HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands (Der Nederlanden) have often been called Holland because the province of Holland has been the most important politically and economically for hundreds of years. It was later split into Noord or "North" Holland and Zuid or "South" Holland. This densely populated region includes The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Edam and Amsterdam. Deventer is about 40 miles due east of Amsterdam. Friesland, named after the Germanic Frisian tribe that settled there in the 5th century, is in the northern coastal lowlands. Friesland has always been rather sparsely populated, yet rarely conquered by outsiders due to the vast marshes and peat bogs that once existed there. The Netherland's name comes from the German description of the area as "the low lands". A large portion of the country was below sea level, and rising ocean waters periodically flooded and altered the land. The rivers flooded annually. With great effort and ingenuity, land was reclaimed and made useable in the Middle Ages by the construction of dykes. During the period of 1100-1200 a series of storms flooded the country and created the large inland sea called the Zuider-Zee. Scores of towns were submerged and thousands perished. During the 1900's, 632 square miles of the Zuider Zee were reclaimed and resettled. Centuries of dyke construction and pumping have reclaimed vast areas of coastline from the sea and lowlands from flooding. Some 40 percent of the nation is reclaimed land and 1/4 is below sea level. This is remembered in the motto "God made the sea, but the Dutch made Holland". Until the late 1800's, the world famous windmills did the pumping of water. In the 1800's they peaked at nearly nine thousand in operation. They were used for many purposes, including grinding corn and cutting lumber. Some windmills are still functioning today, though most are retained simply as historic landmarks. History seems to repeat itself, as large numbers of modern wind turbines are now used to generate electricity. The Dutch always focused their main energies on international trade, shipping, farming and manufacturing. As you would expect, they are the world's top hydraulic engineers. They are activists in promoting energy efficiency and recycling. Their very lives will be at risk as global warming causes the oceans to continue to rise. For centuries, the separate provinces of the Netherlands were politically aligned with the Holy Roman Empire, first assembled by Charlemagne about 800AD. Although a member of the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands usually existed as several semi-autonomous municipalities and provinces. The various rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were German, French, or Spanish depending on their military might and favor with the Pope in Rome. In the 1500's, when the Reformation was stirring in Europe, King Phillip of Spain, acting as the Holy Roman Emperor and with the support of the Pope, - Historical Background - page 1 -

revived the harsh inquisition. Inquisitors had the power to interrogate, torture, and execute anyone with unacceptable thoughts on religion or politics. To carry out this policy required the revocation of the local control and freedom previously allowed to the countries and provinces of Europe. Uprisings in Germany had won the right to have the Lutheran religion there, yet the German royalty provided mercenary armies to Rome to help suppress the reformation elsewhere. After years of increasingly severe Inquisition, the Netherlands were united by the Prince of Orange as a free republic in 1581. The Prince of Orange used all of his influence and conviction to make religious freedom and tolerance a founding principle of the union. This union included both Protestant and Catholic provinces and provided a considerable degree of democratic freedom to everyone. The strength of this union gave the Dutch the initial advantage in the war for independence. Even the Dutch Catholics were uncomfortable with or outraged by the horrible tortures and repression conducted by the Inquisition. The city of Delft was heavily fortified and used as command center and capital by the Prince of Orange. Tragically, the Prince of Orange was assassinated in 1584. He was killed by a duplicitous Catholic fanatic, who used a gift of charity from the Prince to purchase the guns that he used to kill the Prince. After the Prince's death, the Republic weakened, and the southern regions (now Belgium) withdrew from the alliance. The war then dragged on for generations. To secure their freedom, the Netherlands fought for 80 years. This was primarily against the army and navy of Spain, the world's most powerful nation. To make the war seem even more unwinnable, France, Germany, and Italy also fought against the Netherlands. In just one period of seven years, about 100,000 Dutch were killed, roughly 10 per cent of the population! Much of the Dutch royalty and upper class were killed in this extended war. Finally, in 1648 the Peace of Munster formally recognized the Republic of the Netherlands and ended the war. In 1688, a later Prince of Orange established himself as King William III of Great Britain. He deposed the duplicitous and despised King James II. The people in Britain accepted the royal blood of the Prince and proclaimed him their new king, hoping he would be a better ruler. The new King William issued the important Act of Toleration in 1689 that guaranteed freedom of religion and ended the violent religious persecutions there. Great Britain had been bounced back and forth between Protestant and Catholic rulers who required everyone to change faiths or face execution. William was king for only a few years when the deposed Richard had him assassinated. However, Richard's daughters blocked his return to power. The Act of Toleration remained law. - Historical Background - page 2 -

This old map of Delft shows how it, like other cities, was fortified and surrounded by a wide canal for both protection and travel. William of Orange fortified Delft as his headquarters in the war of independance against the Pope and Spain.

William of Orange, father of the Netherlands, is buried in the New Church (built 1381) in Delft.

Vermeer’s famous painting of the east gate of Delft. With photographic accuracy he shows the city in the summer of 1660.

In the 1660's, British mercantile interests, with the support of some British naval ships, captured, lost, then recaptured New Amsterdam in America. Many years later, the British waged war on the Dutch and captured most of the Dutch colonies around the world. Weakened by these defeats, the Netherlands were conquered by France in 1795, but were freed when Napoleon fell in 1815. The Netherlands was then expanded to include Belgium and Luxembourg. The Orange family, under William I, then assumed the monarchy of the Netherlands, a position they still occupy. In the 1830's, the Catholics in Belgium revolted and gained their independence. Luxembourg gained its full independence in 1890 on the technicality that only a male monarch was permitted to rule them. This was because Wilhelmina became Queen of the Netherlands after the death of William III. In Belgium, the Flemish people in the north speak a dialect of Dutch, while the Walloons in the south speak French. These countries have strong historic and economic ties, and their common interests are often conducted under the name BeNeLux, a contraction of Belgium-NetherlandsLuxembourg.

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