Bourbon Southern Netherlands: Does this mean the French can overrun the Dutch Republic at will?

Let's say the SN go to a Bourbon prince to become a French puppet state some time in the mid 1700s. This means all the barrier fortresses can be easily walked around by the French army in the build up before any war.

Does this mean the French can invade the Dutch Republic in a few weeks if there is a war between the two? What if the Dutch are allied to the Brits/Hannover? Can they then defend the place with enough of a troop balance, or is the geography just too disastrous?

If they are at France's mercy, what does this mean for Dutch foreign policy? Do they just become an appeasement state, desperate to keep the French on side at virtually all costs? Do they ignore French interference in Dutch politics?
 
No other threads about this cool concept. I will add that it's likely the Bourbon monarch of the Southern Netherlands will be the OTL Duke of Parma (it was proposed in the 7 Years' War in exchange for Austria getting Silesia back). What is the state even called? Will the Belgians and the French force the Dutch to open the Scheldt like Joseph II failed to?
 

Gabingston

Kicked
No other threads about this cool concept. I will add that it's likely the Bourbon monarch of the Southern Netherlands will be the OTL Duke of Parma (it was proposed in the 7 Years' War in exchange for Austria getting Silesia back). What is the state even called? Will the Belgians and the French force the Dutch to open the Scheldt like Joseph II failed to?
It might just be called Belgium or Belgica, since it was the name of the Roman Province in the region.
 
Dutch Republic, after the WoAS, was no longer attached at the hip to Britain. They remained neutral in 7YW, and ARW, eventually backing the rebels.

The straight up answer to OP is, yes, France could invade DR at will, presuming France and Bourbon Netherlands are allied and act as one. BN may not be inclined to be the toady of France, though.

But, what's in it for France? DR is no longer a threat, and the spoils of a defeated DR may end up going to BN. More likely is that DR makes clear they're neutral, (being so vulnerable) and France has more or less a free hand to attempt whatever in northern German lands.

Once Austria allied with France, you've got something similar. A Bourbon Netherlands is likely to be a bit more France friendly/pliant, but the Austria/France alliance also posed a threat to DR, which may be why they went neutral..
 
Does this mean the French can invade the Dutch Republic in a few weeks if there is a war between the two? What if the Dutch are allied to the Brits/Hannover? Can they then defend the place with enough of a troop balance, or is the geography just too disastrous?
I don't think I'd say the geography is disastrous -- there were/are plenty of waterways, which can easily form the basis for defensive positions.

Though a French or French-aligned Southern Netherlands would increase the threat to the Dutch quite a bit -- aside from anything else, Paris is much closer than Madrid, so Bourbon France will have a much easier time dispatching and maintaining troops in the area than Hapsburg Spain ever did. That's part of the reason why the Dutch stopped trying to conquer the Spanish Netherlands IOTL, because they realised it was more valuable to have a buffer between themselves and France.
 
Ok, so it sounds like the Dutch Republic is badly exposed. I guess they will just try to be neutral in future wars then, so as not to risk the wrath of France.
 
I don't think I'd say the geography is disastrous -- there were/are plenty of waterways, which can easily form the basis for defensive positions.
That really didn't stop Louis XIV and his armies when they marched into the Netherlands and were able to get a peace treaty eventually. Fact is, the Dutch simply could not realistically win against France unless it was a War of Spanish Succession situation where there's a large coalition to back them up, otherwise, unlike the Spanish, the French would have the troops, money and will to successfully extinguish their independence and no amount of Belgium was worth the risk.

But I'll admit, the idea of a united Netherlands under a bourbon monarch who may or may not become the King of France due to Succession problems and "bring back the Burgundian Inheritance to their rightful owners" and having major impact in the European power scene would've made for a very interesting TL.
 
That really didn't stop Louis XIV and his armies when they marched into the Netherlands and were able to get a peace treaty eventually.
Those waterways are the reason the Netherlands survived in the 1670s. The dikes were opened and the flooded terrain prevented full French victory. France then refused a very good Dutch peace offer, and ended up settling for far less.

Napoleon united the Netherlands, then divided them when Brother Louis didn't toady enough. They were reunited at Vienna, but they weren't all that compatible, and split up not long after. More or less.
 
Top