the Battle of Gembloux (1578). Most of the rebel territories would go on to create a closer military alliance with the 1579 Union of Utrecht, proclaim independence by the 1581 Act of Abjuration, obtain English support in 1585 and establish the Dutch Republic in 1588, but the 1579–1588 period was marked by a long series of rebel defeats at the hands of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. Effective military reforms of the Dutch States Army were only introduced by Maurice of Nassau in the subsequent Ten Years (1588–1598). By the 1620s, the annual costs of the Dutch States Army were 11,177,087 guilders, 58% of which were paid by Holland as most populous and wealthy province. By the 1630s, Holland increasingly refused to fund land war operations, pleading for greater maritime expenses against the Dunkirker Privateers instead. This led to tensions with stadtholder Frederick Henry, who unsuccessfully sought to merge the five admiralties into one in 1639, and then resumed his focus on financing the land war. List See also Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604) Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands (1609–1621) Dutch–Portuguese War (1602–1663) Franco–Spanish War (1635–1659) Succession of Henry IV of France (August 1589 – March 1594), war into which Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma was sent to intervene in September 1589 References Bibliography Geyl, Pieter. (1932), The Revolt of the Netherlands, 1555–1609. Williams & Norgate, UK. (e-book; original publication 2008; in cooperation with M. Mout and W. Zappey) [2001] paperback (Dissertation) Eighty Years' War