Kingdom of the Netherlands
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Ruler: Pieter Linden
Area: 16,000 SQM
Population: 6.2 million
The region of the Netherlands were first united to a degree after the roman conquest
of the southern end of the nation. The north had been mostly abandoned as the climate in
the area was very inhospitable but as the climate changed as the centuries went on,
Saxons eventually settled in the area. They established a Frisian kingdom in the mid seventh
century and they fought the franks on a regular basis over the cities. In the following century,
viking raids were constant and they weakened the overall French and German rule over the
area and the resistance, if any, came from local nobles which laid the foundation for
disintegration from Lothriania. When the region came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire,
the empire didn't have much political unity within the region. Counties like Holland, Colonge,
Uthrect, Brabant and others were mostly autonomous and held constant wars and personal unions between
them. By the start of the new Millennium, the economy of the area really flourished,
largely due to agricultural development and higher productivity, towns came up around
castles and monasteries, With this, some towns were able to buy certain privileges that made
them quasi-independent republics, especially in towns like Brugge and Antwerp. All of this
cultivated in the hook and cod wars, a series of conflicts between cities for dominance within
the area. This lasted for decades until the duke of Burgundy conquered Holland.
When Duke Charles the bold died at the battle of Nancy in 1477, the lands of the low countries were
divided between the Haspburgs and the French. The Spanish gained control of both the empire
and of the low countries by the mid 16th century. When the eighty year war started, the whole of the
seventeen provinces rebelled against the Spanish, but the northern seven provinces united together
in the treaty of Utrecht in which they committed to support each other in their defense against the
Spanish army. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the foundation of the modern Netherlands. In 1581, the
northern provinces adopted the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence in which the
provinces officially deposed Philip II of Spain as reigning monarch in the northern provinces.
They eventually gained full independence in 1648 and grew to be a major naval and colonial power,
having colonies established in Southern Africa, the Americas,
India and the far east. They eventually lost the land in India and South Africa, but held very
important and strategic territory in present day Indonesia. When the French Revolution occurred,
the nation was occupied and installed as the Batavan republic and saw four governmental changes
within four years. I would have loved to go into more detail about the Dutch history but I simply
lack the time. I encourage you to look it up yourself as I've barely scratched the service.
In August 1914 the Netherlands had been a neutral country for more than sixty years.
After the short-lived union with Belgium the Dutch had had to rethink their position in Europe
and the world at large. As a small European country with sizable colonial possessions,
the Netherlands had more to lose than to gain in any future European conflict.
The Netherlands opted for an independent, and armed neutrality. Dutch neutrality remained a
policy that consecutive governments chose to continue unlike some nations like Switzerland
where it was bound by the constitution; and armed in that the Dutch maintained an army to defend the
country against any possible violations of its neutrality. The image that the Dutch presented
to the world was that of the saturated state; the state that was content with the territory
it possessed and whose only interest was the preservation and the protection of the status quo.
After the unification of the Germany in 1871, and the following generations, realized that another
conflict between France and Germany was more then likely, and they made no secret that they were
pursuing armed neutrality, as an invasion through their territory would be a reasonable plan of
attack from either side. The Schlieffan plan, orchestrated by Germany chief of staff Alfred
Von Schlieffen, entailed just that. With an army invading through southern Netherlands, outflanking
Belgian defenses, then entering France. The premise underlying Dutch neutrality was
a firm belief in the balance of power, both in relation to the homeland and the
Dutch East Indies. Dutch political and military thinkers were convinced that their position was
so important that none of the European major powers would allow rivals to take possession
of the country or its colonies. Japan was seen as a potential threat against the East Indies,
but it was strongly believed that Britain would never allow this important colony
to fall into the hands of its major rival in the area, even though the two were allied.
In the years leading up to the war, the government spent between 20-30 percent
of their budget on defense. They modernized the New Holland Waterline and in 1874 started
construction of the Fortress Amsterdam, a national redoubt consisting of forty-two fortresses and
an inundation system around the nation s capital. This would be the country s last line of defense,
far away from the nation s borders. The military thinking behind this redoubt was that the Dutch
army would be able to hold out against an invading enemy for a maximum of six months,
by which time it was hoped that third party military assistance would bring relief.
The Dutch army was based off of the German army, with a mobile field army split into divisions.
Indeed, most of their arms were imported from Germany or Austria-Hungary. The army was also
split into groups, one mobile army who's object was to protect the nations border,
and a garrison army, that was to man the nations defenses. Both of these armies
were defensive in nature only, and lacked much in the way of offensive capabilities.
The field armies also lacked much in the way of heavy or modern artillery,
and the sieges guns in the forts had long needed an upgrade. This was further compounded by the
fact that the Dutch homeland lacked the ability to produce artillery shells in any substantial
amount and only had the industry to produce limited quantities of small arms ammunition.
Their European peace time army numbered some 90,000 men. Once the war broke out, this number
increased to 200,000. This number could be more than doubled and be ready to be put out onto
the field in just a few days. Another 50,000 men were stationed within national defenses like the
Waterlinie and the Defense line of Amsterdam. The European army had 2,000 artillery pieces of which
700 pieces were used in fortifications. In the home waters, they could muster 6 heavy destroyers,
a dozen cruisers, seven coastal defense ships 16 torpedo boats and a number of smaller craft.
The Dutch had around 60,000 men within its colonies, with the large majority of
them being in the East Indies. The army in the East Indies consisted of 30,000 regular troops
as well as 25,000 native troops, these men had access to around 400 artillery pieces, with only
60 of them being rapid fire. A large portion of their navy was stationed here as well, numbering
six submarines, 6 coastal defense ships, 8 light destroyers, 14 torpedo boats and 26 smaller craft.
As war broke out and neighboring Belgium was invaded, the southern end of the nation was
put into a state of war, with the field army deployed and defenses put into place. While the
war didn't come directly to the Dutch, refugees from it did. By the end of 1914, over one million
refugees entered into the nation from Belgian and France. They were placed all around the nation to
prevent the spread of disease and chaos as much as possible, and the population was largely welcoming
to these people. In Rotterdam for example, there were more locations offering locals
for refugees then were present. The Southern region of the Netherlands was also a hive mind
of smuggling activity, which the government attempted to prevent but to little effect.
The economy of the nation as with other neutrals, flattered heavily, as the Dutch didn't have a
large enough national merchant marine for it's own needs, so prices on all products rose. The
number of ships built did see an increase for a short period of time, but the lack of material
in the homeland made this rather difficult. The Netherlands was poor in natural resources and
imported food, fuel, and other materials, while more consumer goods like Coffee,
tea, and rubber was exported from their colonies. Shipments from the colonies had a major decrease,
and a good amount of imports had to go through British inspection before traveling to the
homeland, as they feared that goods coming in would go to the Germans, which they forbid. The
government was able to keep both sides more or less happy with equal exports between the two,
but the lack of resources coming from the colonies was a massive problem,
which was further worsened by un-resitricted submarine warfare.
With this in mind, The government was forced to implement bread and fuel rationing as 1916 wore
on, after already regulating the price of grain and its distribution. Dutch finance minister had
implemented a system that would create equal exports between the British and Germans in an
attempt to keep the economy going. Rationing was something they had attempted to prevent
rationing the years previous but the pricing was too inflated, and the continued exportation of
foodstuffs to Britain and Germany grew a large amount of resentment from the local population.
Rioting took place in Amsterdam in late 1917 when potatoes were exported to both powers for coal
and further ones occurred around the country when the crops failed and famine was a large fear. The
rioting turned into fears of revolution but the government was able to act accordingly,
and through agreements with the Entente, manged to start up food imports once again, and within days,
the threats of revolution which weren't all that serious, had been quelled. The new government in
1918 took the lessons from the previous war years, especially the lack of industry and raw materials,
and did what it could to develop these areas. This in turn allowed the Dutch export market to grow
substantially once regular imports and exports started up again. The Dutch GDP increase from 1913
to 1921 was higher then any of the warring nations as well as any of the neutral nations in Europe.