Eighty Years' War

Eighty Years' War Historic map loading screen

Eighty Years' War is a historical map released with Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean.

Features

Objectives

• The game starts with a timer. The defenders' team must defend the Command Post. The attackers' team must destroy the Command Post.

Starting conditions

The Defender players must contain everyone else on a fortified peninsula defending the fort, the rest must attack! The trade route, command posts, and headquarters offer unique upgrades.

Victory conditions

Defend or destroy the fort's headquarters.

Trivia

• The Eighty Years' War (Dutch: Tachtigjarige Oorlog; Spanish: Guerra de los Ochenta Años) or Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648) was a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces of what are today the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg against Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands. After the initial stages, Philip II deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebelling provinces. Under the leadership of the exiled William the Silent, the northern provinces continued their resistance. They eventually were able to oust the Habsburg armies, and in 1581 they established the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The war continued in other areas, although the heartland of the republic was no longer threatened. This included the origins of the Dutch colonial empire, which began with Dutch attacks on Portugal's overseas territories. At the time, this was conceived as carrying the war with the Spanish Empire overseas, due to Portugal and Spain's being in a dynastic union, making the war one of the first global wars.
• In 1609, the two sides agreed a Twelve Years' Truce; when it expired in 1621, fighting resumed as part of the broader Thirty Years' War. An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster (a treaty part of the Peace of Westphalia), when Spain recognised the Dutch Republic as an independent country. The Peace of Münster is sometimes considered the beginning of the Dutch Golden Age. Nevertheless, despite achieving independence, from the end of the war in 1648, there was considerable opposition to the Treaty of Münster within the States General of the Netherlands, since it allowed Spain to retain the Southern Provinces and permitted religious toleration for Catholics.

Gallery

Relief of Leiden after the siege, 1574.

Map of the Seventeen Provinces, 1581 secession outlined in red.

"The Surrender of Breda" by Diego Velázquez. Oil on canvas, 1635.