Netherlands

Netherlands
200px
Flag
Capital	Amsterdam
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Language	Dutch (official)
Monarch	Queen Beatrix
Prime minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Area	41,526 km²
Population 2007 estimate	16,570,613
GDP per capita	$35,078
Currency	Euro (€) (EUR)
International dialing code	31
Internet top-level domain	.nl

The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland) is a country in the European Union in northwestern Europe, north of Belgium and France. It is a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). It is bordered by Belgium and Germany, and has a total population of 16,5 million (2007). Its system of government is constitutional monarchy. The country is often referred to as "Holland", this was originally the name of two densely populated provinces of the country (North-Holland and South-Holland), the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague all lie in these provinces that have always been the most influential regions in the Netherlands. The language is Dutch and the people are referred to in English as Dutchmen or the Dutch.

The major ethnic groups in the Netherlands are Dutch 94%, Surinamese 2%, Asians 2% and others 2%.

Dike system

The term "Netherlands" means "low country," and it is a very low-lying country. About a quarter of the land area, containing more than half of the population, is actually below sea level, and would flood if the sea were not held back by a system of dikes. The Dutch have a saying that "God created the earth, but the Dutch made Holland".

A major breach of the dikes occurred in 1953, killing 1800 people. To avoid a repeat of the disaster the Dutch began construction of the "Delta Project" to protect the country from future inundations. Begun in 1953 and completed in 2002 the Delta Project is considered a modern wonder of civil engineering. After Hurricane Katrina, a delegation of American engineers was invited by the Dutch government to see how the project works and how its technology can be applied in the United States for low-lying cities like New Orleans.

Major cities

Amsterdam, named for the Amstel river, is the largest city, and the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is ringed by an extensive system of concentric canals. The seat of government, however, is located for historical reasons in The Hague (Den Haag or 's Gravenhage in Dutch. ).

Eindhoven is the location of the giant electronics corporation, Philips (full name: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.), with annual revenue equivalent to about $40 billion. (The U.S. corporation General Electric has revenues of about $150 billion, but much of it is from non-electronics businesses). The Eindhoven area is known for its high concetration of high-tech industires, which include ASML, the world primary producer of lithography system for the production of semiconductors, and Océ, a leading producer of printers and copiers.

Groningen is home to many branches of KPN, the former state company of Post, Telegraphy and Telephony. It had its headquarters in Groningen when it was still state run, and move to The Hague since. KPN stands for Koninklijke PTT Nederland, or Royal PTT Netherlands. Groningen is also home to Gasunie (Gasunion), a public-private partnership that exploits the natural gas reseves in the province of Groningen and the adjoint North Sea.

Business

The Netherlands is the home of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell, whose full name is Royal Dutch Shell or Koninklijke Nederlandse Shell. Other well known Dutch or partly Dutch multinationals are Unilever, a company owning many household brands, ING Group, a banking group, Ahold, an international chain of supermarkets, Reed Elsevier, a publishing house, Nielsen Company, owner of the Yellow Pages, and Randstad Holding, a company providing human resource services. The famous Dutch East India Company, known in Dutch as Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC, which dominated trade in with South-East Asia in the 17th century, is regarded as the first multinational in history.

Customs

The Netherlands has long been famous for its production of flowers, and also for a related economic event, the "tulip mania" of 1636-1637. A classic example of a "bubble," tulips were traded on stock exchanges, and bid up to fantastic prices by people who understood that the prices were crazy but hoped to sell at a profit to even crazier investors. Many people mortgaged their homes for a single tulip bulb and in one case an entire brewery was exchanged for a few bulbs. As with all bubbles, when bidding began to lag people tried to sell and the bubble burst with disastrous consequences. Since then the Dutch have been renowned for their carefulness with money and have established a significant presence in the banking and financial sectors.

Drug policies

The Netherlands is noted for its low-crime rate (although comparable to other western European nations) and libertarian legislation. Examples are licensed prostitution in designated areas of major cities, such as Amsterdam's Red Light District, the legal soft drugs sold in the country's many coffee shops, abortion rights, same-sex marriages and euthanasia.

Consuming and carrying (for personal use only) the "soft drugs" (marijuana, hashish and hallucinogenic mushrooms) were made legal in the Netherlands in 1976 in a final attempt to stop drug-related crime in the 1970s. Soft drugs can be legally purchased by individuals over 18 in the famed (licensed) coffee shops, that do sell coffee as well, but are prohibited from serving alcohol. The Dutch policy regarding soft drugs (and previously prostitution) is called "gedoogbeleid" (condonement policy). This means that although certain behavior is officially prohibited by law, a condonement clause prevents law enforcement agencies from persecuting this behavior. This clause is, legally speaking, not a law and can be reverted much easier than a regular law.

The main reason for this policy is to try to split the market for "soft drugs" from the one for "hard drugs", this to avoid that users "upgrade" from soft to "hard drugs" (the latter are still illegal). So in short, the law tries to prevent citizen's exposure to hard drugs by providing a legal context in which to purchase cannabis. The policy also allows the police to focus on the war on hard drugs and criminal trade, and avoid the exhaustive bureaucratic costs associated with low-profile possession busts. In fact, most major cities in the world have similar non-prosecution policies, but the Dutch one is the only nationwide one.

Growing marijuana and hashish for commercial purposes is still officially illegal (it is legal to own up to four plants per household), causing coffee shop owners to rely on illegal homegrown products. Only two state run companies are exempted from this rule in order to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. Leftist movements have stated that the government should make its mind up: "either make growing marijuana and hashish legal, or ban soft drugs altogether".

The legal status of soft drugs has had no significant adverse effects on Dutch society. This is probably due to the fact that it has become a more or less socially accepted drug like alcohol and tobacco, removing the need for dealers and effectively terminating cannabis' status as an anti-establishment symbol, and in effect diminishing its' popularity somewhat amongst youth.

Queen's Day

April 30th is known as Queen's Day (Koninginnedag) - the national holiday to mark the official birthday of the monarch. This is actually the birthday of former Queen Juliana (Queen Beatrix's mother) but has been kept as the official holiday because of the better weather (Queen Beatrix's actual birthday is 31 January). Queen's Day is the one day of the year when ordinary Netherlanders are permitted to sell goods on the streets without a license. Consequently the whole country is turned into a gigantic flea market (garage sale). The primary effect of this is that people buy goods they do not want or need, solely in order to sell them the following year. In an act of patriotism, most of the populace wear orange colored clothing (the national color) to identify with the Royal House Of Orange-Nassau.

Those not involved with selling their surplus belongings celebrate the national holiday at outdoors parties in the cities or with fine weather, spend the free day on a terrace of a pub, or cycle in the national Fietsen op Dijken tour around the nation's dikes.

Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a famous Jewish girl who hid from Nazis in the house of friends in Amsterdam. She wrote a diary which was later published and became a best seller. Her family left Germany in 1933 because of the Nazis, but the Nazis caught up with her and sent her to Belsen death camp where she died before end of war in 1945. Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam is now a popular tourist attraction.

Society

Same sex marriage has been recognized by the Dutch government since 2001. Furthermore, legal prostitution, euthanasia, abortion and its drug policy (see above) make The Netherlands the most liberal country in the world by most standards. Religion was once the dominant factor in Dutch society and politics, but since the 1970s plays a secondary role in society, with only 25% of the population being Protestant and just over 30% are Roman Catholics. There is, however, a rising Muslim population which has caused social strains.

See also

• Gallery of Flemish and Dutch painting
• Flemish School of Painting

History

• see History of the Netherlands

20th Century

1930s and World War II

Great Depression

During the 1930s the Netherlands, like other developed Western economies, suffered much from unemployment and the Depression. The economy was based on trade and agriculture. there was some manufacturing, led by Unilever (soap), Shell (oil refining) and Philips (light bulbs). World trade levels declines sharply, leaving the large Dutch merchant fleet with less business; one third of the ships were laid up. Unemployment reached 17% in 1936, then began a slow decline. GDP fell below the level of the prosperous 1920s. The politically system continued to function normally, with Catholic and Calvinist religious parties in control. There was little mass unrest or Communist activity and the Socialist party remained weak.

Dutch East Indies

In the overseas empire, especially the Dutch East Indies (later renamed Indonesia) the fall in commodity prices caused a sharp economic decline, as exports fell by two-thirds. Since a fourth of all Dutch wealth was invested there, investors were badly hurt. The colonial government pursued a policy of "indianization," which meant training more and more locals Indonesians for civil service jobs. There was no self government; a local council was only advisory to the governor. Demands for self-government were rising rapidly among the 67 million inhabitants, most of them Moslems.

Dutch fascism

A small fringe element of Dutch fascists existed from 1929 to 1940. They were inspired by Mussolini's Italy and was based on traditional corporate ideology. The movement was small, elitist, and consisted of competing bourgeois political associations. It was opposed by the Catholic Church. Nazi-style National Socialism, also existed as an even smaller fringe group; it failed to gain mass support because its ideology was alien to native Dutch political culture. It too was opposed by the Catholic Church.

World War II

Although the Netherlands proclaimed its neutrality, the Germans under Adolf Hitler invaded on May 10, 1940 and after the open city of Rotterdam was bombed on May 14 by the Luftwaffe the Dutch army capitulated on May 15. Queen Wilhelmina and her government fled into exile in London, which became their base to fight the Germans, using the small navy and large merchant fleet as its assets, along with its colonies.

A brutal five year German occupation of the country began; the Dutch were forced to pay all the costs. The attempt of Nazi military governor, Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to win the "Aryan" Dutch for Nazism by promoting industrial recovery met with resistance in the form of strikes and underground activity. 250,000 Dutch civilians were forced laborers at factories in Germany, which were targets of Allied air raids. The heightening demands of the German war machine led to increasingly ruthless exploitation, as more than 40% of Dutch income flowed to Germany by 1942, severely undermining Dutch industry, while large numbers of young Dutch workers went into hiding and the resistance.

Japanese

The Japanese invaded Indonesia in January, 1942, looking for oil. The Shell oil company blew up all the wells and the Japanese, after long repairs, in the end obtained much less than it needed. Japan's victory was swift after it sank the Dutch navy and invaded; nearly 150,000 Dutch citizens found themselves prisoners of the Japanese in horrible conditions.

Jews

The Nazis as part of the Holocaust hunted down, deported and killed three-fourths of the 140,000 Jews in the country. The most famous victim was Anne Frank (1929-45), whose family hiding place in Amsterdam was exposed by an informer in 1944 and she died in Bergen-Belsen weeks before the war ended.

Starvation

In September 1944, American, British and Canadian forces liberated the southern provinces. The north remained in German hands until May 1945, but the Dutch refused to aid the German war economy and the Nazis cut off food supplies, leading to severe malnutrition and deaths from cold and disease.

Postwar Era

After the war the major pillarized sectors began to cooperate in the "polder" style that minimized conflict, as the top officials of each sector met secretly to work out compromises that were then ratified. In other countries strong polarization had a geographic dimension, leading to separatist movements in Belgium and Canada, but there was little geographical concentration in the Netherlands.

Recent history since 1970

After 1970 the pillarized model began to break down in politics, as religion became less central in the lives of most people, the parties reorganized across the old religious and cultural lines, and labor unions merged. The fast growing Muslim immigrant community is building its own separate pillar along religious lines such as was common a century ago, and is still allowed by Dutch laws. There are now Islamic and Hindu schools.

The leadership in the Netherlands realizes the need for immigration in the era of globalization, falling birth rates and labor shortages. At issue is whether the immigrants will be Europeans, which is tolerated, or be Muslims from Turkey and Morocco, which is controversial. Rotterdam is nearly half Muslim and in every city second- and third-generation Muslims are Dutch and speak Dutch as their first language, but have not been well integrated into mainstream Dutch society. They remain between two cultures and some listen to radical Islamist preachers. However, two-thirds of the immigrants are Dutch citizens and they are well represented in national and local government. The rapidly growingf Dutch economy absorbed the new workers, driving down the unemployment rate for immigrants from 35% to 10% in 2001.

At first there was a gentlemen's agreement among political leaders that immigration and ethnicity were not to become political issues. That ended and Dutch politics took a right-wing-populist turn following the emergence of Pim Fortuyn, the charismatic leader of a new party, and his assassination in 2002, followed by the ritual murder of anti-immigrant spokesman Theo van Gogh in 2004. Hostility to Islam has created an increasingly restrictive national immigration and integration policy. A policy of Europeanization rejects "multiculturalism" (which like pillarization would allow Muslins complete control over their schools) and instead calls for civic integration for new immigrants, who are expected to learn Dutch, accompanied by antidiscrimination laws to benefit settled immigrants and their children. The 1998 Newcomer Integration Law (Wet Inburgering Nieuwkomers, "WIN") obliges most non-EU immigrants to participate in a twelve-month integration course, consisting of six hundred hours of Dutch language instruction, civic education, and preparation for the labor market. An immigrant must pass an integration test to get or renew a residence permit.

Historiography

The pioneering cultural historian Johan Huizinga (1872-1945), author of The Autumn of the Middle Ages (1919) (an earlier translation in English was called The Waning of the Middle Ages) and Homo Ludens" A Study of the Play Element in Culture (1935), which expanded the field of cultural history and foreshadowed the historical anthropology of younger historians of the Annales School. He was influenced by art history and advised historians to trace "patterns of culture" by studying "themes, figures, motifs, symbols, styles and sentiments."

The "polder model" continues to dominate both Dutch politics and historiography. The polder model strongly emphasizes the need for consensus and discourages debate and dissent in both academia and politics - in contrast to the highly developed, intense debates in Germany.

The H-Net list H-Low-Countries is published free by email and is edited by scholars. Its occasional messages serve an international community with diverse methodological approaches, archival experiences, teaching styles, and intellectual traditions, promotes discussion relevant to the Low Countries as a whole and to the different national histories in particular, with an emphasis on the Netherlands. H-Low-Countries offers conference announcements, questions and discussions; reviews of books, journals, and articles; and tables of contents of journals on the history of the Low Countries (in both Dutch and English).

Once heralded as the leading event of modern Dutch history, the Dutch revolt lasted 1568-1648, and historians have worked to interpret it for even longer. Cruz (2007) explains the major points of contention and schools of thought surrounding interpretations of the deeper meaning of the Dutch bid for independence from Spanish rule. While the intellectual milieus of late-19th- and 20th-century certainly left their mark on historical interpretations of this event, Cruz argues that writings about the revolt distinctively trace changing perceptions of the role played by small countries in the history of Western civilization. As is true in most contemporary historical scholarship, there are no more grand narratives for encompassing the Dutch revolt in its entirety, but Cruz points to future directions for understanding the revolt in its wider contexts, whether European or global. Dutch and Belgian historiography since 1945 has moved away from seeing the revolt as the culmination of a long and inevitable process leading to independence. Instead historians examine the varied political and economic characters of the towns and provinces and on the weaknesses of attempts at centralization by the Habsburg rulers. The most important innovations have been in demographic and economic history, though the relationship between economics and political events remains controversial. The religious aspects of the revolt have been studied in terms of mentalities, exposing the minority position of Calvinism, while the international aspects have been studied more seriously by foreign historians than by the Dutch themselves.

Pieter Geyl ((1887-1966)) was the leading historian of the Dutch Revolt, and a highly influential professor at the University of London (1919-1935) and at the State University of Utrecht (1935-57). He wrote a six-volume history of the Dutch-speaking peoples.The Nazis imprisoned him in World War II. In his political views, Geyl adopted the views of the 17th-century Dutch Louvestein faction, led by Johan van Oldenbarneveldt (1547-1619) and Johan de Witt (1625-72). It stood for liberty, toleration, and national interests in contrast to the Orange stadholders who sought to promote their own self-interest. According to Geyl, the Dutch Republic reached the peak of its powers during the 17th century. He was also a staunch nationalist and suggested that Flanders could split off from Belgium and join the Netherlands. Later he decried what he called radical nationalism and stressed more the vitality of Western Civilization. Geyl was highly critical of the world history approach of Arnold J. Toynbee.

Jan Romein (1893-1962) created a "theoretical history" in an attempt to reestablish the relevance of history to public life in the 1930s at a time of immense political uncertainty and cultural crisis, when, in Romein's view, history had become too inward-looking and isolated from other disciplines. Romein, a Marxist, felt that history must contribute to social improvement. At the same time, influenced by the successes of theoretical physics and his study of Oswald Spengler, Arnold J. Toynbee, F. J. Teggart, and others, he spurred on the development of theoretical history in the Netherlands, to the point where it became a subject in its own right at the university level after the war. Romein used the term integral history as a substitute for cultural history and focused his attention on the period around the turn of the century. He concluded that a serious crisis occurred in European civilization in 1900 because of the rise of anti-Semitism, extreme nationalism, discontent with the parliamentary system, depersonalization of the state, and the rejection of positivism. European civilization waned as the result of this crisis which was accompanied by the rise of the United States, the Americanization of the world, and the emergence of Asia. His interpretation is reminiscent of that of his mentor Johan Huizinga and was criticized by his colleague Pieter Geyl.

Bibliography

Guides

• DK. Amsterdam (2008) excerpt and text search
• DK. Netherlands (2008) excerpt and text search
• Lonely Planet the Netherlands (2007) excerpt and text search
• Michelin the Green Guide Netherlands (2007) excerpt and text search

Current conditions

• Delsen, Lei. Exit Polder Model? Socioeconomic Changes in the Netherlands (2002) online edition
• Mathijs, Ernest, ed. The Cinema of the Low Countries. (2004). 268 pp.
• Vuijsje, Herman. The Politically Correct Netherlands: Since the 1960s. (2000). 244 pp.
• White, Colin, et al. The Undutchables: An Observation of the Netherlands, Its Culture And Its Inhabitants (2005)

History surveys

• Arblaster, Paul. A History of the Low Countries. (2006). 298 pp.
• Blok, Petrus Johannes. History of the People of the Netherlands (5 vol 1898-1912) famous classic; part 1 to 1500, online from Google; part 2 to 1559. online from Google; part 3: The War with Spain 1559-1621, online from Google; part 4 on Golden Age online from Google; online edition from Google, vol 5 on 18th and 19th century
• Blom, J. C. H. and E. Lamberts, eds. History of the Low Countries (2006) 504pp excerpt and text search; also complete edition online
• Hooker, Mark T. The History of Holland 1999) 264pp excerpt and text search
• Israel, Jonathan. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806 (1995) a major synthesis; complete online edition; also excerpt and text search
• Kossmann, E. H. The Low Countries 1780-1940 (1978)
• van Oostrom, Frits, and Hubert Slings. A Key to Dutch History (2007)
• Pirenne, Henri. Belgian Democracy, Its Early History (1910, 1915) 250 pp. history of towns in the Low Countries online free
• Rietbergen, P.J.A.N. A Short History of the Netherlands. From Prehistory to the Present Day. 5th ed. Amersfoort: Bekking, 2002. ISBN 9061094402
• Vlekke, Bernard H. M. Evolution of the Dutch Nation (1945) 382 pp. online edition

Dutch revolt

• Cruz, Laura. "The 80 Years' Question: the Dutch Revolt in Historical Perspective." History Compass 2007 5(3): 914-934. Issn: 1478-0542 Fulltext: History Compass
• Darby, Graham. The Origins and Development of the Dutch Revolt (2001), 208pp online edition; also excerpt and text search
• Geyl, Pieter. History of the Dutch Speaking Peoples 1555-1648 (new edition 2001)
• Geyl, Pieter. The Revolt of the Netherlands: 1555-1609 (1958), still considered the definitive account of the Revolt online edition
• Israel, Jonathan. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806 (1995) a major synthesis; complete online edition; also excerpt and text search
• Koenigsberger, H. G. Monarchies, States Generals and Parliaments: The Netherlands in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. (2002). 381 pp.

excerpt and text search

• Nierop, H. F. K. The Nobility of Holland: From Knights to Regents, 1500-1650 (2nd ed. 1993) excerpt and text search
• Motley, John Lothrop. The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-84 (2 vol. 1856) Gutenberg editions online and History of the United Netherlands, 1584-1609 (4 vol., 1860–67) Gutenberg editions online
  • Robert Wheaton, "Motley and the Dutch Historians." New England Quarterly 1962 35(3): 318-336. in Jstor </ref> The
• Parker, Geoffrey. The Dutch Revolt (1977), 327pp
• Tracy, James. The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572-1588 (2008) excerpt and text search
• Cambridge Modern History (1904-1908)
  • Rev. George Edmundson, "The Revolt of the Netherlands". Vol 3 ch 62
  • Rev. George Edmundson, "William the Silent" vol 3 ch 7;
  • Rev. George Edmundson, "The Dutch Republic," vol 3 ch 19;
  • Hugh E. Egeuton, "The Transference of Colonial Power. To the United Provinces and England." (1906) vol 4 ch 25;
  • Rev. George Edmundson, "The Administrations of John De Witt and William of Orange. (1651-88)," (1908) vol 5 ch 7;
  • J. H. Tannee, "The Anglo-Dutch Wars" vol 5 ch 8

Specialty studies

• Abbenhuis, Maartje M. The Art of Staying Neutral: The Netherlands in the First World War, 1914-1918. (2006). 423 pp.
• Blom, Hans. "The Persecution of Jews in the Netherlands: A Comparative Western European Perspective," European History Quarterly, 19 (1989), 333–351, re Holocaust in World War II
• Green-Pedersen, Christoffer. The Politics of Justification: Party Competition and Welfare-State Retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998 (2002) online edition
• Gunn, Steven, David Grummitt, and Hans Cools. War, State, and Society in England and the Netherlands 1477-1559 (2008) excerpt and text search
• Hirschfeld, Gerhard. Nazi Rule and Dutch Collaboration: The Netherlands under German Occupation, 1940–1945 (1988)
• Jacob, Margaret C., and Wijnand W. Mijnhardt, eds. The Dutch Republic in the Eighteenth Century Decline, Enlightenment and Revolution,(1992)
• Joppke, Christian. "Transformation of Immigrant Integration: Civic Integration and Antidiscrimination in the Netherlands, France, and Germany, World Politics 59.2 (2007) 243-273 in Project Muse
• Koopmans, Ruud, et al. Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe (2005) excerpt and text search
• Lijphart, Arend. The Politics of Accomodation. Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands (2nd ed. 1975), on pillarization
• Moore, Bob. Victims and Survivors: The Nazi Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands 1940-1945. (1997). 340 pp.
• Prak, Maarten Roy. The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century. (2005). 317 pp.
• Price, J. L. Holland and the Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Politics of Particularism (1994) online edition
• Vandenbosch, Amry. Dutch Foreign Policy since 1815: A Study in Small Power Politics (1959) online edition

Cultural and social studies

• Avci, Gamze. "Comparing Integration Policies and Outcomes: Turks in the Netherlands and Germany." Turkish Studies 2006 7(1): 67-84. Issn: 1468-3849 Fulltext: Ebsco
• Berkel, Klaas van; VanHelden, Albert; and Palm, Lodewijk, eds. A History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference. (1999). 659 pp.
• Blom, J. C. H.; Fu ks-Manfield, R. G.; and Schoffer, I., eds. The History of the Jews in the Netherlands. (2002). 508 pp.
• Corwin, E.T. "Holland," The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, (1914) 5:319-22, details on Protestant churches
• Dekker, Rudolf. Childhood, Memory and Autobiography in Holland: From the Golden Age to Romanticism. (2001). 174 pp.
• Goudriaan, Koen et al, eds. Education and Learning in the Netherlands, 1400-1600: Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens (2004) online edition
• Grijzenhout, Frans and Veen, Henk van, eds. The Golden Age of Dutch Painting in Historical Perspective. (1999). 333 pp.
• Hsia, R. Po-Chia, and Henk Van Nierop, eds. Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age (2002) online edition
• Israel, Jonathan, and Reinier Salverda. Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000) (2002) online eedition
• Kiers, Judikje and Tissink, Fieke. The Golden Age of Dutch Art: Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Art. (2000). 366 pp.
• Lucassen, Leo. "Bringing Structure Back In: Economic and Political Determinants of Immigration in Dutch Cities, 1920-1940," Social Science History 26#3, Fall 2002, pp. 503-529 in Project Muse
• Mak, Geert. Amsterdam: Brief Life of the City. (2000). 352 pp.
• Mathijs, Ernest, ed. The Cinema of the Low Countries. (2004). 268 pp.
• Muizelaar, Klaske and Phillips, Derek. Picturing Men and Women in the Dutch Golden Age: Paintings and People in Historical Perspective. (2003). 246 pp.
• Muller, Sheila D. Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia. (1997). 489 pp.
• O'Brien, Patrick Karl; Keene, Derek J.; Wee, Herman Van der; and Hart, Marjolein t', eds. Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam and London. (2001). 361 pp. excerpt and text search
• Oostindie, Gert, and Bert Paasman. "Dutch Attitudes Towards Colonial Empires, Indigenous Cultures, and Slaves," Eighteenth-Century Studies 31#3, Spring 1998, pp. 349-355 in Project Muse
• Poppel, F. W. A. van, and Hugo Roling. "Physicians and Fertility Control in the Netherlands," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 34#2 Autumn 2003, pp. 155-185 in Project Muse
• Price, J. L. Dutch Society, 1588-1713. (2000). 306 pp.
• Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. ISBN 0394510755. Very well written survey excerpt and text search
• Schenkeveld, Maria A. Dutch Literature in the Age of Rembrandt: Themes and Ideas (1991).
• Smith, Jeffrey Chipps. The Northern Renaissance. (2004). 447 pp.
• Westermann, Mariet. A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic, 1585-1718 (2005) excerpt and text search
• Wintle, Michael. An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800-1920: Demographic, Economic and Social Transition. (2000). 399 pp. online edition

Dutch Empire and economic history

• Andrade, Tonio. "The Rise and Fall of Dutch Taiwan, 1624-1662: Cooperative Colonization and the Statist Model of European Expansion." Journal of World History 2006 17(4): 429-450. Issn: 1045-6007 Fulltext: Project Muse
• Arasaratnam, Sinnappah. Ceylon and the Dutch, 1600-1800: External Influences and Internal Change in Early Modern Sri Lanka (1996), 332pp
• Aymard, Maurice, ed. Dutch Capitalism and World Capitalism (1982).
• Beekman, E. M. Troubled Pleasures: Dutch Colonial Literature from the East Indies, 1600-1950. (1996). 654 pp.
• Bogucka M. "Amsterdam and the Baltic in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century", Economic History Review, 2nd ser. 26 (1973), 433-47. in JSTOR
• Boxer C. R. The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1660-1800 (1965).
• Dash, Mike. Tulipomania. The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. London: Victor Gollancz, 1999. ISBN 0575067233. Very entertaining and informative book about tulips and the Dutch in the 17th century
• Emmer, Pieter. The Dutch in the Atlantic Economy, 1580-1880: Trade, Slavery and Emancipation. (1998). 283 pp.
• Foray, Jennifer L. "The Kingdom Shall Rise Again: Dutch Resistance, Collaboration, and Imperial Planning in the German-Occupied Netherlands." PhD dissertation Columbia U. 2007. 550 pp. DAI 2007 68(1): 309-A. DA3249079 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Gouda, Frances. Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies, 1900-1942 (1995) online edition
• Israel, Jonathan I. Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585-1740 (1989) 462 pgs. online edition
• Jones, Geoffrey. Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. (2006). 447 pp.
• Klerck, E. S. De History of the Netherlands Indies, (2 vols. Rotterdam, 1938)
• Lesger, Cle. The Rise of the Amsterdam Market And Information Exchange: Merchants, Commercial Expansion And Change in the Spatial Economy of the Low Countries, (2006) excerpt and text search
• Moore, Bob and Nierop, Henk van, eds. Colonial Empires Compared: Britain and the Netherlands, 1750-1850. (2003). 204 pp.
• Ormrod, David. The Rise of Commercial Empires: England and the Netherlands in the Age of Mercantilism, 1650-1770. (2003). 400 pp.
• Palmer, Leslie H. Indonesia and the Dutch (1962) online edition
• Postma, Johannes The Dutch in the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1600-1815 (1990), says Dutch dominated the Atlantic slave trade 1636-89
• Rowen, Herbert H. The Princes of Orange: The Stadholders in the Dutch Republic (1990) excerpt and text search
• Sluyterman, Keetie E. Dutch Enterprise in the Twentieth Century: Business Strategies in a Small Open Economy (2005) online edition
• Unger, Richard W. "Herring, Technology, and International Trade in the Seventeenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jun., 1980), pp. 253-280 in JSTOR
• Unger, Richard W. A History of Brewing in Holland, 900-1900: Economy, Technology and the State. (2001) 428 pp.
• Van Hoesel, Roger, and Rajneesh Narula. Multinational Enterprises from the Netherlands (1999) online edition
• Veenendaal, Augustus. Railways in the Netherlands: A Brief History. (2001) 235 pp.
• Vink, Markus. "'The World's Oldest Trade': Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century," Journal of World History 24.2 (2003) 131-177 in Project Muse
• Vries, Jan de, and Ad van der Woude. The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500-1815. (1997). 767 pp.
  • Arthur van Riel, "Review: Rethinking the Economic History of the Dutch Republic: The Rise and Decline of Economic Modernity Before the Advent of Industrialized Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 1996), pp. 223-229 in JSTOR
• Wintle, Michael. An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800-1920: Demographic, Economic and Social Transition. (2000). 399 pp. online edition
• Zanden, Jan Luiten and Riel, Arthur van. The Strictures of Inheritance: The Dutch Economy in the Nineteenth Century. (2004). 384 pp.

Historiography

• Blom, J. C. H. "Ludovico Locuto, Porta Aperta: Enige Notities over Deel XII En XIII Van L. De Jongs Koninkrijk Der Nederlanden in De Tweede Wereldoorlog." [After Louis Spoke, Everything Was Clear: Some Notes on Volumes 12 and 13 of Louis De Jong's Kingdom of the Netherlands in World War Ii]. Bijdragen En Mededelingen Betreffende De Geschiedenis Der Nederlanden 1990 105(2): 244-264. Issn: 0165-0505 review of a great masterpiece.
• Buyst, Erik; Smits, Jan Pieter; and Zanden, Jan Luiten Van. "National Accounts for the Low Countries, 1800-1990." Scandinavian Economic History Review 1995 43(1): 53-76. Issn: 0358-5522 focus on data for 1921-39 and rates of industrialization during the first half of the 19th century
• Cruz, Laura. "The 80 Years' Question: the Dutch Revolt in Historical Perspective." History Compass 2007 5(3): 914-934. Issn: 1478-0542 Fulltext: History Compass
• Duke, A. C. and Tamse, C. A., eds. Clio's Mirror: Historiography in Britain and the Netherlands. Zutphen, Netherlands: De Walburg, 1985. 238 pp.
• Gijswijt-hofstra, Marijke. "The European Witchcraft Debate and the Dutch Variant." Social History 1990 15(2): 181-194. Issn: 0307-1022
• Linden, Marcel van der, and Jan Lucassen. "Social History in the Netherlands." Tijdschrift Voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1997 23(2): 209-222. Issn: 0303-9935. Argues Social history has been thriving since the 1970s, with representation from all stylistic and methodological approaches, albeit with weak theory. No major shifts from the qualitative to the quantitative or from statistical series to microhistory have taken place. Pluralism and eclecticism seem to be the rule
• Schmidt, Ariadne. "Vrouwenarbeid in De Vroegmoderne Tijd in Nederland," [Women's Work in the Early Modern Netherlands]. Tijdschrift Voor Sociale En Economische Geschiedenis 2005 2(3): 2-21. Issn: 1572-1701
• Snelders, H. A. M. "History of Science Today, 2. History of Science in the Netherlands," The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Jul., 1987), pp. 343-348 in JSTOR
• Voerman, Gerrit. "De Stand Van De Geschiedschrijving Van De Nederlandse Politieke Partijen" [The State of Historiography on Dutch Political Parties]. Bijdragen En Mededelingen Betreffende De Geschiedenis Der Nederlanden 2005 120(2): 226-269. Issn: 0165-0505
• Vries, Jan de. "Measuring the Impact of Climate on History: The Search for Appropriate Methodologies," Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 10, No. 4, (Spring, 1980), pp. 599-630; uses meteorological data to generate correlations between climate and dairy production, arable crop yields, canal transportation, and fuel prices, 17th-18th centuries. in JSTOR

Online resources

• International Institute of Social History (IISH)
• History of the Netherlands, introduction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Dutch revolt: maps

References

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