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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands (Der Nederlanden) have often been called Holland because
the province of Holland has been the most important politically and
economically for hundreds of years. It was later split into Noord or "North"
Holland and Zuid or "South" Holland. This densely populated region
includes The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Edam and Amsterdam.
Deventer is about 40 miles due east of Amsterdam. Friesland, named after
the Germanic Frisian tribe that settled there in the 5th century, is in the
northern coastal lowlands. Friesland has always been rather sparsely
populated, yet rarely conquered by outsiders due to the vast marshes and
peat bogs that once existed there.

The Netherland's name comes from the German description of the area as
"the low lands". A large portion of the country was below sea level, and
rising ocean waters periodically flooded and altered the land. The rivers
flooded annually. With great effort and ingenuity, land was reclaimed and
made useable in the Middle Ages by the construction of dykes. During the
period of 1100-1200 a series of storms flooded the country and created the
large inland sea called the Zuider-Zee. Scores of towns were submerged
and thousands perished. During the 1900's, 632 square miles of the Zuider
Zee were reclaimed and resettled. Centuries of dyke construction and
pumping have reclaimed vast areas of coastline from the sea and lowlands
from flooding. Some 40 percent of the nation is reclaimed land and 1/4 is
below sea level. This is remembered in the motto "God made the sea, but
the Dutch made Holland". Until the late 1800's, the world famous windmills
did the pumping of water. In the 1800's they peaked at nearly nine
thousand in operation. They were used for many purposes, including
grinding corn and cutting lumber. Some windmills are still functioning
today, though most are retained simply as historic landmarks. History
seems to repeat itself, as large numbers of modern wind turbines are now
used to generate electricity. The Dutch always focused their main energies
on international trade, shipping, farming and manufacturing. As you would
expect, they are the world's top hydraulic engineers. They are activists in
promoting energy efficiency and recycling. Their very lives will be at risk as
global warming causes the oceans to continue to rise.

For centuries, the separate provinces of the Netherlands were politically
aligned with the Holy Roman Empire, first assembled by Charlemagne about
800AD. Although a member of the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands
usually existed as several semi-autonomous municipalities and provinces.
The various rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were German, French, or
Spanish depending on their military might and favor with the Pope in Rome.
In the 1500's, when the Reformation was stirring in Europe, King Phillip of
Spain, acting as the Holy Roman Emperor and with the support of the Pope,

- Historical Background - page 1 -