The Portuguese discovered the sea route to the Far East towards the end of the 15th century. They were quickly followed by the Spanish and for some time Portugal and Spain were the only European nations with a presence in the region. The fledgling Republic saw its chance clear to gain a share of this lucrative trade and the first Dutch ships set sail for the Far East in 1595. The voyage took two years but the prospects seemed encouraging. Various ‘distant trade companies’ were rapidly set up in the Republic and competed fiercely with each other. In order to avoid confrontation with the Spanish and Portuguese, the Dutch sought an alternative north-easterly passage, but driven back by the harsh climatic conditions they abandoned these attempts and returned to the known route round Africa.

In 1602 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt managed to bring together the rival companies into the United East India Company (VOC). This was based on the example of the English East India Company, but swiftly outgrew its rival because of its far greater starting capital. Shares were issued to the value of 6.5 million guilders and could be bought by any resident of the Republic. With the resulting capital, the company built a substantial armed merchant fleet. The VOC had six local branches or ‘chambers’, which represented the towns of Amsterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen in the governing body, known as the ‘Heeren XVII’.

The States endowed the Company with wide powers including the monopoly of trade and navigation between the Republic and the Far East, authority to conclude alliances, equip land and seaborne forces, appoint governors and judges and administer justice in relation to its employees. In its day, it was the most successful commercial enterprise in the world. It also became an economic, political and military weapon against the Spanish and Portuguese. At the height of its power, the VOC had trading stations in Persia, India, China, Japan and the East Indies. On Java, it founded the town of Batavia (present-day Jakarta), which became the hub of VOC trading operations in the Far East. In Japan, it represented for many years (right through to 1854) the only European power permitted to trade and from 1602 to 1799 the VOC enjoyed an absolute monopoly of Dutch trade with the Far East.

In 1621 a similar enterprise - the Dutch West India Company (WIC) - was established to trade with Africa and the West Indies. In 1623 Piet Heyn was appointed vice-admiral of the fleet. The best-known feat of his career was the seizure of the Spanish treasure fleet off the coast of Cuba in 1628. The booty was worth 12 million guilders: an unprecedented sum at that time. This success was part of a plan systematically to attack ships carrying silver from the New World to Spain. In fact, it was in privateering - a form of piracy licensed by the States - that the WIC achieved its greatest successes. Maurice and Oldenbarnevelt felt that Piet Heyn’s abilities as a commander and strategist made him the best person to reform Holland’s fleet and in 1629 he was appointed Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland. Unfortunately, he was killed before the year was out in a campaign against the Dunkirk pirates.