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What was the post-war Netherlands like?

In the 17th century, the Netherlands was known as the sea coachman and dominated the sea, but it declined after the two wars between England, the Netherlands, France and the Netherlands. The Netherlands established a constitutional monarchy in 1848 and remained neutral in both world wars. Joined NATO after the war to develop the economy.

Decline

In the late 17th century, the Netherlands fought with Britain and France successively. The Netherlands lost to the United Kingdom at sea (the Anglo-Dutch War), and the Netherlands lost to France on the land (the French-Dutch War), thus declining. In 1795, the Netherlands was occupied by France, the Dutch Republic fell, and the Republic of Batavia, a puppet government of the First French Republic, was established.

After the 18th century, the Dutch colonial system gradually disintegrated. In 1806, Napoleon’s younger brother, Louis Bonaparte, became king, and the Netherlands was named a kingdom. Incorporated into France in 1810 and seceded from France in 1814. The following year, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg established the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830. It became a constitutional monarchy in 1848. Neutral during World War I and declared neutral at the beginning of World War II. Occupied by German troops in May 1940, the royal family and government moved to the United Kingdom and established a government-in-exile.

Post war

The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, unlike Belgium, which remained neutral but was still involved in the war. After the end of the First World War, all the participating countries in Europe fell into economic depression, and only neutral countries such as the Netherlands still maintained a relatively good economy. But the good times didn’t last long. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the world’s capitalist countries experienced a great economic depression, and the Netherlands was no exception. The economy has declined, but compared with other former warring countries, it is relatively much better. For example, after the end of the First World War in Germany, the Great Depression and the outbreak of the economic crisis will undoubtedly make things worse. Britain, France, Italy, and the same, the Soviet Union is not a capitalist economic model, so it does not decrease but increases.

By the beginning of World War II, the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany, and within a few hours, the Dutch government announced its surrender. During the years occupied by Germany, the economy of the Netherlands was plundered. After the war, it was as sluggish as other European countries. Later, the Netherlands joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the economy was booming like other NATO members.

Independence was restored in 1945, and after the war, it gave up its neutrality policy and joined NATO and the European Community and later the European Union. On December 15, 1954, the Netherlands passed the “HetStatuut”, which made the original colonies and dependencies of the Netherlands enjoy the same status as the Netherlands in the kingdom. Since then, the Kingdom of the Netherlands refers exclusively to the kingdom of the Netherlands and its former colonies, while “Netherlands” refers exclusively to the Netherlands in continental Europe. The Kingdom of the Netherlands currently consists of three parts, namely the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in continental Europe.

On November 22, 2006, the Netherlands held elections for the second house of parliament. Of the 150 seats, the Dutch Christian Democratic Union won 41 seats, the Dutch Labour Party won 32 seats, the Socialist Party won 26 seats, and the Liberal Democratic People’s Party won 22 seats. On February 22, 2007, the new Council of Ministers was sworn in, consisting of three parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Labour Party and the Christian Union, with Jan Peter Balkenende as Prime Minister. On March 28, 2015, the Netherlands joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. On November 28, 2016, the Netherlands and Belgium signed an agreement on border changes and territorial swaps between the two countries.