Final answer:
Sugar became a thriving business in the Caribbean for the Dutch due to the DWIC's strategic actions of extending the European conflict into the region, establishing dominance over trade routes and territories, and exploiting the high demand for sugar, which was produced by enslaved Africans.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sugar industry flourished in the Caribbean primarily due to the strategic actions of the Dutch West Indies Company (DWIC). Established during a time of rampant European warfare, the DWIC was set up by the Republic of the Netherlands in 1621 to extend the European conflict into the Caribbean via piracy and conquest. These actions were part of a larger Dutch strategy to gain economic and political power in the region.
In the early 1630s, the Dutch took control of large parts of Brazil and African slave-trading forts, temporarily dominating the international sugar trade and Atlantic slave trade. However, following a Portuguese uprising in 1645, the Dutch were expelled from Brazil. Despite this setback, they continued their operations in the Caribbean, engaging in piracy, conquering Spanish shipping, and running smuggling operations that undermined Spanish economic dominance in the region.
The Dutch successfully created an economic stronghold in the Caribbean, in part through their control over the sugar trade, which was laboriously produced by enslaved Africans. Sugar, akin to today's oil in terms of economic importance, was a high-demand commodity that Europe was unable to produce due to its climate. Thus, the Dutch exploited the lucrative Caribbean sugar trade, as well as the forced labor system, to become a powerful economic force during the 17th century.