History UsefulNotes / TheNetherlands

Sometimes called improperly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]] (even by Dutch people), which is only the name of two of the twelve provinces [[hottip:*:So people who actually ''live'' in either Noord-Holland or Zuid-Holland are excused]], the Netherlands is a country famous for not only being flat, but in large part below sea level. Fun fact - although the country's name is in plural in English[[hottip:*:Also in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish]], the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". The country has engaged in a considerable amount of sea reclamation during the last centuries, to the point that when ''{{QI}}'' asked "what is the largest man-made structure on Earth" serious consideration was given to accepting The Netherlands as the correct answer.

...which didn't exactly work out; the old stereotype of the inhumanly greedy Dutchman came from somewhere, and the particularly notorious ten percent income tax known as the "tiende penning" was every bit as much of a reason to rebel against the king as the persecution of Protestants. This all led to the "Eighty Years' War" (1568-1648), a complex series of conflicts, complete with a twelve year armistice, that's also known as the Dutch Revolt and Dutch War of Independence. The Dutch nobles and burghers ended up proclaiming their independence in 1581, resulting in the Republic of the United Provinces, a.k.a. the Dutch Republic. And in spite of the fact that over half of the provinces either remained loyal to the Spanish Crown (the members of the Union of Utrecht) or were reconquered by the Spanish (like the county of Flanders, and particularly the city of Antwerp), the Republic still managed to remain an economical powerhouse and develop into a naval power capable of threatening Spanish and Portuguese fleets and colonies as far away as South America and Indonesia.

* Age of consent is 16. Sex education starts in elementary school, and is formally taught around age 13 in high school biology class.

The country with Cheese (Gouda, Edam), Delftware, windmills, tulips, clogs, blow-up dolls and cannabis.

The Netherlands used to have a large colonial empire, with the largest and most notable colony being the Dutch East Indies, i.e. Indonesia. Another very important one, even though it was lost to the British in the [[NapoleonicWars Wars of the French Revolution]] was the Cape Colony in South Africa. To this day more people speak Dutch-derived Afrikaans as their first or second language in the Republic of South Africa than any other of the eleven official languages of that country.

A strong Jewish subculture first appeared in Amsterdam in the 1600's, as Holland was the first European nation to openly welcome people of different religions, particularly French and German Jews. The modern Dutch Jewish culture can mostly be found in Amsterdam, with Rotterdam as a close second.

The Netherlands used to have a large colonial empire, with the largest and most notable colony being the Dutch East Indies, i.e. Indonesia.

Large ethnic groups from the former colonies are Indonesians (for a large part Ambonese), Chinese and Surinams (which consists of descendants of the people who were employed in the colony there).

Sometimes called improperly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]] (even by Dutch people), which is only the name of two of the twelve provinces [[hottip:*:So people who actually ''live'' in either Noord-Holland or Zuid-Holland are excused]], the Netherlands is a country famous for not only being flat, but in large part below sea level. Fun fact - although the country's name is in plural in English[[hottip:*:Also in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish]], the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". The country has engaged in a considerable amount of sea reclamation during the last centuries.

After the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of the first French Empire, Great Britain and {{Prussia}} decided that there should be a strong, independent country on the northern border of France. Prussia wanted to incorporate the new Dutch state into the German Confederation, but the Dutch and the British didn't really like that idea, so they eventually agreed to unify the northern and southern Netherlands into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, with only Luxembourg (which then consisted of the current Grand Duchy as well as the Belgian province of the same name) becoming part of the German Confederation.

Mainly thanks to religious differences between the Protestant north and the Catholic south, king William I's authoritarian reign and stubborn unwillingless to accept criticism, and the fact that the primarily French-speaking citizenry of the south was underrepresented in the kingdom's government, a revolution broke out in the south - the Belgian Revolution, which resulted in the formation of the kingdom of UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} and the grand duchy of Luxembourg.

After the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of the first French Empire, Great Britain and {{Prussia}} decided that there should be a strong, independent country on the northern border of France. Prussia wanted to incorporate the new Dutch state into the German Confederation, but the Dutch and the British didn't really like that idea, so they eventually agreed to unify the northern and southern Netherlands into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, with only Luxembourg (which then consisted of the current Grand Duchy as well as the Belgian province of the same name) being part of the German Confederation.

The war ended in 1648, when Spain officially recognized the Republic's independence and renounced its claims on the northern provinces. The southern provinces, also known as the Southern Netherlands, remained under Spanish control for a few decades more, after which they were inherited by the Austrian branch of the house of Habsburg, and after nearly a century of Austrian rule, they were conquered by Revolutionary France in 1794, which also conquered the Dutch Republic a few months later. The Austrian Netherlands and the Bishopric of Liège were incorporated into the French Republic, while in the north the House of Orange was deposed and driven into exile and in 1795 the former Republic of the United Provinces became the Batavian Republic, so named after a Germanic tribe that had inhabited the area in the days of the Roman Empire.

Sometimes called improperly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]] (even by Dutch people), which is only the name of two of the twelve provinces [[hottip:*:So people who actually ''live'' in either Noord-Holland or Zuid-Holland are excused]], the Netherlands is a country famous for not only being flat, but in large part below sea level. Fun fact - although the country's name is in plural in English, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". The country has engaged in a considerable amount of sea reclamation during the last centuries.

The war ended in 1648, when Spain officially recognized the Republic's independence and renounced its claims on the northern provinces. The southern provinces, also known as the Southern Netherlands, remained under Spanish control for a few decades more, after which they were inherited by the Austrian branch of the house of Habsburg, and after nearly a century of Austrian rule, they were conquered by post-Revolution France.

Then NapoleonBonaparte came along, who conquered what was left of the Dutch Republic. For a while, he tried to set up a puppet state called the "Kingdom of Holland" (which was technically the first Dutch kingdom), but that didn't really work out the way he wanted (for one thing, his appointed stooge, brother Louis, took Dutch interests to heart over Napoleon's, also helped with his own money ''and hands'' at the gunpowder disaster in Leyden), so he eventually just put an end to the kingdom and made the Netherlands part of the French empire.

After the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of the first French empire, Great Britain and {{Prussia}} decided that there should be a strong, independent country on the northern border of France. Prussia wanted to incorporate the new Dutch state into the German Confederation, but the Dutch and the British didn't really like that idea, so they eventually agreed to unify the northern and southern Netherlands into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Mainly thanks to religious differences between the Protestant north and the Catholic south, king William I's authoritarian reign and stubborn unwillingless to accept criticism, and the fact that the primarily French-speaking citizenry of the south was underrepresented in the kingdom's government, a revolution broke out in the south - the Belgian Revolution, which resulted in the formation of the kingdom of UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}.

Sometimes called improperly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]] (even by Dutch people), which is only the name of two of the twelve provinces, the Netherlands is a country famous for not only being flat, but in large part below sea level. The country has engaged in a considerable amount of sea reclamation during the last centuries.

----

The Netherlands today are a democratic constitutional monarchy. It used to be famous for a political system called "consociationalism", where the different religious and social groups of the country each had a veto over national policy, but this worked so well, the nation no longer needs it. Its prime minister resembles HarryPotter, except for completely lacking the ability to get out of scrapes. (But he isn't going to be prime minister any longer)

The Ambonese sided with the Dutch government during the "Poltionele Acties" (the euphemism for the Indonesian war of independence) in return for an independent state. The resulting treatment by the government resulted in protests by the Ambonese youth in the 60s and 70s, culminating in several hostage situations. This is still a lingering sore spot among the older generations, the younger people are quite happy to live here and only support the retaking of Ambon in spirit.

* Showing nudity on television. (The rating system, in itself, can be a bit ''too'' progressive at times: ''{{Dogville}}'' was rated 12+. {{South Park}} was rated 6+, just like {{Buffy}})

Oh, and then there's also a gray zone: Things which are officially not allowed but tolerated. The Dutch word is "gedogen".

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->'''[[TheMuppetShow Statler]]''': Nederland. Wat vind je er nu van? [[hottip:*:So, what do you make of the Netherlands?]]\\
'''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Waldorf]]''': Het is koud, nat en druk. De mensen mopperen, zijn onbeschoft en stinken naar kaas. [[hottip:*: It's cold, wet and crowded. And the people there are grumpy, rude, and stink of cheese.]]\\
'''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Statler]]''': Ja! Ik voel me er helemaal thuis! [[hottip:*:Yeah! We'd be right at home, there!]]\\
'''[[MemeticMutation Beiden]]''': Do-ho-ho-ho-hoh!

* Showing nudity on television. (The rating system, in itself, can be a bit ''too'' progressive at times: ''{{Dogville}}'' was rated 12+. {{South Park}} was rated 6+.)

->Well, Statler...most of us can't imagine ANYONE would feel at home here. You're one of a kind!

* Showing nudity on television. (The rating system, in itself, can be a bit ''too'' progressive at times: ''{{Dogville}}'' was rated 12+.)

Amsterdam is the largest city and capital. However, the Queen lives in The Hague, Parliament meets in The Hague, the courts and Embassy's are also all in The Hague.

* Creating or selling most other drugs. As of 2009, magic mushrooms are illegal.

Large ethnic groups from the former colonies are Indonesians (for a large part Ambonese), Chinese and Surinams (which consists of descendents of the people who were employed in the colony there).

The Ambonese sided with the Dutch government during the "Poltionele Acties" (the euphemism for the Indonesian war of independence) in return for an independent state. The resulting treatment by the government resulted in protests by the Ambonese youth in the 60s and 70s, culiminating in several hostage situations. This is still a lingering sore spot among the older generations, the younger people are quite happy to live here and only support the retaking of Ambon in spirit.

The Chinese are a mixed bag of descendents of people who got stuck here during the depression in the 1930s, former workers from the colonies, people who sought political asylum and people who came here seeking their fortune. They are the "great unknowns" despite being here for over 70 years now and having set up a lot of successful businesses. Their number is actually unknown due to their insular nature.

The present-day Netherlands has a large Muslim population, though the majority of them are the descendents of Turkish and Moroccan guest workers rather than immigrants from the former colonies. Religious and social tensions are almost exclusively focused on Turkish and Moroccan labour immigrants, who were supposed to just stay a few years and help the ailing textile industry. Of course they didn't need to learn the language, since that would only encourage them to stay. The heavy industries are gone but the low-education labour immigrants are still there.

->'''[[TheMuppetShow Statler]]''': Nederland. Wat vind je er nu van?\\
'''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Waldorf]]''': Het is koud, nat en druk. De mensen mopperen, zijn onbeschoft en stinken naar kaas.\\
'''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Statler]]''': Ja! Ik voel me er helemaal thuis!\\

* Gay marriage. In fact, it's the first country that legalized it, and there are no legal differences between gay and straight marriages.

{{Friends}}, ''TheOneWith The Football''

Sometimes called improperly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]] (even by Dutch people), which is only the name of two of the twelve provinces, the Netherlands is a country famous for not only being flat, but in large part below sea level. The country has engaged in a considerable amount of sea reclamation in recent years.

Let's just get it out of the way: most people's idea of the country is that it's a big giant FreestateAmsterdam, where everything is legal. This is far from true, but still, The Netherlands (or "Nederland", singular, as it's known nowadays) is very liberal compared to most other countries. To sum up:

* Buying small quantities of marujiana from licensed stores, which are not allowed to sell or serve alcohol. Consuming marijuana is legal in private.

As for the land's history:

The Low Countries, an area that's roughly the modern Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, were originally a bunch of counties, duchies and other statelets within the Holy Roman Empire, but were (more or less) united into a single polity by the dukes of Burgundy and emperor Charles V (who was born in Flanders and was a native Dutch speaker, no less). A few decades later, Charles abdicated and the Low Countries fell into the hands of his son Philip II, who succeeded his father as the king of Spain, making the Low Countries part of the Spanish kingdom.

...which didn't exactly work out; the old stereotype of the inhumanly greedy Dutchman came from somewhere, and the particularly notorious ten percent income tax known as the "tiende penning" was every bit as much of a reason to rebel against the king as the persecution of Protestants. This all led to the "Eighty Years' War" (1568-1648), a complex series of conflicts, complete with a twelve year armastice, that's also known as the Dutch Revolt and Dutch War of Independance. The Dutch nobles and burghers ended up proclaiming their independence in 1581, resulting in the Republic of the United Provinces, a.k.a. the Dutch Republic. And in spite of the fact that over half of the provinces either remained loyal to the Spanish Crown (the members of the Union of Atrecht) or were reconquered by the Spanish (like the county of Flanders, and particularly the city of Antwerp), the Republic still managed to remain an economical powerhouse and develop into a naval power capable of threatening Spanish and Portugese fleets and colonies as far away as South America and Indonesia.

The war ended in 1648, when Spain officially reckognized the Republic's independance and renounced its claims on the northern provinces. The southern provinces, also known as the Southern Netherlands, remained under Spanish control for a few decades more, after which they were inherited by the Austrian branch of the house of Habsburg, and after nearly a century of Austrian rule, they were conquered by post-Revolution France.

Then Napoleon came along, who conquered what was left of the Dutch Republic. For a while, he tried to set up a puppet state called the "Kingdom of Holland" (which was technically the first Dutch kingdom), but that didn't really work out the way he wanted (for one thing, his appointed stooge, brother Louis, took Dutch interests to heart over Napoleons, also helped with his own money ''and hands'' at the gunpowder disaster in Leyden), so he eventually just put an end to the kingdom and made the Netherlands part of the French empire.

After the final defeat of Napoleon and the end of the first French empire, Great Britain and {{Prussia}} decided that there should be a strong, independant country on the northern border of France. Prussia wanted to incorporate the new Dutch state into the German Confederation, but the Dutch and the British didn't really like that idea, so they eventually agreed to unify the northern and southern Netherlands into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Mainly thanks to religious differences between the Protestant north and the Catholic south, king William I's authoritarian reign and stubborn unwillingless to accept criticism, and the fact that the primarily French-speaking citizenry of the south was underrepresented in the kingdom's government, a revolution broke out in the south - the Belgian Revolution, which resulted in the formation of the kingdom of Belgium.

It stayed out of WorldWarOne, but was invaded by Germany in WorldWarTwo (their indonesian colonies were invaded by the Japanese as well). Over 100,000 Jews were sent to the camps. Anne Frank was well known for staying out of those - for a while, at least.

The Netherlands today are a democratic constitutional monarchy. It used to be famous for a political system called "consociationalism", where the different religious and social groups of the country each had a veto over national policy, but this worked so well, the nation no longer needs it. Its prime minister resembles Harry Potter, except for completely lacking the ability to get out of scrapes. (But he isn't going to be prime minister any longer)

Large Ethnic groups from the former colonies are Indonesians (for a large part Ambonese) , Chinese and Surinams (which consists of descendants of the people who were employed in the colony there).

The Ambonese sided with the Dutch government during the "Poltionele Acties" (the euphemism for the indonesian war of independence) in return for an independent state. The resulting treatment by the government resulted in protests by the Ambonese youth in the 60s and 70s, culimnating in several hostage situations. This is still a lingering sore spot among the older generations, the younger people are quite happy to live here and only support the retaking of ambon in spirit.

The Chinese are a mixed bag of decendants of people who got stuck here during the depression in the 1930s, former workers from the colonies, people who sought political asylum and people who came here seeking their fortune. The are the "great unknowns" despite being here for over 70 years now and having set up a lot of succesful businesses. Their number is actually unknown due to their insular nature.

The Surinam people are mostly stereotyped as people from african descent, which is true for the most part, but there's also other ethnic groups. Hindus, Chinese workers and Javanese People were also a common sight in the colony and some of them came over when the colony gained it's independence.

The present-day Netherlands has a large Muslim population, though the majority of them are the descendants of Turkish and Moroccan guest workers rather than immigrants from the former colonies. Religious and social tensions are almost exclusively focused on Turkish and Morrocan labour immigrants, who were supposed to just stay a few years and help the ailing textile industry. Of course they didn't need to learn the language, since that would only encourage them to stay. The heavy industries are gone but the low-education labour immigrants are still there.

[[AC: the dutch flag]]

<<|UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}|>>

The nation is well known for being [[FreestateAmsterdam very liberal on drugs]], and other subjects like euthanasia and abortion. And homosexuality, being the first country in the world to introduce gay-marriage-also-by-name.

'''[[MemeticMutation Beiden]]''': Do-ho-ho-ho-hoh!