The Nederlands……Or some call it Holland……the Dutch are great ice skaters, grow bunches of tulips, use to have liberal drug policy, these would be the politically correct visions of the Nederlands……the cliches…..before we go any further how about more info on the Nederlands?
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba – became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In reality after the Napoleonic Wars, the Low Countries were born as a buffer between Germany, France and the UK……
Did you know that back in the day the Dutch had an empire….not as huge as that of France or Great Britain….but an empire nonetheless…..
The Dutch are curt and outspoken. I can think of no better introduction to their empire than this: “Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the Dutch Empire.” Enjoy!
10. The Dutch Empire is considered to be, by many historians, the precursor to the British, and then American, empires of the 19th and 20th centuries due to the fact that the Dutch had a toehold on four continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America) by 1630 (!). The global empire that the Dutch established was commercial-based (the world’s oldest stock exchange was established in Amsterdam in 1602), and had a democratic political order on the home front. A good way to remember this point is to group the United Provinces (the official name of the Netherlands during its global empire) with the United Kingdom and United States. See what I did there?
…..there is more……
A little brain teaser and history lesson is good for those little grey cells.
Class dismissed!
Note: Sorry but more doctors and their implements of torture….LOL I will be posting little today until I can escape the medical people….please bear with me my friends…..chuq
The Dutch were old enemies of England. They once sailed a fleet up the Thames, and attacked parts of Kent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_the_Medway
Good luck with your doctors today!
Best wishes, Pete.
THanx Pete…..looks like another surgery this time as out patient….will know more later….chuq
I highly recommend Simon Schama’s THE EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES, which is a revealing history of the Dutch Golden Age.
Cool…thanx for the heads up it will be added to my list….chuq
You are welcome! It’s a long but really fascinating read. Since he is an art historian, the book is highly illustrated, but this isn’t a coffee table book.