Netherlands

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

THE, or HOLLAND (Dutch tch Nederland, or Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), a kingdom of Europe on the North Sea Sea, N. of Belgium and W. of part of northern Germany; area 12,- 648 square miles; pop. (1917) 6,724,663. The country is divided into 11 prov- North Brabant, Gelderland, inces: South Holland, North Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel, Groningen, Drenthe, and Limburg. The king is also sovereign (grand-duke) of the grand-duchy of Luxemburg. In addi- European territories Holtion to her land possesses extensive colonies and dependencies cies in the Asiatic archipelago ; Java, Sumatra and America including , great part of Borneo, Celebes, part of Guinea, Surinam or Dutch Guiana, New the West Indian islands of Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius, etc.; estimated area, about 783,000 square miles; pop. approximately 35,000,000. General Features. - The Netherlands (or Low Countries, as the name implies) form the most characteristic portion of the great plain of N. and W. Europe. It is the lowest part of this immense level, some portions of it being 16 to 20 feet below the surface of the sea, and nearly all parts too low for natural drainage. The coast line is very irregular, being marked by the great inlet of the Zuider Zee, as well as by various others, and fringed by numerous islands. In great part the coast is so low that were it not for massive sea-dykes large areas would be inundated and lost to the inhabitants. In the interior also dykes are a common feature, being built to protect portions of land from the lakes or rivers, or to enable swampy pieces of land to be reclaimed by draining, the water being commonly pumped up by windmills. These inclosed lands are called "polders," and by the formation of the polders the available area of the country is being constantly increased, lakes and marshes being converted into fertile fields, and considerable areas being even One of these rescued from the sea. reclamations was the Lake of Haarlem, the drainage of which, yielding more than 40,000 acres of good land now inhabited by about 12,000 persons, begun in 1839, was finished in 1852. Almost the only heights are the sand hills, about 100 to 180 feet high, forming a broad sterile band along the coast of South and North Holland; and a chain of low hills, of similar origin perhaps, S. E. of the Zuider Zee. In the same line with the sand hills, extending past the mouth of the Zuider Zee, runs a chain of islands, namely, Texel, Vlieland, Schelling, Ameland, etc., which seem to indicate the original line of the coast before the ocean broke in on the low lands. The coast of Friesland, opnds for its posite to these islands, depends ments. The highest elevation, 656 feet, is in the extreme S. E. The general aspect of the country is flat, tame, and uninteresting, and about a fifth of the whole surface consists of marsh, sand, heath, or other unproductive land. Rivers and Canals. The chief rivers of the Netherlands are the Rhine, Maas (or Meuse), Scheldt, and Ijssel. The Rhine is above half a mile wide where it enters the Netherlands; it soon divides, the S. and principal arm taking the name of Waal and uniting with the Maas, while the N. arm, communicating with the Ijssel, takes the name of Leck; a branch from it, named the Kromme (crooked) Rhine, winds by Utrecht to the Zuider Zee, while another very diminished stream called the Old Rhine flows from Utrecht by Leyden to the sea at Katwijk. The Maas, entering the Dutch Netherlands from Belgium, receives the Roer; of the Scheldt only the mouths, the E. and the W., or Old Scheldt, lie within the Dutch boundary. The Ijssel, flowing from Germany, enters the Zuider Zee. The navigable canals are collectively more important than the rivers, on which indeed they depend, but they are so numerous as to defy detailed description. The chief are the North Holland canal, between Amsterdam and the Helder, length 46 miles; and the more important ship canal, 15 miles long, 26 feet deep and 197 wide, from the North Sea to Amsterdam, and connected by locks with the Zuider Zee. Lakes are also very numerous. Climate, Agriculture. The climate of the Netherlands is humid, changeable, and disagreeable. The mean temperature is not lower than in like latitudes in the British Islands, and the quantity of rain (26 inches) is somewhat less; but the winter is much more severe. As regards rural industries gardening and agriculture have attained a high degree of perfection. Yet the latter holds subordinate place in rural industry. Wheat, of excellent quality, is grown only in favored portions of the south provinces. Rye, oats, and buckwheat, with horse horse-beans, beet, madder, and chicory, are more common crops; and tobacco is cultivated in the provinces of Gelderland, South Holland, and Utrecht; flax in North Brabant, South and North Holland, Friesland, and Zeeland; and hemp, sugar-beet, oil-seeds, and hops in various parts of the kingdom. Culinary vegetables are cultivated on a large scale, not merely for the sake of supplying the internal demand, but also for the exportation of the seeds, security altogether on artificial embank- which form an important article of Dutch commerce. But it is in stock (cattle, horses, sheep, swine, goats), and dairy produce in particular, that the rural industry of the Netherlands shows its strength. A new system of compiling trade statistics was introduced in 1917, and the latest complete figures available are for that year. The total imports in the calendar year 1917 amounted to 7,472, 339 metric tons, valued at $435,000,208. The exports for the same year amounted to 3,321,590 metric tons, valued at $336,- 673,258. Nearly 25 per cent. of the import trade was with Germany. The largest trade, however, was with the United Kingdom, amounting in value to over $115,000,000. The largest volume of exports went to Germany, $127,325,- 000. Exports to the United States amounted to $14,735,600, while the imports from the United States amounted to $79,816,300. The chief imports were of gold coin, wheat, cotton yarn, tobacco. The principal exports were margarine and artificial butter, cheese, butter, condensed milk, dried vegetables. There are about 2,400 miles of railway in the country and about 2,000 miles of canals. Vessels entering ports in 1918 numbered 1,779 with a tonnage of 1,663,093. The total national debt in 1919 was 1,650,646,000 guilders. The revenue for the same year was 285,667,- 443 guilders, while the expenditures amounted to 588,706,724 guilders. People, Institutions, etc. -The stock to which the people belong is the Teutonic, the great majority of the inhabitants being descendants of the old Batavians. They comprise over 70 per cent. of the population, and are chiefly settled in the provinces of North and South Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Gelderland. The Flemings of North Brabant and Limburg, and the Frisians, inhabiting Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, and Overijssel, form the other groups. The majority of the people belong to the Dutch Reformed Church (a Presbyterian body); the remainder being Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Jews, etc. All religious bodies are on a perfect equality. The government is a constitutional monarchy, the executive being vested in the sovereign, and the legislative authority in the states-general, sitting in two chambers. The upper chamber, 50 in number, is elected by the provincial councils or assemblies of the 11 provinces; the lower chamber, 100 in number, is elected directly, the electors being all males of 25 years of age taxed at a certain figure. The members of the lower house are paid. 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DUCHY Rosport Larochettes eufchateau Net Atterto Attert peuchten Mersuiro OF Treves Wasserbillig Macbeban 5 Habay Crewenmacher ose Arlon? LUXEMBURG Rulles nich Bettinger Blasterpenic Eich Wormelding Meixo Mamer Lauxemburg Messands of Dippe Autel Clemency O Detragen ach Hesperingen rton Saar R Wadern o Kemich 1 Petange Bettemborg MontmedySt Momlorf ard Longwy elingen Redingen Velosnes dermachern Oberettingen F 7° E 6° Greenwich from D Elementary schools are everywhere established, and are partly supported by the State, but education is not compulsory. Higher class schools are in all the chief towns; while there are State universities, namely, at Leyden, Utrecht, and Groningen, and the municipal university at Amsterdam. The commercial capital of the country is Amsterdam, but the seat of government and residence of the sovereign is The Hague. History. The S. portion of the Low Countries belonged at the beginning of the Christian era to Belgic Gaul (see GAUL). The N. portion, inhabited by the Batavians and Frisians, formed part of Germany. The S. portion as far as the Rhine was held by Rome up to A. D. 400, after which it came under the rule of the Franks, as did also subsequently the rest of the country. In the 11th century the territory comprised in the present kingdoms of Belgium and of the Netherlands formed a number and duchies counties, marquisates, corresponding more or less with the modern provinces. By the latter part of the 15th century all these had been acquired by the Duke of Burgundy, and passed to the house of Hapsburg on the marriage of the daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy to the son of the Emperor Frederick III. On the abdication of Charles V. in 1556 they passed to his son Philip II. of Spain. In consequence of religious persecution openly rein 1576 Holland and Zeeland belled, and in 1579 the five N. provinces-Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Friesland-concluded the celebrated Union of Utrecht by which they declared themselves independent of Spain. They were joined in 1580 by Overijssel, and in 1594 by Groningen. After the assassination of William of Orange, July 10, 1584, Maurice became stadtholder (governor). His victories at Nieupor and in Brabant, the bold and victorious exploits of the Dutch admirals against the navy of Philip II., the wars of France and England against Spain, and the apathy of Philip II., caused in 1609 the peace of Antwerp. But Holland had yet to go through the Thirty Years' War before its independence, now recognized by all the powers except Spain, was fully secured by the peace of Westphalia. In the middle of the 17th century the United Netherlands were the first commercial state and the first maritime power in the world, and for a long time maintained the dominion of the sea. The S. provinces alternated between the rule of Spain and Austria till 1797, when they came under the power of the French republic. In 1806 Louis Napoleon became king of Holland, but in 1810 it was incorporated with the French empire. In 1814 all the provinces both of Holland and Belgium were united by the treaty of Paris to form the kingdom of the Netherlands. This arrangement lasted till 1830, when the S. provinces broke away and formed the kingdom of Belgium. King Willem I. attempted to reduce the revolted provinces by force; but the great powers intervened, and finally matters were adjusted between the two countries in 1839. The king abdicated in 1840, and was succeeded by his son Willem II. (1840-1849), he being again succeeded by his son Willem III., who was succeeded in 1890 by his daughter Wilhelmina, Queen Emma reigning as queen-regent till the queen came of age, Aug. 31, 1898. Queen Wilhelmina was married to Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Feb. 7, 1901. Probably no neutral country played more difficult rôle in the World a War than did the Netherlands. During the first weeks of the German invasion of Belgium thousands of Belgian refugees went across the border and it was necessary to give them hospitality throughout the period of the war. The number steadily increased as Belgians found an opportunity to cross the border. At the outbreak of the war the boundary of the Netherlands was mobilized and throughout the entire army was period of the hostilities the constant state of preparation. in a Although sorely pressed by both sides by economic and other measures, Holland never seriously contemplated aban- Dutch ships doning her neutrality. played a large part in the carrying trade during the war, especially between America and Europe. On March 14, 1918, the United States and British governments notified the Dutch government that they proposed to take over all the Dutch ships in their ports, compensation to be made and the ships to be returned after the war. Holland had already delayed for many months in accepting various proposals made by the two governments and during this period hundreds of Dutch ships remained idle in American and British ports. Holland was prepared to make an agreement, but Germany threatened the destruction of every Dutch ship if the agreement was made. The seizure of the ships was made without trouble. Dutch crews were replaced by American and British. Although some public protest was made in Holland, there were no serious complications. On the day following the armistice which ended hostilities, the German emperor arrived at Eysden on the Dutch frontier, and he with a number of followers were permitted to enter Holland. After some delays the former emperor was given refuge at the castle of Count Bentick at Amerongen. Here he remained until May, 1920, when he removed to the castle of Doorn, which he had purchased. The Germa German crown prince took refuge on the island of Wieringen, where he remained with one or two companions. Following the ratification of the treaty of Versailles, formal attempt was made upon the Dutch government to give up the former emperor, but this was steadily refused. It was generally considered that the demand was more or less of a formality. Holland quickly took advantage of the conditions following the close of the war and re-established commercial relations with Germany.