Report on the Netherlands 🇳🇱

By: Sid Su

Written: May 23, 2024 and Jun. 5, 2024.

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2024.

Document created in preparation for the Amsterdam trip from May 25, 2024 to Jun. 1, 2024.

Basic Information

Officially The Kingdom of the Netherlands, split into four constituent countries, Aruba, Curacao, The Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Princess Catharina-Amalia (heir apparent).

Unitary Bicameral Government:

Unitary - All power is held by parliament called the States General, with a prime minister (currently Mark Rutte), chosen by the largest political party.
Bicameral - the States General is split into a House of Representatives and a Senate.

12 Provinces of the Netherlands: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant, North Holland, Overijssel, South Holland, Utrecht and Zeeland.

Currency: Euro, previously the Dutch Guilder.

Name

The Netherlands is low in elevation, and is where the Rhine river delta forms.

“Netherlands” comes from Austrian Habsburg documents where the province was called “pays d’embas” (“lands down-here”), which was translated to Dutch as Neder-landen.

Eventually this became Netherlands or Low Countries.

“Holland” is the name of the province that contains Amsterdam, but because of its importance in the Dutch Revolt, it’s often used to refer to the whole country. Dutch people don’t like it when people do though.

“Dutch” originally referred to all German speakers in English, but over time came to refer to West German speakers, and then the people around the Netherlands.

History

Hanseatic League (Late 1100s-1500s) - A Baltic Sea trade league. Notable Dutch cities include Zwolle, Kampen and Deventer.

Dukes of Burgundy (1384-1482) - The French Duke of Burgundy came to acquire much of the Netherlands by inheritance, purchase and seizure.

Habsburg Netherlands (1482-1797) - The Habsburg monarchy inherited the possessions of the Duke of Burgundy, resulting in the Habsburg Netherlands.

Reformation (16th Century) - Calvinism, and to a lesser extent Lutheranism spread through the Netherlands.

Dutch Revolt (80 Years War) (1566-1648) - Due to the despotism of Phillip II of Spain (von Habsburg), the North Dutch provinces went into revolt. This was mainly due to high taxes and intolerance of Calvinism. Although the Spanish were successful in all parts of the war, Spanish resources were tied up in other areas. The Battle of Lepanto (1571), Spanish Armada (1588) and finally the 30 Years War (1618-1648) bankrupted the Spanish Empire, prolonging the war. However, Spanish commitment to the war ended due to internal revolts in Catalonia, Castile and Leon.

The Dutch would formally gain independence in the Peace of Westphalia (1648).

Republic of the Seven United Provinces (1579-1795)

Not a very representative republic. All power held by around 2000 oligarchs, with the Stadtholder as the head of state. Stadtholders are not kings, but chosen with the approval of the provinces.

Holland is the most prosperous province.

Very Protestant.

Dutch V.O.C. made them wealthy, resulting in the money to facilitate the Dutch Golden Age.

Eventually, the English E.I.C. would overtake the Dutch by winning the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780-1784).

Revolutionary Era (1795-1815) - The first “sister-republic” during the Revolutionary era as the Batavian Republic (1795-1801). Napoleon then created the Kingdom of the Netherlands and placed his brother Louis Napoleon on the throne (1801-1806). The kingdom would then be incorporated into the First French Empire (1806-1815).

United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1839) - Following the Napoleonic Wars, the Conference of Vienna. Would come under turmoil in 1830 due to the Belgian Revolt of the Southern Provinces. The Belgian Revolt came about due to dissatisfaction of the Catholic South with the ruling Calvinist North. Formal independence of Belgian would come with the Treaty of London (1839).

Kingdom of the Netherlands (1839-Present) - The Netherlands began to colonize, resulting in the 4 kingdoms we see today.

During World War I the Netherlands remained neutral.

During the Great Depression, the Netherlands traded with her colonies to mitigate the effects of the depression.

Would War II invaded by Germans; Rotterdam was firebombed and destroyed. Dutch East Indies invaded by Japan.

Postwar - Dutch Industry thrived, notably with Dutch Royal Shell and Phillips. The Dutch constructed the Delta Works to deal with flooding, and the last major flood took place in 1953. The Netherlands joined the European Community, then the European Union.

Basic Information

Name

History

Further Reading