Groot Desseyn

The Groot Desseyn (Dutch for "Grand Design") was a plan devised in 1623 by the Dutch West India Company to seize the Portuguese/Spanish possessions of Iberian Union in Africa and the Americas, in order that the Spanish would not collect enough money for their war against The Netherlands.

After the Twelve Years' Truce ended, the Dutch West India Company was founded on 3 June 1621. This company was granted the monopoly on trade in the Atlantic by the States-General of the Dutch Republic. After capital had been raised for the company, the company's directors, the Heeren XIX, devised the Groot Desseyn in October 1623.

The plan was to first seize the capital of Brazil, São Salvador da Bahia (Salvador), and then the main Portuguese fort on the coast of Angola, São Paulo de Loanda (Luanda). In this way, the company would control both the lucrative sugar plantations in Brazil and the Atlantic slave trade. Control of the trade itself was necessary because of the high mortality rate from the plantations' harsh conditions and tropical diseases such as malaria.

A fleet was swiftly assembled to capture Salvador. In December 1623 and January 1624, the fleet left the Republic in two groups, which were assembled in the Cape Verde islands. Under Jacob Willekens, the force captured Salvador on 8 May 1624.

The Dutch in Salvador then assembled a force to attack Luanda. Under Piet Hein, the fleet tried to capture the city but failed, because Filips van Zuylen had tried to capture the city a few months earlier as well and prompted the Portuguese to fortify and add reinforcements.

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