The conflict between Philip II of Spain and the Dutch rebels in the Spanish Netherlands, culminating in the Eighty Years' War, was part of a broader European power struggle of the 16th century between Catholics and Protestants. By 1550, wars against both German Protestants and (Catholic) France had stretched Spain's finances thin, requiring the imposition of new taxes on the Spanish Netherlands. The resentment this caused was compounded by a poor harvest in 1565, leading to famine in 1566 (known as the 'Year of Hunger' or 'Year of Wonders'). In that same year social, political and religious unrest climaxed with the Compromise of Nobles and the "Beeldenstorm", apparently endangering the government of Philip's Regent in Brussels, Margaret of Parma. Spanish troops under the Duke of Alba were dispatched to restore order and punish the perceived insurrectionists, triggering the Dutch Revolt and the broader Eighty Years' War. As these troops could not be transported by sea, Philip was therefore forced to find a way to move troops from his garrisons in Lombardy overland to the Spanish Netherlands. The Spanish Road was surveyed and mapped out in 1566, and Alba used it in July 1567.