How did the Dutch Revolutionise Warfare in the 17th Century?

[The Lawspeaker]

The nature of warfare during the 17th century was radically changed by pioneering generals like Maurits of Nassau whose reforms I will be looking at in this video. Please don't forget to check out the Armchair Historian who has made an excellent video on why men for the centuries following this military reforms fought in lines:

The 80 Years' War saw the area of the Low Countries of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and parts of Northeast France and Northern German transformed into the first incarnation of the modern country of the Netherlands. The Dutch provinces of Holland, Utrecht, Zeeland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Overijssel and Drenthe formed the Dutch Republic after successfully rebelling against the mighty Spanish Empire ruled at the time by King Phillip II. The tale of the 80 Years War is an intricate tale of alliance and betrayal, French and English princes, the Armada, the House of Orange, and the almost century-long deadlock between the Dutch and the Spanish.

[The Lawspeaker]

Belgium's history of linguistic division is as old as the country itself, the northern half being Dutch or Flemish speaking while the southern half is French or Walloon speaking. And we haven't even got into the German speakers living on Belgium's eastern fringes! The two larger language groups each attempt to rule their own independently having essentially segregated governments for Flanders and Wallonia, however the crisis of 2007 - 2011 showed that while the northern Flemings wanted more decentralisation and autonomy, the southern Walloons were dead set against it. Since then a split of Belgium along these lines has seemed inevitable, but this led me to question: how on earth did Belgium become so divided? The story will take us back to the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France, William of Orange and the Eighty Years War, Napoleon, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Belgian Revolution and two World Wars so strap in because this is going to be a good one!