The Dutch Republic came into existence less as the result of a pre-conceived plan, than as a consequence of an unexpected combination of political events. As the Revolt spread and Spain responded with increasing use of force, the leading figures of the provinces of Holland and Zeeland found themselves compelled to consider (in general terms) the possibility of an independent state. But even after the States General had renounced Philip II in 1581 and declared their independence, it took a long time for these unsystematic ideas on sovereignty and the nature of the new state to be given any clear delineation. Political theory in the United Provinces continued to focus on the advantages and disadvantages of monarchy. A republican theory began to be formulated only with the greatest reluctance and it took until the second half of the seventeenth century before it came to be seen as a real alternative. The development of republicanism in the Netherlands during this period has not yet been adequately studied and what few studies there are suffer extensively from an evil which has long plagued Dutch historiography: a nationalist insistence on the integrity of its own past, and an insufficient consideration of the influences at work in the rest of Europe. Before, and even after, World War II the Dutch Republic was viewed as unique and deviant, so that scarcely any attempt has been made to notice similarities with developments elsewhere. The same holds true for the treatment of political theory.