The Romans 

At the time of the arrival of the Romans, the area was inhabited by various Germanic and Celtic tribes.

The first known inhabitants of the Netherlands were the Batavi, a population living on the lower Rhine.

Julius Caesar subdued the population and incorporated the area south into the Rhine into the Roman Empire. Here were first built forts and then cities like Utrecht and Maastricht.

The Frisians in the north were never subdued by the Romans but were influenced by their culture.

Saxons and Franks also settled there after the fall of the Roman Empire.

In the seventh century there are testimonies of the kingdom of Friesland with Utrecht as its center.

In the 8th century, the Franks annexed the region to the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne.

Between 800 and 1000 the Netherlands was sacked and occupied by the Vikings. They were defeated by Henry I of Saxony with the liberation of Utrecht.

Middle Ages

German kings dominated the Netherlands in the middle centuries of the Middle Ages. 

Most of the western Netherlands was virtually uninhabited during the Early Middle Ages. Around the year 1000 farmers from Flanders and the Utrecht area began the reclamation of the marshes. Once dried up they established farms there. This allowed the population of the present Holland which was previously largely uninhabited.

The advent of improved agricultural techniques led to a greater production of food that was not only enough to sustain but also opened up markets and foreign trade. Thus a Bourgeoisie was formed. 

The cities became increasingly independent, and after the division of the empire several semi-independent principalities were formed, in constant struggle with each other.

Most of the Netherlands, and parts of Belgium, were reunified under the Duchy of Burgundy.

During 1400 the Dutch trade developed rapidly, the Dutch naval fleet defended its trade and this made some of the country’s ports the most important in Europe.

From the Hapsburg to the Independence

The Netherlands, through inheritance and territorial conquests, became a possession of the Hapsburg dynasty. 

In 1548 Charles V granted the Netherlands the status of a separate entity with respect to the empire. 

Charles V’s successor was Philip II of Spain.

In the first half of the sixteenth century the Netherlands were an important part of the Spanish Empire, which could thus attack France from the north.

During 1500 the Protestant Reformation was imposed on the population of the Netherlands, while in Belgium it remained of Catholic faith . Philip II did not want a division between the peoples, he tried to stop the Protestants.

This led to local revolts, William of Orange’s run for cover in Germany, and the establishment of the Inquisition in the Netherlands.

In 1581 the seven northern provinces declared their independence.

The Dutch War of Independence is known as the Eighty Years’ War, of which the first fifty until 1618 against Spain, and then the other 30 were confused in the Thirty Years’ War that involved the entire European continent.

They gained independence with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. 

Colonialism

Despite the ongoing war for independence, Dutch ships were also active outside Europe, establishing colonies in India, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, the West Indies and also in North America where New York was founded by Dutch with the name of Nieuw Amsterdam. 

The new state advanced culturally and economically.

Although slavery was illegal in the Netherlands, it flourished strongly in the Dutch colonial empire. As early as 1619, the Dutch began to trade African slaves in America. Amsterdam itself became the European capital of the slave trade.

The end of 1600 was a debased year for the United Provinces. The Third Anglo-Dutch War broke out. Meanwhile France and some German princes invaded the Netherlands. William III of Orange became the head of state. 

The French invasion by land was prevented by flooding the country. Two peace treaties were signed with France and England

The years of William III as King of England, after he was called by the English Protestants, coincided with an English policy in favor of the United Provinces. The Anglo-Dutch alliance lasted even after his death.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was a great immigration in Dutch cities mainly for their wealth and tolerance.

In 1748 the post of regent was declared elective at the time of William IV of Orange. Holland remained relatively quiet until the French Revolution of 1789.

In the first XVIV it became part of the French Empire. The French occupation ended in 1813 after the defeat of Napoleon.

When the king fled to England he gave them the Dutch Indian colonies, thus marking the end of Dutch colonial power.

The modernization of The Netherlands 

Defeated Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna restored the state and gave the throne to William I of the Netherlands. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands now had two capitals: Amsterdam and Brussels.

William I was the key figure in the Dutch transition to the modern state. Enlightened and progressive ruler who understood the equality of all men before the law. William I promoted the modernization of the economy. The government of the state was in the hands of ministers of state chosen by the king. Economic liberalism and moderate authoritarianism accelerated the adaptation of the Netherlands to the socio-political conditions of the nineteenth century.

This situation did not last long. After several internal turmoil related to economics, language and religion. In 1830 Belgium gained independence with French help. A constitution was adopted that transformed the kingdom of the Netherlands into a parliamentary monarchy, limiting the power of the king and protecting civil liberties. 

In the late 19th century, during the second wave of European colonialism and imperialism, the Netherlands extended its control over Indonesia.

The Netherlands was unable to defend the territory in the event of war, so they chose to pursue a policy of neutrality. In the First World War this neutrality was respected and the conflict had only economic repercussions.

From the Great Depression to WWII

The Great Depression of 1929 affected the Netherlands more than many other European countries, causing poverty, unemployment and social unrest. The rise of Nazism in Germany began to worry the population in view of a new possible conflict.

In the historical context of the early 20th century, it is worth mentioning the important figure of Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929), one of the best known exponents of the Dutch feminist movement.

At the outbreak of World War II, the Netherlands again declared neutrality, but were occupied by Nazi Germany during the attack on France in 1940. The royal family, along with the government, managed to travel to the United Kingdom. The German occupation led to the deportation and death of over 100,000 Jews.

After the war until today 

Soon after the Japanese surrender, Indonesia proclaimed its independence, recognized by the government only in 1949.

In later years, the Netherlands also gave up the rest of its colonial empire, including New Guinea (1961) and Guyana (1975).

Subsequently, Dutch foreign policy is dominated by the commitment to create or strengthen international institutions. In addition to being part of the United Nations, the Netherlands is one of the founding members of NATO and of all the European institutions (ECSC, EEC) that have led to the present European Union, of which they are part. 

Moreover, since 1948 the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have formed an economic and customs union, the so-called Benelux, in a sense a precursor organization of the EU. In 1999 the Netherlands joined the Euro.

Today the Netherlands is one of the wealthiest and most advanced states not only in Europe but globally.