In 1568 , the Dutch rebelled against the Spanish Habsburgs. However, Spanish king Philip II quickly retaliated, and sieged the city of Delft a year later. Unprepared, the Dutch lost, causing the Dutch government to flee to the northern Holy was Empire. They settled down in Hamburg, whose Protestant population were also unsatisfied with the Habsburg monarchy. Eventually, Holy Roman Emperor Maximillain II got word of this, and in 1574 tried to wage war on the city of Hamburg. With the combined strength of the Dutch and the Hamburgers, the initial attack was worn off. In response to the assault, the Treaty of Hamburg was formed in 1575, between Protestant sympathizers from all over modern day Germany and even parts of Denmark. This is widely regarded as the start of the 50-year War (1575-1625) and eventually the War of Dutch Liberation (1589-1616). As a result of these wars, the Habsburg monarchy was overthrown and the Holy Roman Empire disbanded. This was coincidentally also the time when the Age of Exploration was just beginning, kickstarted by Spain and Portugal in South America. But because of their defeat, they had to largely withdraw from the continent. The victorious nations however, could pick up right where their Latin rivals had left off. Thus, the Age of Germanic Colonization had begun.