In the mid-16th century, a highly consequential uprising occurred in the Habsburg Netherlands due to famine and unemployment, which had significant repercussions for Europe. Calvinists stormed Catholic churches, boycotted taxes, and appointed popular tribunes. This led to an eighty-year war that resulted in the establishment of the Dutch state and later the Belgian state. Social, political, and religious conflicts made the long path to peace arduous. The famous Prince William of Orange, whose story is still celebrated in the anthem today, along with the ordinary citizens in the often besieged cities for months on end, all stood resolutely against Spanish tyranny. This early bourgeois revolution 400 years ago is part of the most exciting era in the history of our western neighbors.