The
Dutch Empire comprised the overseas territories controlled by the
Dutch Republic and, later, the modern
Netherlands from the 17th century to the mid-1950s. The Dutch followed
Portugal and
Spain in establishing an overseas colonial
empire. For this, they were aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain. Alongside the
British, the Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect state capitalist
corporate colonialism, via the Dutch
East and
West India Companies. Dutch exploratory voyages such as those led by
Willem Barentsz,
Henry Hudson and
Abel Tasman revealed vast new territories to Europeans, particularly in the
Arctic Sea,
North America, in the
Pacific,
Australia, and
New Zealand.