- History of the Netherlands (1900-present)
Rise of Socialism
In the beginning of the 20th century socialism began to develop in the Netherlands. Although the first socialist party, (the
Social Democratic League ) was founded in the 19th century, the electoral system, combined with a policy of containment and repression prevented the development of the socialist movement. In the 1901 election the Social-Democratic Workers' Party jumped from two to six seats in the lower house of parliament, to great unease of the confessional and liberal elite. This unease became even larger when the railwaystrike of 1903 which disreputed the functioning of Dutch society. The railwaysrike was followed by a general strike in support of the harsh treatment of railway-workers by the confessional government.After the 1913 elections, in which the social-democrats doubled their seats (from 7 to 15) the Liberal Union tried to form a government coalition with the social-democrats but the social-democrats refused to cooperate with, what they perceived as bourgeoise parties.World War I
Although its army mobilised when
World War I broke out in August1914 , the Netherlands remained aneutral country . The German invasion ofBelgium that same year led to a large flow of refugees from that country (about 1 million). The German Imperial Army however did march through a small part of Dutch territory during the invasion of Belgium, effectively 'taking a shortcut'. The government had to accept this to maintain the neutrality of the Netherlands.The country being surrounded by states at war, and with the
North Sea unsafe for civilian ships to sail on, food became scarce; food was now distributed using coupons. An error in food distribution caused the so-called "Aardappeloproer" (Potato-rebellion) inAmsterdam in1917 , when civilians plundered a food transport intended for soldiers. In November1918 the leader of theSociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij (SDAP, Social-Democratic Labour Party),Pieter Jelles Troelstra , called for a socialist revolution among the workers, but his plan was met with little enthusiasm.Interbellum
Dutch society became divided among three large ideologies, Protestantism, Roman-Catholicism and Socialism, who tried to protect their populations with a system called "verzuiling" or
Pillarization .Although both houses of the Dutch parliament were elected by the people, only men with high incomes were eligible for voting. This situation lasted until
1918 , when pressure from socialist movements had resulted in elections in which all men were allowed to vote. From1922 onward, women could vote as well.The worldwide
Great Depression of1929 and the early1930s had crippling effects on the Dutch economy, effects which lasted longer than they did in most European countries. The long duration of the Great Depression in the Netherlands is often explained by the very strict fiscal policy of the Dutch government at the time, and its decision to adhere to theGold Standard much longer than most of its trading partners. The depression led to large unemployment and poverty, as well as increasing social unrest. Riots in aworking class neighbourhood inAmsterdam were put down with army assistance, with fatal consequences (for more details: the Great Depression in the Netherlands)..The rise of
Nazism in Germany did not go unnoticed in the Netherlands, and there was growing concern over the possibility of armed conflict. However, some say the threat of Nazi aggression was not fully acknowledged by the government of the time. An ofted mentioned example is a particular statement by prime minister Hendrik Colijn at the end of his radio speech on the occupation of theRhineland . He stressed that citizens could sleep safely, because there was no reason for concern.World War II
:"For details, see the main
The Netherlands in World War II article.":"For details on the battle that led to the Dutch surrender in Europe, see the mainBattle of the Netherlands article."At the outbreak ofWorld War II in1939 , the Netherlands declared their neutrality again. However, onMay 10 ,1940 ,Nazi Germany launched an attack on the Netherlands and Belgium and overran most of the country quickly, fighting against a poorly-equipped Dutch army.By
May 14 , fighting was only occurring in a few isolated locations, includingRotterdam . That same day, at 10:35am,Nazi Germany demanded, in an ill-formatted ultimatum — it was signed simply "the commanding officer of the troops at Rotterdam", without giving the exact identity of the sender — that the Netherlands surrender the city within two hours, to which the commander in chief, GeneralHenri Winkelman , replied through the garrison commander at 12:15 that only a correctly-signed ultimatum would be considered. Around 13:30 a new ultimatum was handed out to a Dutch officer, and a reply was expected before 16:30. However, at the same time the bombardment of Rotterdam began, killing about 800 people and destroying large parts of the city, leaving 78,000 homeless. Following the bombardment and German threats of the same for Utrecht, general Winkelman capitulated.However, the capitulation affected only the
Royal Netherlands Army — not theRoyal Netherlands Navy , the air force or the Netherlands East Indies Army, in theDutch East Indies . in this way, the Netherlands did not cease to exist, which proved of vital importance for the governing of the overseas territories and for keeping the Navy active against Germany. The royal family and some military forces fled to Britain.Nazi Germany's civil administration of the Netherlands was headed by
Arthur Seyss-Inquart . Persecution of theJew s, of which about 140,000 lived in the Netherlands at the start of the war, including some 20,000 refugees, started immediately after the invasion. In1942 , a transport camp was erected nearWesterbork . Concentration camps were built nearVught andAmersfoort . At the end of the war, only about 20,000 of the 140,000 Dutch Jews remained alive.Anne Frank , who later gained world-wide fame when her diary, written in the "Achterhuis", while hiding from the Nazis, was found and published, died shortly before the liberation of her camp onMay 5 ,1945 .Following the refusal of the Netherlands government-in-exile to allow the sale of oil from the
Dutch East Indies toJapan , Japanese forces invaded Dutch territory onJanuary 11 ,1942 . The Dutch surrendered onMarch 8 , after Japanese troops landed on Java. Dutch citizens were captured and put to work in labour camps. However, many Dutch ships and military personnel managed to reachAustralia , from where they were able to fight against the Japanese.In Europe, after the
Allies landed inNormandy in June1944 , they proceeded quickly towards the Dutch border. On September 5 most of the Dutch thought the liberation would be very soon; the day is known as "Dolle Dinsdag" (Mad Tuesday). On September 17 a daring operation,Operation Market Garden , was staged to make a quick incursion into the southern Netherlands and capture bridges across the three main rivers. The bridge atArnhem , across theRhine , could however not be captured. The part south of the rivers was liberated in the period September - November1944 . However, for most of the country people would have to wait until May1945 .The winter
1944 –1945 was very harsh, and many Dutch starved, giving the winter the name "Hongerwinter" (Hunger winter). OnMay 5 ,1945 , following Allied victories in Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany finally surrendered, signing the surrender to the Dutch atWageningen .Post-war years
Allied forces had liberated parts of the
Dutch East Indies in mid-1945. Japan surrendered onAugust 15 ,1945 , after theUnited States had dropped twoatomic bomb s on Japan. Two days later, the colony declared its independence asIndonesia . A confusing phase followed, during theIndonesian National Revolution , with the Netherlands recognising the new country on the one hand,Fact|date=March 2007 while fighting the Indonesian nationalists including launching two major military offensive termed "police actions". Increasing international pressure from theUnited Nations , and theUnited States (which threatened to stopMarshall Plan aid), and Indonesian determination led the Netherlands to accept the new situation. The Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian independence onDecember 27 ,1949 . OnlyWestern New Guinea remained Dutch (until1961 ).Although it was originally expected that the loss of the Indies would lead to an economic downfall, the reverse proved to be true, and in the
1950s and '60s the Dutch economy experienced a near unprecedented growth. In fact, the demand for labor was so strong, that immigration was actively encouraged, first fromItaly andSpain ; then later on, in larger numbers, fromTurkey andMorocco . Combined with the immigration from (former) colonies likeIndonesia ,Surinam andNetherlands Antilles , this meant that the Netherlands was becoming a multicultural country.The '60s and '70s were a time of great social and cultural changes, such as rapid "ontzuiling" (literally: depillarization), a term that describes the process of the gradual decay of the old divisions along class and religious lines (which had led to things like separate education and separate television broadcasts for Catholics, Protestants, socialists and liberals). Youths, and students in particular, rejected the traditional morals and pushed for social change in matters like
women's rights , sexuality andenvironmental issues . Today, the Netherlands is regarded as a very liberal country, considering its drugs policy and its legalisation of euthanasia. Same-sex marriage became permitted onApril 1 ,2001 . At that time, the Netherlands was the only country where gay marriages were not only allowed, but also considered fully equivalent to heterosexual ones.In
1952 the Netherlands was among the founders of theEuropean Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (together withFrance ,West Germany ,Italy ,Belgium andLuxembourg ). The ECSC would over time evolve into theEuropean Union . A modern, industrialised nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member ofNATO and participated in the introduction of theeuro in 1999. In recent years the Dutch have often been a driving force behind the integration of European countries in the European Union.For a long time Dutch politics were dominated by the Christian Democrat parties, which have been in every government since the 1910s, sometimes in coalition with the liberal party, sometimes with the
social democrats . This changed in 1994, when social-democrats and liberals formed the so-called "Purple Cabinet", which governed until 2002. Currently, the government consists of a minority center-right coalition of Christian Democrats (CDA) and Liberals (VVD).On
May 6 ,2002 , the murder ofPim Fortuyn , a right-wing populist calling for a very strict policy on immigration, shocked the country. His party became a major political force after the elections, significantly changing the political landscape. However, infighting within the party caused them to lose much of their following in elections the next year. Another political murder took place onNovember 2 ,2004 , when film director and publicist Theo van Gogh was assassinated by a Dutch-Moroccan youth with radical Islamic beliefs. This sparked debate on the existence ofradical Islam in the Netherlands, and on immigration and integration (or lack thereof) as well.
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