How could Dutch Empire expand?

The Dutch have lots of opportunities, and lots of PODs.

Obvious ones:

-Expansion of New Amsterdam (though this will inevitably run into trouble and might not be worth it in the long run)
-Expansion of the Cape Colony (easier to achieve and will be left alone for a few centuries at least)
-Settlement of Australia (or at least a good chunk of it before the English or French try too)
-Control/Protectorate over Japan (almost ASB but the Dutch annual mission was several centuries before Perry)
-Holding on to Portuguese Brazil, or at least keeping a large chunk of it.
-Perhaps expanding the holdings of the Dutch East Indies (difficult IMO as it was already very large)

I should add that the bare minimum in my view for "Great Power" status is retaining Belgium and Luxembourg within the fold. An absolute necessity.
 
The Dutch have lots of opportunities, and lots of PODs.

Obvious ones:

-Expansion of New Amsterdam (though this will inevitably run into trouble and might not be worth it in the long run)
-Expansion of the Cape Colony (easier to achieve and will be left alone for a few centuries at least)
-Settlement of Australia (or at least a good chunk of it before the English or French try too)
-Control/Protectorate over Japan (almost ASB but the Dutch annual mission was several centuries before Perry)
-Holding on to Portuguese Brazil, or at least keeping a large chunk of it.
-Perhaps expanding the holdings of the Dutch East Indies (difficult IMO as it was already very large)

I should add that the bare minimum in my view for "Great Power" status is retaining Belgium and Luxembourg within the fold. An absolute necessity.

just keeping new amsterdam at its original size will stimulate trade.

expansion of cape colony is def doable.

australia and new zealand

controlling japan might be unlikely, lot of influence, quite possible, and they could continue to hold formosa (taiwan), which would give them a strong base of operations.

some expansion of the indies is possible to include malaya, maybe brunei/ british borneo. most of new guinea is possible too.

dutch brasil is possible, other option is dutch guyana/suriname keeps its original (bigger) size.

retaining ceylon (sri lanka)

continental expansion, the 17 provinces is an option, some expansion into the HRE too (ost-friesland, kleve, bentheim etc)
 
I am creating a timeline, but I need information and your option. :)
It depends on what exactly you want. The Dutch Empire was already pretty good for such a small country. Still, it is relatively easy for the Netherlands to keep Taiwan, Ceylon, South Africa and Ghana. If you can avoid the corruption and decay of the Dutch East India company and the general Dutch economy you can easily keep various parts of India Dutch or you could see a Dutch Malaysia. I think expansion into Indo-China could be theoretically possible. Since the Dutch East India company often used local or foreign troops, overextansion is far less of a problem than in many such cases. As long as the company makes more money than its competitors it can expand. Still you need a lot of luck and more competence than OTL.

A more competent Dutch West India Company might be able to keep Dutch Brasil and various Carrebean islands (like the Virgin Islands or Tobago). Actualy, i would say that even a Dutch New Netherlands is possible.

If you want Dutch settler colonies that is harder. New Netherlands and the Cape Colony worked. I can see a Dutch West Australia as a possibility (it was on route to the Dutch East Indies, so it could be used as a half way station, possibly as an alternative to Soutch Africa). I don't think you can get more than that. the Netherlands itself has a too small population for settles colonies and... well... living in the Netherlands (at least in the 17th and 18th century) was good and there was little need to go live in the colonies. Actualy people migrated towards the Netherlands.
 
colonies and... well... living in the Netherlands (at least in the 17th and 18th century) was good and there was little need to go live in the colonies. Actualy people migrated towards the Netherlands.

well apart from the usual death from disease (which happened everywhere)
the migration is an understatement, some towns in the west of the netherlands consisted out of 40-50% migrants. the sheer amount of migrants was huge
 
The Kiat did a very detailed and long-running Netherlands-wank a few years back. Had them owning Brazil and other parts of South America, most of Southern Africa and a few other parts, a huge chunk of India, Indonesia, part of Australia, Norway, Iceland, and I am probably forgetting some of the other bits of the empire. Do a search, and I'm sure you will find it.
 
Could William of Orange's reign as British King William III have been used to expand a joint Dutch-British empire or a formal and peaceful division of the remaining known world, akin to the Spanish and Portuguese dividing up south america?
 
The Dutch Empire to begin with wasn't out for world domination. Its army was created to win independence from Spain and defend it's borders, nothing more. It's navy's primary focus was to defend the trade routes. Given that its empire was essentially a network of trading outposts, it's unlikely the Dutch would want to expand anywhere unless they felt there was a profit to be made.
 
Could William of Orange's reign as British King William III have been used to expand a joint Dutch-British empire or a formal and peaceful division of the remaining known world, akin to the Spanish and Portuguese dividing up south america?
No. Since that was not the way the Dutch Republic worked. Or reality, If the Dutch and English divide the world, the rest of Europe would simply ignore it, just like (almost) everyone besides Portuagal and Spain ignored their treaty.
 
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