Great Britain was in a dominant commercial position in relation to the Netherlands by the middle of the seventeenth century.

Answer 1

There are numerous reasons why Great Britain emerged as a dominant power over the Netherlands (or the United Provinces at the time). Britain and the Netherlands were both commercial competitors. Both founded joint stock companies, the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company in 1600 and 1602 respectively. These companies generated enormous wealth for both economies. However, numerous factors enabled the British to surpass the early success of the Dutch, including:

1. Their superior military navy compared to the Dutch commercial navy
2. The defeat of the Dutch in a series of 3 Anglo-Dutch Wars, which including the loss of now New York State.
3. The surpassing of the Bank of Amsterdam by the Bank of England
4. The population size and economy of Britain compared to the Dutch

Many other factors could be mentioned, but in summary, Britain was a much larger and unified country in population and governance that could maintain a better military and a more vast global empire that continued to grow until the 20th century.