Vrede van Utrecht

Staatssecretaris Weekers van Financiën hield een toespraak bij de eerste slag van de munt die wordt uitgegeven ter gelegenheid van de viering van de Vrede van Utrecht.

Most noble, illustrious and excellent lords, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiaries,

That is how the diplomats and politicians who negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht referred to the assembled company three hundred years ago. Sorry, there were no ladies at the table in those days...
These diplomats and politicians represented the Kings of France, Spain and Portugal, the Queen of England, the Duke of Savoy. And last – and I’m afraid also least – the Dutch Republic. In under fourteen months they negotiated a series of treaties to end a decade of bloody wars, in Europe and far beyond: in Brazil, Uruguay, North America and Canada. A Dutch historian aptly refers to these wars of succession as ‘World War 1.0’. That of course made the Treaty ‘Peace 1.0’. Or in the Treaty’s own words: ‘Healing the miseries of the wasted world; (…) providing – as far as mortals are able to do – for the perpetual tranquillity of the whole Christian world.’ 

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Today we commemorate this extraordinary diplomatic feat: a sorely needed peace that introduced a sorely needed balance of power in Europe. You could say: Europe 1.0… ATo be honest: this new balance of power did not include much power for ‘our’ Republic, even though Dutch troops could be found on almost every battlefield. As the French ambassador Melchior de Polignac cruelly pointed out: negotiations were held about us and among us, but without us. 

It’s safe to say, though, that the negotiations very much, benefited the Utrecht business community. The diplomatic corps, with their deep pockets and lust for life put some colour in local cheeks and led to music in the streets: anything to please the customers...
But while we gained only a few strongholds in the south to hold off future French aggression, the Republic welcomed the peace. Because war costs money – lots of money. Money the Republic largely didn’t have. And we are now learning again what we learned then: that borrowing is an expensive business.
The wars of succession left the Dutch with a debt of over 140 million guilders. Nothing compared to the billions we owe now, but according to the British historian Simon Schama, the debt was millions more than the whole Republic was worth. Now that’s what I call a financial crisis. What the Republic needed to pay off the debt was economic growth, commerce and trade, and imports and exports. And that is exactly what the Treaty brought us: enemies became allies and trade embargos were lifted. We might have lost the golden glow of the seventeenth century, and we might have lost our position as a political force to be reckoned with, but the Treaty gave us a stable Europe where we could focus on our greatest strength: doing business. And the regents of the Republic never looked back. They decided that trade would always come before war, because the costs of war far outweighed the benefits. A very wise decision.

In the light of these very Dutch sentiments, it won’t come as a surprise that we want to commemorate the Treaty of Utrecht with a special coin. A five-euro coin that represents all the countries, all the delegations and all the treaties that made Utrecht the centre of the world for over a year. A coin that truly has two sides: one that represents the triumphs of the Republic, and another side that celebrates our monarchy. And of course, it will also be the last commemorative coin to bear a portrait of our Queen Beatrix. A true collector’s item! 

So, ladies and gentlemen, it’s high time to mint the first coin. That honour goes to Philip Freriks, journalist, writer, former news anchorman, and a son of Utrecht
Mr Freriks, may I invite you to step this way?