A Brief History of the Netherlands, Second Edition

Paul State

Description

A Brief History of the Netherlands, Second Edition provides a clear, lively, and comprehensive account of the history of the Netherlands from ancient times to the present day. It relates the central events that have shaped the country and details their significance in historical context, touching on all aspects of the history of the country, from political, international, and economic affairs to cultural and social developments. Illustrated with full-color maps and photographs, and accompanied by a chronology, bibliography, and suggested reading, this accessible overview is ideal for the general reader.

Coverage includes:

• From Early Settlements to Frankish Rule


• Political Strife and the Rise of Urban Life


• Wars of Religion and Emancipation


• Resplendent Republic


• Dynamo in Decline


• From Republic to Empire to Kingdom


• Building the Modern Nation-State


• Neutrality, Depression, and World War


• Reconstruction and Rebirth after World War II


• The Netherlands in the Twenty-first Century: the Triumphs and Trials of a Tolerant Society

 

Sujets

• Histoire
• Países Bajos
• Lifestyle
• Geography
• Demography
• Politics
• Netherlands
• World
• Holland
• History
• Culture

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438199566
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

A Brief History of the Netherlands, Second Edition
Copyright © 2021 by Paul F. State
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Facts On File An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-4381-9956-6
You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Acknowledgments Chapters Introduction From Early Settlements to Frankish Rule Political Strife and the Rise of Urban Life Wars of Religion and Emancipation Resplendent Republic Dynamo in Decline From Republic to Empire to Kingdom Building the Modern Nation-State Neutrality, Depression, and World War Reconstruction and Rebirth after World War II The Netherlands in the Twenty-first Century: The Triumphs and Trials of a Tolerant Society Support Materials Political Party Abbreviations The United Provinces—Stadholders of the House of Orange-Nassau in Holland and Zeeland* Kingdom of the Netherlands: House of Orange-Nassau Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Chronology Bibliography Suggested Reading
Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated in fond remembrance to my uncle Ronald James Dehlinger (1932–2005), a visitor who loved the land and the people of the Netherlands.

I would like to thank the individuals and the staff of the following institutions for their kind assistance: Esther de Graaf, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Ellen Jansen, the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Trudi Hulscher, the Netherlands Government Information Service; Jojan van Boven, the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions; the National Library of the Netherlands; Drents Museum, Assen; Mike Le Tourneau and Yvette Reyes at AP Images; the International Institute of Social History; the Library of Congress; the New York State Archives; the Museum of the City of New York; and the New York Public Library. I thank also my editor at Facts On File, Claudia Schaab, whose direction and wise suggestions merit much appreciation.
Chapters
Introduction

The Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is a constitutional monarchy located in northwestern Europe. It comprises a total land area, including inland waters, of 41,526 square kilometers (16,033 sq. miles), and it borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the west and north. The names Netherlands and Holland are often used interchangeably to designate the country, even sometimes by the Dutch themselves, although, in fact, the latter identifies only North and South Holland, the two provinces that form the nucleus of the modern nation. The seacoast is longer than the land frontiers, and the country's location abutting the sea has profoundly shaped its historical development. One of the world's great maritime powers in the 17th century, the Netherlands is today a small country with few natural resources, but it remains an important commercial entrepôt and international crossroads, a status that has made the modern nation one of the world's wealthiest.
Geographically low-lying ( Nederland means literally "low land") and densely populated, the Netherlands's central position between three of Europe's major nations—Germany, France, and Great Britain—has meant that much of its history is that of the history of western Europe in general. Drawn sometimes by design and sometimes by circumstances into the affairs of the wider world, the country has been shaped by, and at times been the shaper of, global political and economic events. The Dutch, few in number and living in a small territory, have played a relatively large part in the history of commerce, government, art, and religion, and they have left their imprint on all the world's continents.

Although the Netherlands is commonly referred to as Holland, the term only really applies to the western coastal provinces of North and South Holland. There are 12 provinces in total. Amsterdam is the capital city and The Hague is the seat of government.
Source: Infobase.
The element that defines the country is, and always has been, water. The same element that carries the potential to destroy the land has been the source of its wealth and the means by which the nation has projected its presence across the globe. That presence survives today. Curaçao, Aruba, and several other small islands in the Caribbean Sea are the remnants of a once vast empire that retain ties with the Netherlands.
The struggle of its people to keep the sea at bay, a constant since earliest times, is matched by a tenacious determination to remain independent from, while at the same time staying open to, foreign influences. That duality is equally evident in society. Idealism and pragmatism are balanced equitably in the Netherlands—the preacher and the merchant having long held positions of respect—and both the practice of charity and the pursuit of profit remain defining characteristics of Dutch identity.
The Dutch have made their living through trade, which has earned for them a reputation as a remarkably tolerant people. An early haven for dissenters of all sorts, no other western European nation counts more diverse political, social, and spiritual movements today. And because commerce has been their economic cornerstone, the Dutch have nurtured liberty throughout their history. The first country in western Europe to develop genuine democratic institutions of government, the Netherlands is one of the world's preeminent places where freedoms have flourished.
The Land
The Netherlands is a flat country: About 27 percent of its territory lies below sea level and the average elevation for the entire nation is only 11 meters, or 37 feet, above sea level. The lowest portions are situated in the provinces of Zeeland, Flevoland, North Holland, and South Holland. The lowest point measures 6.7 meters (22 feet) below sea level and is found northeast of Rotterdam in the Prince Alexander Polder— polder refers to land reclaimed from the sea. The ground in these areas stretches away in an unbroken line to the far horizon, ideal terrain for the bicycle-loving Dutch. It is in places heavily urbanized and intensely cultivated.
Moorlands geest of sandy dunes and hills line the coast from Zeeland to the Frisian Islands, covered with various grasses, and, in some places, pinewoods. The calcic soil of the dunes is especially well suited for the growing of flowers, whose famous fields here yield a carpet of color in springtime. Peat is found in abundance, and, because the terrain in the western Netherlands serves as an ideal subsoil for pastureland, the meadows are mottled with grazing sheep, goats, and dairy cows.
The flat delta region, including the southwestern islands, contains soils of fertile river and sea clay. Farther inland, the great rivers—the Rhine, the Waal, and the Meuse (Maas)—and their tributaries cross and crisscross the center of the country. They define the landscape here, although water is omnipresent throughout the country. Navigable rivers and canals totaling 4,830 kilometers (3,020 miles) traverse the Netherlands. The central waterways are contained by hundreds of miles of dikes separated by fertile strips of field and pasture ( uiterwaarden ) between them, which can easily flood in the spring should the rivers carry inordinate amounts of melted glacial water from central Europe. In December 1993 nearly 20 percent of the province of Limburg was flooded by the Meuse River, which overflowed its banks again in 1995. Every century since the Middle Ages has seen at least two major floods.

The word Netherlands means "lowlands." Much of the nation's western territory lies below sea level, and the average elevation for the entire nation is only 11 meters, or 37 feet, above sea level.
Source: Infobase.
Across the countryside, water is pumped off the land and into drainage ditches and canals by means of windmills, which first appeared in the 13th century, and today by electric pumps. Only about 1,000 of the famous windmills that once dotted the checkerboard landscape survive as private homes and museums, and only a few are still in working order. In their stead, tall, slender-stalked modern turbines now march sentinel-like across the land in harnessing the never-ceasing North Sea winds to produce the energy to drive electric power plants. Despite the use of state-of-the-art pumping and drainage technology, the process of reclaiming land remains essentially the same as it was in the 1300s. Once water is pumped off and dikes and drainage canals are built, the land that emerges is largely swamp. Shallow runoff ditches are dug and, to further dry the land as well as to draw the salt out of the soil, the ground is seeded with grass. The entire process takes about five years.
The canal ( gracht ) has always been an obvious transportation choice for a country sitting astride, and interlaced by, water. For centuries, the canals of the Netherlands have drawn the admiration of visitors, who have made them one of the country's most instantly recognizable features. The Czech writer Karl Čapek recorded the following impressions after a visit in the early 1930s.
The towns appear to be standing, not on the earth, but on their own reflections; these highly respectable streets appear to emerge from bottomless depths of dreams; the houses appear to be intended as houses and, at the same time, as reflections of houses.
There are bustling grachts with boats, big and small, floating along them, and there are grachts overgrown with a green coating of water-weed; there are shabby grachts, which smell of swamp and fish, and high-class grachts which are privileged to reflect in full luster the frontages of patrician houses; there are holy grachts in which churches are mirrored, and dingy,