The seventeenth century is often regarded as the 'Golden Age' for the Dutch: they achieved world trade primacy through the VOC, they were the most urban and literate society in Europe, they maintained a republican system of government and their culture became admired across the continent. Yet this success was fragile, the Provinces' trading position declined in the late half of the seventeenth century due to protectionism (the Navigation Acts 1651, Colbert's general tariff 1664) and warfare. Their political system was a mess, with the Stadholder and the States' Party constantly vying for power. There were religious tensions with the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant rivalry and the growth of Catholicism in the south.
Could these internal tensions lead to a major internal conflict within Dutch society? Perhaps Maurits doesn't launch his successful coup in 1618 and the conflict with Holland continues? Or perhaps the Orangist revival of the 1660s/1670s leads to recourse to arms?