Editing Netherlands (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Netherlands}}

===Prehistory (before 800 BC)===
{{Main|Prehistory of the Netherlands}}
{{multiple image |perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center
| title =
| image1 = 5500vc ex leg.jpg|caption1=The Netherlands in 5500 BC
| image2 = BronzAgeElp.png|caption2=Bronze Age cultures in the Netherlands
}}
The oldest human ([[Neanderthal]]) traces in the Netherlands, believed to be about 250,000 years old, were found near [[Maastricht]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roebroeks|first1=Wil|last2=Sier|first2=Mark J.|last3=Nielsen|first3=Trine Kellberg|last4=Loecker|first4=Dimitri De|last5=Parés|first5=Josep Maria|last6=Arps|first6=Charles E. S.|last7=Mücher|first7=Herman J.|title=Use of red ochre by early Neandertals|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=109|issue=6 |pages=1889–1894 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1112261109 |pmid=22308348|date=7 February 2012 |pmc=3277516 |bibcode=2012PNAS..109.1889R|doi-access=free| issn=0027-8424 }}</ref> At the end of the [[Weichselian glaciation|Ice Age]], the [[nomadic]] late [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Palaeolithic]] [[Hamburg culture]] (13,000–10,000 BC) hunted [[reindeer]] in the area, using spears. The later [[Ahrensburg culture]] (11,200–9,500 BC) used [[bow and arrow]]. From [[Mesolithic Europe|Mesolithic]] [[Maglemosian culture|Maglemosian-like tribes]] (c. 8000 BC), the world's [[Pesse canoe|oldest canoe]] was found in [[Drenthe]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van Zeist |first1=W. |title=De steentijd van Nederland |journal=Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak |volume=75 |pages=4–11 |year=1957}}</ref>

Indigenous late Mesolithic [[hunter-gatherer]]s from the [[Swifterbant culture]] (c. 5600 BC), related to the southern Scandinavian [[Ertebølle culture]], were strongly linked to rivers and open water.<ref name="Kooijmans1998">Louwe Kooijmans, L.P., "[https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/1108/171_060.pdf?sequence=1 Trijntje van de Betuweroute, Jachtkampen uit de Steentijd te Hardinxveld-Giessendam]", 1998, ''Spiegel Historiael'' 33, pp. 423–428</ref> Between 4800 and 4500 BC, the Swifterbant people started to adopt from the neighbouring [[Linear Pottery culture]] the practice of [[animal husbandry]], and between 4300 and 4000 BC agriculture.<ref>Volkskrant 24 August 2007 "[http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/article455140.ece/Prehistorische_akker_gevonden_bij_Swifterbant Prehistoric agricultural field found in Swifterbant, 4300–4000 BC] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919141403/http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/article455140.ece/Prehistorische_akker_gevonden_bij_Swifterbant |date=19 September 2009}}"</ref> The [[Funnelbeaker culture]] (4300–2800 BC) erected the [[dolmens]], large stone grave monuments found in [[Drenthe]]. There was a quick transition from the Funnelbeaker [[Early European Farmers|farming culture]] to the pan-European [[Corded Ware]] [[Pastoralism|pastoralist]] culture (c. 2950 BC). In the southwest, the [[Seine-Oise-Marne culture]]—related to the [[Vlaardingen culture]] (c. 2600 BC)—survived well into the [[Neolithic]] period, until it too was succeeded by the Corded Ware culture.

The subsequent [[Beaker culture|Bell Beaker culture]] (2700–2100 BC)<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Harry |editor-last=Fokkens |editor-first2=Franco |editor-last2=Nicolis |title=Background to beakers : inquiries in regional cultural backgrounds to the Bell Beaker complex|date=2012|publisher=Sidestone|location=Leiden|isbn=978-90-8890-084-6|page=131}}</ref> introduced metalwork in copper, gold and later bronze and opened new international trade routes, reflected in [[Copper Age Europe|copper artefacts]]. Finds of rare bronze objects suggest that Drenthe was a trading centre in the Bronze Age (2000–800 BC). The Bell Beaker culture developed locally into the Barbed-Wire Beaker culture (2100–1800 BC) and later the [[Elp culture]] (1800–800 BC),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fokkens|first1=Harry|title=The Periodisation of the Dutch Bronze Age: a Critical Review|url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19822/Fokkens_2001_The%20periodisation%20of%20the%20Dutch%20Bronze%20Age%20a%20critical%20review[1]_Redacted.pdf?sequence=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010141442/https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/19822/Fokkens_2001_The%20periodisation%20of%20the%20Dutch%20Bronze%20Age%20a%20critical%20review%5b1%5d_Redacted.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2017|website=Open Access Leiden University|publisher=Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden|access-date=7 July 2017}}</ref> a Middle Bronze Age culture marked by [[earthenware]] pottery. The southern region became dominated by the related [[Hilversum culture]] (1800–800 BC).

===Celts, Germanic tribes and Romans (800 BC–410 AD)===
{{Main|Iron Age Europe|Celts|Germanic peoples|Netherlands in the Roman era}}

From 800 BC onwards, the [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]] Celtic [[Hallstatt culture]] became influential, replacing the [[Hilversum culture]]. Iron ore brought a measure of prosperity and was available throughout the country. [[Blacksmith|Smiths]] travelled from settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand. The [[Vorstengraf (Oss)|King's grave of Oss]] (700 BC) was found in a burial mound, the largest of its kind in Western Europe.

The deteriorating climate in Scandinavia from 850 BC and 650 BC might have triggered the migration of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes from the North. By the time this migration was complete, around 250 BC, a few general cultural and linguistic groups had emerged.<ref>''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'', 15th edition, 22:641–642</ref><ref name="Verhaal">de Vries, Jan W., Roland Willemyns and Peter Burger, ''Het verhaal van een taal'', Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2003, pp. 12, 21–27</ref> The [[North Sea Germanic]] [[Ingaevones]] inhabited the northern part of the [[Low Countries]]. They would later develop into the [[Frisii]] and the early [[Saxons]].<ref name="Verhaal" /> The [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]] (or [[Istvaeones]]) extended along the middle Rhine and [[Weser]] and inhabited the Low Countries south of the great rivers. These tribes would eventually develop into the [[Salian Franks]].<ref name="Verhaal" /> The [[Celts|Celtic]] [[La Tène culture]] (c. 450 BC to the Roman conquest) expanded over a wide range, including the southern area of the [[Low Countries]]. Some scholars have speculated that even a third ethnic identity and language, neither Germanic nor Celtic, survived in the Netherlands until the Roman period, the [[Nordwestblock]] culture.<ref>Hachmann, Rolf, Georg Kossack and Hans Kuhn, ''Völker zwischen Germanen und Kelten'', 1986, pp. 183–212</ref><ref name="Lendering">Lendering, Jona, [https://www.livius.org/ga-gh/germania/inferior.htm "Germania Inferior"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027034706/http://www.livius.org/ga-gh/germania/inferior.htm |date=27 October 2016}}, Livius.org. Retrieved 6 October 2011.</ref>

[[File:Germania 70.svg|thumb|The Rhine frontier around 70 AD]]
The first author to describe the coast of [[Holland]] and [[Flanders]] was the geographer [[Pytheas]], who noted in c. 325 BC that in these regions, "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lendering |first1=Jona |title=The Edges of the Earth (3) – Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/the-edges-of-the-earth-1/the-edges-of-the-earth-3/ |website=livius.org |access-date=28 February 2019}}</ref> During the [[Gallic Wars]], the area south and west of the [[Rhine]] was conquered by [[Roman Empire|Roman forces]] under [[Julius Caesar]] from 57 BC to 53 BC.<ref name="Lendering"/> Caesar describes two main Celtic tribes living in what is now the southern Netherlands: the [[Menapii]] and the [[Eburones]]. Under [[Augustus]], the [[Roman Empire]] would conquer the entirety of the modern day Netherlands, incorporating it into the province of [[Germania Antiqua]] in 7 BC, but would be repelled back across the Rhine after the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest|Battle of Teutoburg Forest]] in 9 AD, with the Rhine becoming fixed as Rome's permanent northern frontier around 12 AD. Notable towns would arise along the [[Limes Germanicus]]: [[Nijmegen]] and [[Voorburg]]. In the first part of [[Gallia Belgica]], the area south of the Limes became part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Germania Inferior]]. The area to the north of the Rhine, inhabited by the Frisii, remained outside Roman rule, while the Germanic border tribes of the [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi]] and [[Cananefates]] served in the [[Ala (Roman allied military unit)|Roman cavalry]].<ref>Roymans, Nico, ''Ethnic Identity and Imperial Power: The Batavians in the Early Roman Empire'', Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2005, pp 226–227</ref> The Batavi rose against the Romans in the [[Revolt of the Batavi|Batavian rebellion]] of 69 AD but were eventually defeated. The Batavi later merged with other tribes into the confederation of the Salian Franks, whose identity emerged in the first half of the third century.<ref name="Previté-Orton">Previté-Orton, Charles, ''The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History'', vol. I, pp. 51–52, 151</ref> Salian Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies. They were forced by the confederation of the Saxons from the east to move over the Rhine into Roman territory in the fourth century. From their new base in [[West Flanders]] and the Southwest Netherlands, they were raiding the [[English Channel]]. Roman forces pacified the region but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared at least until the time of [[Julian (emperor)|Julian the Apostate]] (358) when Salian Franks were allowed to settle as ''[[foederati]]'' in [[Texandria]].<ref name="Previté-Orton"/>

===Early Middle Ages (411–1000)===
{{Main|Frankish Kingdom|Frisian Kingdom}}
[[File:Frisia 716-la.svg|thumb|upright|[[Franks]], [[Frisians]] and [[Saxons]], c. 716 AD]]
After the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] government in the area collapsed in roughly the year 406,<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Rietbergen |first=P. J. A. N. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52849131 |title=A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day |publisher=Bekking |year=2000 |isbn=90-6109-440-2 |edition=4th |location=Amersfoort |pages=158 |oclc=52849131}}</ref> the Franks expanded their territories into numerous kingdoms. By the 490s, [[Clovis I]] had conquered and united all these territories in the southern Netherlands in one [[Frankish kingdom]], and from there continued his conquests into [[Gaul]]. During this expansion, Franks migrating to the south (modern territory of France and Walloon part of Belgium) eventually adopted the [[Vulgar Latin]] of the local population.<ref name="Verhaal"/> A widening cultural divide grew with the Franks remaining in their original homeland in the north (i.e. the southern Netherlands and Flanders), who kept on speaking [[Old Frankish]], which by the ninth century had evolved into Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch.<ref name="Verhaal"/> A Dutch-French language boundary hence came into existence.<ref name="Verhaal"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j10lCgAAQBAJ|title=History of the Low Countries|last=Blom|first=J. C. H.|date=30 June 2006|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-84545-272-8|pages=6–18|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Franks expansion.gif|thumb|left|Frankish expansion (481 to 870 AD)]]
To the north of the Franks, climatic conditions improved, and during the [[Migration Period]] [[Saxons]], the closely related [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Jutes]], and [[Frisii]] settled the coast.<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity">{{Cite book |last=Bazelmans |first=Jos |year=2009 |editor1-last=Derks |editor1-first=Ton |editor2-last=Roymans |editor2-first=Nico |chapter=The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity: The case of the Frisians |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fM_cmuhmSbIC&pg=PA321 |title=Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition |publisher=Amsterdam University |publication-date=2009 |location=Amsterdam |pages=321–337 |isbn=978-90-8964-078-9 |access-date=3 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830194912/http://s393993344.online.de/ssoar/handle/document/27183 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Many moved on to England and came to be known as [[Anglo-Saxons]], but those who stayed would be referred to as [[Frisians]] and their language as [[Frisian languages|Frisian]].<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity"/> Frisian was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. By the seventh century, a [[Frisian Kingdom]] (650–734) under King [[Aldegisel]] and King [[Redbad, King of the Frisians|Redbad]] emerged with [[Traiectum (Utrecht)|Traiectum]] ([[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]) as its centre of power,<ref name="Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity"/><ref>[http://www.bertsgeschiedenissite.nl/ijzertijd/eeuw1ac/frisii.html Frisii en Frisiaevones, 25–08–02 (Dutch)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003101550/http://www.bertsgeschiedenissite.nl/ijzertijd/eeuw1ac/frisii.html |date=3 October 2011}}, Bertsgeschiedenissite.nl. Retrieved 6 October 2011</ref> while [[Dorestad]] was a flourishing trading place.<ref>Willemsen, A. (2009), ''Dorestad. Een wereldstad in de middeleeuwen'', Walburg Pers, Zutphen, pp. 23–27, {{ISBN|978-90-5730-627-3}}</ref><ref name="Atlas">{{cite book |title=Atlas of Medieval Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q50IyzCMQxgC&q=dorestad&pg=PA57 |last=MacKay |first=Angus|author2=David Ditchburn |year=1997 |page=57 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-01923-1}}</ref> Between 600 and around 719 the cities were often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. In 734, at the [[Battle of the Boarn]], the Frisians were defeated after a [[Frisian–Frankish wars|series of wars]]. With the approval of the Franks, the [[Anglo-Saxon mission|Anglo-Saxon]] missionary [[Willibrord]] converted the Frisian people to Christianity and established the [[Archdiocese of Utrecht (695–1580)|Archdiocese of Utrecht]]. However, his successor [[Boniface]] was murdered by the Frisians in 754.

[[File:Rorik by H. W. Koekkoek.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rorik of Dorestad]], [[Viking]] ruler of [[Friesland]] (romantic 1912 depiction)]]
The Frankish [[Carolingian empire]] controlled much of Western Europe. In 843, it was divided into three parts—[[East Francia|East]], [[Middle Francia|Middle]], and [[West Francia]]. Most of present-day Netherlands became part of Middle Francia, which was a weak kingdom and subject to numerous partitions and annexation attempts by its stronger neighbours. It comprised territories from [[Frisia]] in the north to the [[Kingdom of Italy (medieval)|Kingdom of Italy]] in the south. Around 850, [[Lothair I]] of Middle Francia acknowledged the Viking [[Rorik of Dorestad]] as ruler of most of Frisia. When the kingdom of Middle Francia was partitioned in 855, the lands north of the [[Alps]] passed to [[Lothair II of Lotharingia|Lothair II]] and subsequently were named [[Lotharingia]]. After he died in 869, Lotharingia was partitioned, into [[Upper Lotharingia|Upper]] and [[Lower Lotharingia]], the latter comprising the Low Countries that became part of [[East Francia]] in 870. Around 879, another Viking expedition led by [[Godfrid, Duke of Frisia]], raided the Frisian lands. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as a result, and that laid the basis for the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia into semi-independent states. One of these local nobles was [[Gerolf of Holland]], who assumed lordship in Frisia, and Viking rule came to an end.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1 June 2023 |title=Lindisfarne raid I Facts, Summary, & Significance |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Lindisfarne-Raid |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

===High Middle Ages (1000–1384)===
{{Main|History of urban centres in the Low Countries}}
[[File:Graftombe Ridder Arnold van der Sluijs.jpg|thumb|A medieval tomb of the Brabantian knight Arnold van der Sluijs]]

The [[Holy Roman Empire]] ruled much of the Low Countries in the 10th and 11th century but was not able to maintain political unity. Powerful local nobles turned their cities, counties and duchies into private kingdoms that felt little sense of obligation to the emperor.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Louis II {{!}} king of the East Franks |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-II-king-of-the-East-Franks |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> [[County of Holland|Holland]], [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]], [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[Duchy of Gelre|Gelre]], [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]], and [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]] were in a state of almost continual war or paradoxically formed personal unions. As Frankish settlement progressed from Flanders and Brabant, the area quickly became Old Low Franconian (or Old Dutch).

Around 1000 AD, agrarian conditions started to improve, which lead to increase in population, reclamation of wasteland by farmers, and steady growth of trade and industry.<ref name=":022" /> Towns grew around [[monasteries]] and [[castles]], and a mercantile middle class began to develop in these urban areas, especially in Flanders, and later Brabant. Wealthy cities started to buy certain [[City rights in the Low Countries|privileges]] for themselves from the sovereign.

Around 1100 AD, farmers from [[County of Flanders|Flanders]] and [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Utrecht]] began draining and cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the western Netherlands, making the emergence of the County of Holland as the centre of power possible. The title of [[Count of Holland]] was fought over in the [[Hook and Cod Wars]] between 1350 and 1490. The Cod faction consisted of the more progressive cities, while the Hook faction consisted of the conservative noblemen. These noblemen invited Duke [[Philip the Good]] of Burgundy to conquer Holland.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

===Burgundian, Habsburg and Spanish Habsburg Netherlands (1384–1581)===
{{Main|Burgundian Netherlands|Habsburg Netherlands|Spanish Netherlands}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1/2/1|align=left|total_width=250|caption_align=center
| title = Habsburg Netherlands
| image1 = Carlos V en Mühlberg, by Titian, from Prado in Google Earth.jpg|caption1=''[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], Lord of the Netherlands at the [[Battle of Mühlberg]]'' (1547), by [[Titian]]
| image2 = Political map of the Low Countries (1350)-NL.svg|caption2=The Low Countries in the late 14th century
| image3 = William I, Prince of Orange by Adriaen Thomasz. Key Rijksmuseum Amsterdam SK-A-3148.jpg|caption3=[[William the Silent|Prince William I of Orange]], leader of the [[Eighty Years' War|Dutch Revolt]], by [[Adriaen Thomasz. Key]]
}}

Most of the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] and [[France in the Middle Ages|French]] fiefs in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium were united in a [[personal union]] by Philip the Good in 1433. The [[House of Valois-Burgundy]] and their [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] heirs would rule the Low Countries from 1384 to 1581. The new rulers defended Dutch trading interests. The fleets of the [[County of Holland]] defeated the fleets of the [[Hanseatic League]] several times. [[Amsterdam]] grew and in the 15th century became the primary trading port in Europe for grain from the [[Baltic region]]. Amsterdam distributed grain to the major cities of Belgium, Northern France and England. This trade was vital because Holland could no longer produce enough grain to feed itself. Land drainage had caused the [[peat]] of the former [[wetland]]s to reduce to a level that was too low for drainage to be maintained.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=31 May 2023 |title=Low Countries {{!}} Facts, Map, & History  |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Low-Countries |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

Under Habsburg [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], all fiefs in the current Netherlands region were united into the [[Seventeen Provinces]], which included most of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of France and Germany. In 1568, under [[Philip II of Spain|Phillip II]], the [[Eighty Years' War]] between the Provinces and their [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] ruler began. The level of ferocity exhibited by both sides can be gleaned from a Dutch chronicler's report:<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/risedutchrepubl01motlgoog|title=The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume 2|last=Motley|first=John|year=1859|pages=[https://archive.org/details/risedutchrepubl01motlgoog/page/n33 25]}}</ref>
<blockquote>On more than one occasion men were seen hanging their own brothers, who had been taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks... A Spaniard had ceased to be human in their eyes. On one occasion, a surgeon at Veer cut the heart from a Spanish prisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow, and invited the townsmen to come and fasten their teeth in it, which many did with savage satisfaction.</blockquote>

The [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]] attempted to suppress the Protestant movement in the Netherlands. Netherlanders were "burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive" by his "[[Council of Troubles|Blood Council]]" and Spanish soldiers. Bodies were displayed along roads to terrorise the population into submission. Alba boasted of having executed 18,600;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://necrometrics.com/pre1700a.htm#Ne1566|title=Twentieth Century Atlas – Historical Body Count|website=necrometrics.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Clodfelter |first1=Micheal |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015, 4th ed. |date=9 May 2017 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-7470-7 |pages=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8urEDgAAQBAJ |access-date=11 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref> this figure does not include those who perished by war and famine.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharp Hume|first=Martin Andrew|title=The Spanish People: Their Origin, Growth and Influence|date=1901|page=372}}</ref>

The first great siege was Alba's effort to capture [[Haarlem]] and thereby cut Holland in half. It dragged on from December 1572 to the next summer, when Haarlemers finally surrendered on 13 July upon the promise that the city would be spared from being sacked. It was a stipulation [[Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Duke of Alba|Don Fadrique]] was unable to honour, when his soldiers mutinied, angered over pay owed and the miserable conditions of the campaign.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arnade |first1=Peter J. |title=Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt |page=237}}</ref> On 4 November 1576, Spanish [[tercio]]s seized [[Antwerp]] and subjected it to the worst pillage in the Netherlands' history. The citizens resisted but were overcome; seven thousand were killed and a thousand buildings were torched.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |last2=Durant |first2=Ariel |title=The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 |page=451}}</ref>

[[File:Philip II of Spain berating William the Silent Prince of Orange by Cornelis Kruseman.jpg|thumb|[[Philip II of Spain]] reproaches William of Orange in [[Vlissingen]] upon his departure from the Netherlands in 1559.]]
Following the [[sack of Antwerp]], delegates from Catholic Brabant, Protestant Holland and Zeeland agreed to join Utrecht and [[William the Silent]] in driving out Spanish troops and forming a new government for the Netherlands. [[Don Juan of Austria]], the new Spanish governor, was forced to concede initially, but within months returned to active hostilities. The Dutch looked for help from the Protestant [[Elizabeth I]] of England, but she initially stood by her commitments to the Spanish in the [[Treaty of Bristol]] of 1574. When the next large-scale battle occurred at [[Gembloux]] in 1578, the Spanish forces won easily.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gillespie |first1=Alexander |title=The Causes of War: Volume III: 1400 CE to 1650 CE |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=131}}</ref> In light of the [[Battle of Gembloux (1578)|defeat at Gembloux]], the southern states of the Seventeen Provinces distanced themselves from the rebels in the north with the 1579 [[Union of Arras]]. Opposing them, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces forged the [[Union of Utrecht]] in which they committed to support each other against the Spanish.<ref>Motley, John Lothrop (1855). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8isNLCXfNycC&pg=PA411 ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic''] Vol. III, Harper Bros.: New York, p. 411.</ref> The Union of Utrecht is seen as the foundation of the modern Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Union of Utrecht {{!}} European history  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Union-of-Utrecht |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

Spanish troops sacked [[Maastricht]] in 1579, killing over 10,000 civilians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nolan |first1=Cathal J. |title=The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, Volume 1 |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=247}}</ref> In 1581, the northern provinces adopted the [[Act of Abjuration]], the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II.<ref>Motley, John Lothrop (1855). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8isNLCXfNycC&pg=PA508 ''The Rise of the Dutch Republic''] Vol. III, Harper Bros.: New York, p. 508.</ref> Against the rebels Philip could draw on the resources of the [[Spanish Empire]]. Elizabeth I sympathised with the Dutch struggle and sent an army of 7,600 soldiers to aid them.<ref>Willson, David Harris (1972). ''History of England'', Holt, Rinehart & Winston: New York, p. 294.</ref> English forces faced the Spanish in the Netherlands under the [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma|Duke of Parma]] in a series of largely indecisive actions that tied down significant numbers of Spanish troops and bought time for the Dutch to reorganise their defences.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 1 |date=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=45}}</ref> The war continued until 1648, when Spain under King [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]] recognised the independence of the seven north-western provinces in the [[Peace of Münster]].<ref name=":022" /> Parts of the southern provinces became ''de facto'' colonies of the new republican-mercantile empire.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=History of Spain |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Spain |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

===Dutch Republic (1581–1795)===
{{Main|Dutch Republic|Evolution of the Dutch Empire}} 	
[[File:Hendrick Avercamp - Winterlandschap met schaatsers bij de stad Kampen.jpg|thumb|left|''Winter landscape with skaters near the city of [[Kampen, Overijssel|Kampen]]'' by [[Hendrick Avercamp]] (1620s)]]
Following the declaration of independence, the provinces of [[County of Holland|Holland]], [[County of Zeeland|Zeeland]], [[Lordship of Groningen|Groningen]], [[Lordship of Friesland|Friesland]], [[Lordship of Utrecht|Utrecht]], [[Lordship of Overijssel|Overijssel]], and [[Duchy of Gelderland|Gelderland]] entered into a [[confederation]]. All these duchies, lordships and counties enjoyed a significant degree of autonomy and was governed by its own administrative body known as the [[States-Provincial]]. The confederal government, known as the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]], was headquartered in [[The Hague]] and comprised representatives from each of the seven provinces. The sparsely populated region of [[Lordship of Drenthe|Drenthe]] was part of the republic, albeit not considered a province in its own right. Moreover, during the [[Eighty Years' War]], the Republic came to occupy a number of [[Generality Lands]] located in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] and [[Duchy of Limburg|Limburg]]. These areas were primarily inhabited by Roman Catholics and lacked a distinct governmental structure of their own. They were utilized as a buffer zone between the Republic and the Spanish-controlled [[Southern Netherlands]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjTSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|title=The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Golden Age|last=Prak|first=Maarten|date=22 September 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-34248-0|language=en}} p. 66</ref>

[[File:Johannes Lingelbach 001.jpg|thumb|[[Amsterdam]]'s [[Dam Square]] in 1656 by [[Johannes Lingelbach]]]]
In the [[Dutch Golden Age]], spanning much of the 17th century, the [[Dutch Empire]] grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers. Science, military and art (especially [[Dutch Golden Age painting|painting]]) were among the most acclaimed in the world. By 1650, the Dutch owned 16,000 merchant ships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display_printable.cfm?HHID=682 |title=The Middle Colonies: New York |access-date=14 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114182245/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display_printable.cfm?HHID=682 |archive-date=14 January 2012}} Digital History.</ref> The [[Dutch East India Company]] and the [[Dutch West India Company]] established [[Dutch colonial empire|colonies]] and [[trading post]]s all over the world. The [[New Netherland|Dutch settlement in North America]] began with the founding of [[New Amsterdam]] in 1614. In South Africa, the Dutch settled the [[Cape Colony]] in 1652. [[Dutch colonisation of the Guianas|Dutch colonies in South America]] were established along the many rivers in the fertile [[Guyana]] plains, among them [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Colony of Surinam]] (now [[Suriname]]). In Asia, the Dutch established a presence in [[Dutch India|India]], the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Indonesia]]), [[Dutch Formosa|Formosa]] (now [[Taiwan]]), and the only western trading post in Japan, [[Dejima]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dutch West India Company {{!}} Dutch trading company  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dutch-West-India-Company |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> During the period of [[Proto-industrialisation]], the empire received 50% of textiles and 80% of silks import from the India's [[Mughal Empire]].<ref name="tong">{{cite book |author=Junie T. Tong |year=2016 |title=Finance and Society in 21st Century China: Chinese Culture Versus Western Markets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UQGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |publisher=CRC Press |page=151 |isbn=978-1-317-13522-7}}</ref><ref name="esposito">{{cite book |editor1=John L. Esposito |editor1-link=John L. Esposito |year=2004 |title=The Islamic World: Past and Present |volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=174 |isbn=978-0-19-516520-3}}</ref><ref>Nanda, J. N (2005). {{cite book |year=2005 |title=Bengal: the unique state |publisher=Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. |isbn=978-81-8069-149-2 |quote=Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.}}</ref><ref name="Prakash">[[Om Prakash (historian)|Om Prakash]], "[http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3447600139/WHIC?u=seat24826&xid=6b597320 Empire, Mughal]", ''History of World Trade Since 1450'', edited by [[John J. McCusker]], vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 237–240, ''World History in Context''. Retrieved 3 August 2017</ref>

[[File:Storck, Four Days Battle.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Four Days' Battle]] during the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]], 1–4 June 1666]]
Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country. In early modern Europe, it had the wealthiest trading city in [[Amsterdam]], and the first full-time [[Euronext Amsterdam|stock exchange]]. The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as phenomena such as the [[Boom and bust|boom-bust cycle]], the world's first [[Asset price inflation|asset-inflation bubble]], the [[tulip mania]] of 1636–1637, and the world's first [[bear raid]]er, [[Isaac le Maire]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n07/murray-sayle/japan-goes-dutch|title=Japan Goes Dutch|magazine=London Review of Books|date=5 April 2001|author=Sayle, Murray |volume=23|issue=7|pages=3–7}}</ref> In 1672 – known in Dutch history as the [[Rampjaar]] (Disaster Year) – the Dutch Republic was attacked by France, England and three German Bishoprics simultaneously, in what would become known as the [[Franco-Dutch War]]. [[Third Anglo-Dutch War|At sea]], it could successfully prevent the English and French navies from blockading the western shores. On land, however, it was almost taken over by the advancing French and German armies from the east. It managed to turn the tide by [[Hollandic Water Line|inundating parts of Holland]].<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield">{{cite book|last1=Koopmans|first1=Joop W.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-5593-7|pages=233|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GU-xCgAAQBAJ&q=main+political+factions+dutch+society+18th+century&pg=PA271|language=en|date=5 November 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Nederlandse troepen tijdens de Slag bij Malplaquet (cropped).jpg|thumb|Dutch troops at the [[Battle of Malplaquet]], 11 September 1709.]]
From 1672 to 1712, the Republic, led by [[William III of England|William III of Orange]] and [[Anthonie Heinsius]] would regularly clash with France in what some historians have come to call the ''Forty Years' War''. In the [[Nine Years' War]] and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the Republic was at the centre of anti-French coalitions. The Dutch ultimately successfully defended the [[Spanish Netherlands]], established a [[Barrier Treaty|barrier]] there, and their troops proved central to the alliance which halted French territorial expansion in Europe until a new cycle began in 1792 with the [[French Revolutionary Wars]].{{sfn|Van Nimwegen|2020|p=354}} However, the wars left them effectively bankrupt, and inflicted permanent damage on the Dutch merchant navy; while they remained the dominant economic power in the Far East, Britain took over as the pre-eminent global commercial and maritime power.{{sfn|Elliott|2014|p=8}} Between 1590 and 1713, the [[Dutch States Army|Dutch army]] had been one of Europe's largest and most capable armies. However, following the [[Peace of Utrecht|conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession]], other major powers such as Prussia, Austria, Britain, and Russia significantly expanded their military forces. The Republic struggled to match these developments, and gradually assumed the status of a mid-tier power. However, historians have sometimes overstated the extent of this decline, especially when considering the period up to the 1750s.{{sfn|Israel|1995|pp=985–986}}

===Batavian Republic and Kingdom (1795–1890)===
{{Main|Batavian Republic|Kingdom of Holland|Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|United Kingdom of the Netherlands|Kingdom of the Netherlands}}

In the 18th century the Dutch Republic had seen a state of a general decline, with economic competition from England and long-standing rivalries between the two main factions in Dutch society, the republican [[Dutch States Party|''Staatsgezinden'']] and the supporters of the [[stadtholder]] the [[Orangism (Netherlands)|''Prinsgezinden'']] as main political factions.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield"/> With the armed support of [[French Revolution|revolutionary France]], [[Patriots (Dutch Republic)|Dutch republicans]] proclaimed the [[Batavian Republic]], modelled after the [[French First Republic|French Republic]] and rendering the Netherlands a [[unitary state]] on 19 January 1795. The stadtholder [[William V of Orange]] had fled to England. From 1806 to 1810, the [[Kingdom of Holland]] was set up by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother [[Louis Bonaparte]]. However, King Louis Bonaparte tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's, and he was forced to abdicate on 1 July 1810. The Emperor sent in an army and the Netherlands [[Incorporation (Netherlands)|became part of the French Empire]] until November 1813, when Napoleon was defeated in the [[Battle of Leipzig]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-66658-3_1|title=Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany: Conquest, Incorporation, and Integration|chapter=Introduction: Napoleonic Governance and the Integration of Europe |series=War, Culture and Society, 1750 –1850 |date=19 January 2024 |pages=1–22 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-66658-3_1 |isbn=978-3-030-66658-3 |last1=Van Der Burg |first1=Martijn }}</ref>

[[File:Dutch Empire35.PNG|thumb|Map of the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch colonial empire]]. Light green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the [[Dutch East India Company]]; dark green: the [[Dutch West India Company]]. In yellow are the territories occupied later, during the 19th century.]]
[[William I of the Netherlands|William Frederick]], son of the last stadtholder, returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and proclaimed himself [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|Sovereign Prince]]. Two years later, the [[Congress of Vienna]] added the southern Netherlands to the north to create a strong country on the northern border of France. William Frederick raised this [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands|United Netherlands]] to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself as [[William I of the Netherlands|King William I]] in 1815.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=History of France  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-France |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> William became hereditary [[Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg|Grand Duke of Luxembourg]] in exchange for his German possessions. However, the Southern Netherlands had been culturally separate from the north since 1581, and [[Belgian Revolution|rebelled]]. The south gained independence in 1830 as Belgium (recognised by the Northern Netherlands in 1839 as the Kingdom of the Netherlands was created by decree), while the [[personal union]] between Luxembourg and the Netherlands was severed in 1890, when [[William III of the Netherlands|William III]] died with no surviving male heirs. [[Salic Law|Ascendancy laws]] prevented his daughter [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Queen Wilhelmina]] from becoming the next Grand Duchess.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2 June 2023 |title=William I {{!}} king of The Netherlands  |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-I-king-of-The-Netherlands |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

The Belgian Revolution and the [[Java War]] in the Dutch East Indies brought the Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy. However, the [[Cultivation System]] was introduced in 1830; in the Dutch East Indies, 20% of village land had to be devoted to government crops for export. The policy brought the Dutch enormous wealth and made the colony self-sufficient.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Belgium – Industrial Revolution, Belgian Revolution, and Unionist Coalition  |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgium/The-Austrian-Netherlands |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> The Netherlands abolished slavery in its colonies in 1863.<ref>Finkelman and Miller, ''Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery'' 2:637</ref> Enslaved people in [[Suriname]] would be fully free only in 1873.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/dutch-involvement-transatlantic-slave-trade-and-abolition|title=Dutch involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and abolition|work=ascleiden.nl|date=24 June 2013}}</ref>

===World wars and beyond (1890–present)===
{{Main|History of the Netherlands (1900–present)|Netherlands in World War I|Netherlands in World War II}}
[[File:Een uitzinnige menigte verwelkomt de Canadese bevrijders in Utrecht - An ecstatic crowd in Utrecht welcomes the Canadian liberators (4502667274).jpg|thumb|left|upright|People celebrating the [[Liberation Day (Netherlands)|liberation of Utrecht]] at the end of [[World War II]] on 7 May 1945]]
The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, in part because the import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival until the blockade by the British [[Royal Navy]] in 1916.<ref name="Abbenhuis">Abbenhuis, Maartje M. (2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=5gMCfhUR6Y0C The Art of Staying Neutral]. Amsterdam University Press, {{ISBN|978-90-5356-818-7}}.</ref> That changed in World War II, when [[German invasion of the Netherlands|Germany invaded the Netherlands]] on 10 May 1940. The [[Rotterdam Blitz]] forced most of the Dutch army to surrender. During the occupation, over 100,000 [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch Jews]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kampwesterbork.nl/site1.2/English/KAMP/k08.html |title=93 trains |access-date=7 December 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041207064440/http://www.kampwesterbork.nl/site1.2/English/KAMP/k08.html |archive-date=7 December 2004}}. kampwesterbork.nl</ref> were transported to Nazi [[extermination camp]]s; only a few survived. Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany, [[Dutch resistance|civilians who resisted]] were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and the countryside was plundered for food. Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans, over 20,000 Dutch fascists [[Volunteer Legion Netherlands|joined the Waffen SS]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.waffen-ss.nl/main.php|title=Nederlanders in de Waffen-SS|website=waffen-ss.nl|access-date=13 November 2015|archive-date=2 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202043232/http://www.waffen-ss.nl/main.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> Political [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborators]] were members of the fascist [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands|NSB]], the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands. On 8 December 1941, the [[Dutch government-in-exile]] in London declared war on Japan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411208c.html |title=The Kingdom of the Netherlands declares war with Japan |publisher=ibiblio |access-date=2 October 2009}}</ref> but could not prevent the [[Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies]].<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+id0029) Library of Congress, 1992, "Indonesia: World War II and the Struggle For Independence, 1942–50; The Japanese Occupation, 1942–45"] Access date: 9 February 2007.</ref> In 1944–45, the [[First Canadian Army]] liberated much of the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite video |year=1944 |title=Video: Allies Set For Offensive |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39141 |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> Soon after [[Victory in Europe Day|VE Day]], the Dutch fought a [[Indonesian National Revolution|colonial war against the new Republic of Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=17 June 2023 |title=Sukarno {{!}} Indonesian Nationalist & 1st President of Indonesia  |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sukarno |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=History of the Netherlands  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-the-Netherlands |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

====Decolonisation====
In 1954, the [[Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands]] reformed the political structure as a result of international pressure to carry out [[decolonisation]]. The Dutch colonies of [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]] and [[Curaçao and Dependencies]] became constituent countries within the Kingdom, on the basis of an equal partnership with the European territories. Indonesia had declared its independence in August 1945. [[Suriname]] followed in 1975. The Netherlands was one of the founding members of [[Benelux]] and [[NATO]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Benelux |url=https://gouvernement.lu/en/dossiers/2018/benelux.html |website=gouvernement.lu |access-date=21 November 2022 |language=en |date=4 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Member countries |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52044.htm |publisher=NATO |access-date=21 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref> In the 1950s, the Netherlands became one of the six founding countries of the [[European Communities]], following the 1952 establishment of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]], and subsequent 1958 creations of the [[European Economic Community]] and [[European Atomic Energy Community]].<ref name="NL: EU member state">{{cite web |title=The Netherlands: EU member state – European Union – Government.nl |url=https://www.government.nl/topics/european-union/the-netherlands-eu-member-state |website=government.nl |access-date=21 November 2022 |date=26 September 2012}}</ref> In 1993, the former two were incorporated into the [[European Union]].<ref name="NL: EU member state" />

Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 [[Dutch people|Dutch]] to leave the country after the war.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409956/Netherlands |title=Netherlands |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref> The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de-[[pillarisation]]. Students and other youth rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as [[women's rights]], [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], [[disarmament]] and [[environmental issues]]. In 2002 the [[euro]] was introduced as [[fiat money]], and in 2010 the [[Netherlands Antilles]] was [[Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles|dissolved]]. Referendums were held on each island. As a result, [[Bonaire]], [[Sint Eustatius]] and [[Saba (island)|Saba]] (the BES islands) were incorporated as ''[[Special municipality (Netherlands)|special municipalities]]'' upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. The special municipalities are collectively known as the [[Caribbean Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Grommé|first= Francisca|chapter= "Thinking, seeing, and doing like a kingdom: The making of Caribbean Netherlands statistics and the 'native Bonairian'|year=2021|doi=10.36019/9781978818705-008|title=Equaliberty in the Dutch Caribbean: Ways of Being Non/Sovereign|pages= 101–117|isbn= 978-1-9788-1870-5|url= https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/11e04fa0-02d7-49d6-a16b-a727a1d6c889|chapter-url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353121877}}</ref>