantly, Holland begins as a lesser partner in a Personal Union with Burgundy which dominates the Low Countries in 1444. This starting position affords you the opportunity to break free from them through a War of Independence assisted by powerful allies in the region.

As soon as you start the game as Holland, check the diplomacy tab of France and Austria. Preferably you should see that they have both rivalled Burgundy, and also that they have not rivalled each other.


This would allow you to immediately send your two diplomats to Paris and Vienna to gain their support in a war of independence against Burgundy.


If neither France nor Austria have rivalled Burgundy, it is recommended that you restart the game till they do, as you do not want to waste precious time improving relations with them to gain that support, during which Burgundy could form alliances with powerful nations such as Castille.

As a side note, you could also try to ask England for similar support in the imminent war of independence. Most of the time England would accept, particularly if they have also rivalled Burgundy. Occasionally England would start in a hostile state towards you, in which case they would refuse to offer support. Regardless, English help is not necessary to secure Holland's independence, as the combined might of both France and Austria is more than sufficient for that task.

Once the alliances have been properly set up, you should start fabricating a claim on a neighboring province which you will annex after winning the war. Breda, which belongs to Brabant, is the most desirable province as it is one of the required provinces for the formation of the Netherlands. Once your diplomat has begun the claim fabrication, declare war against Burgundy. When that is done, Holland will become an independent duchy again and you will get a randomly generated leader. Occasionally you might even get godly ones like the one shown below.



If you do the above quickly enough (within the first month), Burgundy should have no time to find powerful allies and would have absolutely no chance of winning the war. In my game Burgundy only allied with Savoy which was easily overrun by France. During the war remember you can set objectives for your French and Austrian allies if you have the Art of War DLC. Apart from that, simply watch their armies lay waste to the forces of Burgundy and its assorted vassals.


Once your war score is high enough, seek a peace deal and demand your independence (cost around 20% war score). In addition, also demand the province from either Flanders or Brabant for which you have fabricated the claim on earlier. Refrain from acquiring more than one province even if your war score permits it as doing so would give you an unnecessarily high aggressive expansion penalty. This in turn can cause your neighbors, particularly the other three small Dutch minors, to enter into a coalition against you, thereby significantly delaying your progress in forming the Netherlands.


Once the war is concluded, France and Austria will remain as your allies; during the war you should also improve relations with both of them. Note that if England also helped you in the war you would want to dissolve the alliance with them immediately after signing the peace deal so as to maintain good relations with France. Failure to do so could result in France breaking her alliance with you, which would be nothing short of a disaster as French protection is still very crucial to your survival at this early stage.

The next step involves the annexation of the other three Dutch minors located to your east. It is highly likely that they are mutual enemies of one another and only have weak nations in the northern part of the HRE as allies.

Regardless of the geopolitical situation concerning the three minors, the strategy to conquering them remains the same. Check their alliances and only engage in wars that you know you will emerge victorious. While it is entirely possible to beat them on your own, if all else fails, you can always drag France into your wars for almost guaranteed victories. I was able to conquer the three minors by the 1480s or so in two separate wars, one of which had French involvement.

Since all three minors are members of the HRE, to which you also belong, the process of coring their provinces depends on two factors:

1. the state of your alliance with Austria
   
2. who currently reigns as the emperor of the HRE

If you manage to maintain your alliance with the Austrians and they sit on the imperial throne, you should have little trouble coring your newly acquired territory. Keeping the alliance with Austria should be easy as long as you ensure that your AE remains relatively low by avoiding annexing too many provinces at once in a single war.

If for whatever reason Austria loses its emperorship to some other nation (Bohemia, Brandenburg, etc.) or that they break their alliance with you (which can sometimes happen), the emperor is very likely to interfere after your conquests of the Dutch minors by issuing demands for return of unlawful imperial territory. If this happens, simply refuse the emperor's demands and take the economic and manpower penalty to holding unlawful territory.

This penalty eventually expires after a number of years. Note that your refusal gives the emperor an Imperial Liberation Cacus Belli against you, but your alliance with France should more than protect you from any threat (other than verbal) from the emperor.

After all three provinces of Utrecht, Gelre and Friesland are cored, you are ready to form the Netherlands. Simply wait until your admin tech reaches 10 and hit that button under the missions and decisions tab to form the country. Congratulations, you have just completed Je maintiendrai and taken the first step towards domination of the high seas as the United Provinces.

As a side note, forming the Netherlands will cause you to leave the HRE and thereby become truly master of your own destiny.

Now that we have formed the Netherlands, it is time to work towards Sinaasappel!, which is actually the easier of the two achievements. In order to do so you need to fulfill two conditions:

1. change your government to a special Republican form unique to the Netherlands (Res Republica DLC needed) and help one faction within that system dominate
   
2. set up a colonial outpost in China in the Far East

When the Netherlands first comes into existence, your government form will be that of a typical monarchy with hereditary rulers. After a certain period of time (about 96 months), an event called Constitutionalism and the General Estates will fire which presents you with a list of options to alter your government structure. When this happens, make sure you select the first option of Confederacy with traces of Monarchism to change your government to the special Dutch Republic form.


Two factions coexist under this new system of government, namely the Statists and the Orangists. The former embraces Republican ideals while the latter represents Monarchist interests in the country. Their respective power ratio is denoted by a slider under the government tab.


As its name suggests, this rather unique system works like a republic that contains vestiges of monarchism. Instead of having a monarch however, the leadership of the country rests with the elected office of the Stadtholder. During each election cycle, the Statists and the Orangists will present their respective candidates, between whom you need to choose one to govern the country. Depending on your choice, the faction that wins the election will be strengthened. The resultant shift in power is reflected in the aforementioned influence slider.

Furthermore, the faction that is currently in ascendancy will confer a list of bonuses on the country. Roughly speaking, when Statists are in power, you get bonuses to trade, Republican tradition, the navy and a four-year election cycle. Alternatively, when Orangists reign supreme, you get bonuses to stability cost, the army and an election cycle that lasts until the ruler's death.


Since Sinaasappel! requires you to have Orangists in power while maintaining 100% Republican tradition, you should play the political game in the following manner. Start with Statist candidates to increase your Republican tradition meter. When that reaches 100 (it would take some time), switch to supporting Orangist candidates until the influence slider shifts to the point of them being in power. Voila, the first condition of Sinaasappel! has been met.

For the second condition of establishing an outpost in China, coring any province in the Chinese region fulfils it. The three provinces of Taiwan however are what I would recommend for this endeavor, the most important reason being that they start off in 1444 as the only unoccupied territory in China. Colonizing them is therefore far superior to alternative ways of gaining a foothold in China, which would most likely involve a costly war against the Ming.


Incidentally, colonizing Taiwan (aka Formosa) is also a historically accurate course of action for the Netherlands to take. The VOC (Dutch East India Company)[en.wikipedia.org] established a formidable presence in Taiwan during the 17th century for almost four decades[en.wikipedia.org], until they were finally evicted by remnants of Ming loyalist forces after the collapse of the Ming dynasty in 1644.

17th century painting of Fort Zeelandia, Dutch stronghold in Taiwan

In any case, immediately after the formation of the Netherlands pick up exploration ideas and gradually work your way to China as you wait for the needed Republican event to fire. The colonizing route I followed in my game was: Trinidad (eastern Caribbean) -> Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -> Mauritius (Indian Ocean) -> Bangka (Sumatra) -> Kelang (Taiwan). I was able to finally core Kelang in Taiwan by 1569.

You will likely encounter Portuguese and Castillian colonists on the way (possibly in West Africa), but they should not present a problem as the Iberians typically tend to focus on the New World first.

Regardless of the exact manner you choose to hop your way to China, it is highly desirable for you to seize control of South Africa in the process for the purpose of steering the flow of the spice trade to Amsterdam in the latter part of the game.

A good rule of the thumb to follow is to always prioritize the colonization of provinces which are either important natural harbors or situated on river estuaries, such as Kaap in South Africa.


Furthermore, you should consider hiring a navigator advisor who provides the benefit of a 20% increase in colonial range which should facilitate your colonization efforts greatly.


When the twin conditions of Orangists in power and colony in China are both met, the Sinaasappel! achievement will trigger.

Note that while you work your way to China the Reformation would probably occur in Europe, engulfing the continent in religious upheaval. At this point you should seriously consider cutting your ties with popery and embracing the Reformed faith.

By doing so you lose the ability to gain and wield papal influence, instead you accumulate fervor points, which are used to activate and maintain three types of bonuses: trade, war and stability. In addition, you also get one extra advisor and more tolerance for heretics in your country.


At any rate, religious affiliation is a personal preference and not part of the requirement for Sinaasappel!. Switching to Reformed however does trigger additional religious flavor events for the Netherlands which historically had been a devout Calvinist nation.

Congratulations, under your wise leadership Holland has risen from its pitiable position of being a minor and insignificant state under foreign yoke to prominence as the wealthy and prosperous United Provinces!

From here onwards the possibilities for growth are limitless. Depending on the specific geopolitical situation in Europe in your game, you can choose to expand at the expense of either the English or the Germanic states of the HRE. Or perhaps you can advance into Scandinavia and shake up the Kalmar Union. Meanwhile, continue to colonize in the New World and the Orient, steer all that rich trade back to Amsterdam and watch your economy skyrocket to dizzying heights!

In my game I expanded into the British Isles, controlled more than 90% of the trade in my home node and made the Netherlands the envy of Europe by the beginning of the 18th century.


And this was the fate of the Portuguese fleet which decided to challenge my control of the high seas.


To recapitulate, here are some basic pointers you should follow in your quest of guiding Holland to greatness:

1. use French and Austrian help to emancipate yourself from Burgundian overlordship
   
2. unify the Low Countries
   
3. colony-hop your way to China
   
4. continue to colonize and steer trade back to Amsterdam with your invincible fleets
   
5. hire a horde of mercenaries and decimate any who dares to stand against your might

Finally, thank you for perusing this guide dear fellow EUIV enthusiasts! If there is anything you would love to share about your own Dutch game or that you have any suggestions, feel free to post them in the comment section below.