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The article discusses the selection criteria for high-ranking civil servants in the Netherlands during the transition between Spanish and Austrian rule in the early 18th century. The article describes the governmental implications of the Wars of Spanish Succession on Dutch civil servants, the financing of governmental offices, and the role of collateral councils in determining the roles and responsibilities of civil servants. Other subjects under discussion include the process of recruiting officials to administer the government, the Dutch elector Maximilien-Emmanuel de Bavière, and the centralization of government under Spanish prince Philip V.