Netherlands
| The Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
| Nederland | |
 | |
| Established | Treaty of Vienna (1814) |
| Capital | The Hague Amsterdam |
| Largest City | Amsterdam |
| Government Type | Constitutional Monarchy |
| Languages |
|
| Currency | Gulden |
The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland), officially the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is a country primarily located in Western Europe with numerous small overseas territories. The European Netherlands consists of 15 provinces, bordering Rhenia to the east, France to the southwest, and the North Sea.
The European part of the Netherlands is one of the three constituent countries of the kingdom, the two others being Ceylon, New Batavia. Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and nominal capital, while Antwerp is the second busiest port in Europe.
The Netherlands is home to the largest diaspora of Southeast Asians resulting from colonialism in Southeast Asia and the East Indies Independence Crisis in the late 20th century. After the fight for independence in the Dutch East Indies, nearly two million Southeast Asian refugees entered the Netherlands, culturally reshaping the country. By the 21st century, they have already integrated and have contributed to Dutch society, setting Dutch culture apart from its neighbors.
Terminology
In English, the country is also known as Holland. The term specifically refers to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the lowlands. The adjectival form "Hollandic" refers to ideas and things related to European Netherlands, as opposed to Dutch, which could refer to the entire kingdom and its three constituent countries as a whole. Hollandic is also the name of the standard dialect of Dutch, setting it apart from other dialects like Afrikaans-Dutch and Amerikaens-Dutch (until it was considered a separate language in 1910).
History
(Post 1900s history WIP)
Grote Depressie
A period of turbulence following the east indies crisis lasting from 1976 to 2001
After the East Indies crisis and the rapid and sudden influx of nearly 2 million Indo’s, Chinese, and Malayans, combined with the loss of the colony, the death that has been caused to it, and the damage that had been done to the youth of the nation and then eventually it all being for nothing, this resulted in a large so-called great national depression for the Netherlands. This period lasting from 1976 until 2001 could best be described as a period of great, social, economic, cultural, and even physical change for the Netherlands, it was a period of reform, of descent, of the political instability of even in some cases armed conflict yet it was a period in which the Netherlands and what it meant to be Dutch was redefined. It was a period that for many looking back on it while it was far from stable it was a period that was in some cases needed to reshape a nation so lost of purpose and give it new life.
Will see a rewrite:
Political opposition backlash WIP
The Indo question
The interesting this I think is politics and the political implications. You will probably see a push back as you said the rural and more "forgotten" east provinces to immigrants likely creating a right-wing anti-immigration, anti-interventionist, and maybe federation-skeptic (read doesn't like the KotNL federation) voting bloc and in contrast on the other side a pro-federation, a cosmopolitan voting bloc made up of a coalition of former vets and assimilated refugees.
Additionally, another group that might form is a young social movement maybe up of 2nd generation immigrants who are big into social-liberalism, anti-racism, and college activism.
With the east indies crisis, or the “Indiesche oorlog” dwindling down in 1976, the Netherlands who had fought for 16 years, send 3.5 million men to fight there, has lost over half a million of its own young men, found itself in a turbulent position, while the Haverman goverment won the reelection of 1978, they had lost seats. They still held a majority but their handling of the evacuation and the fact that the war still took away many conscripts that could not vote lost them 6 seats, as well as due to the economic situation becoming rapidly. Thus the Netherlands while politically stable enough, was economically unstable which combined with the scaling down of the military and people losing jobs in related war industries. Another major issue was of course the 2,190,102 Chinese, Malayan and Eurasian refugees that had come to the nation.
Housing was provided but it was haphazard and sometimes straight-up not sufficient, the use of army barracks, empty houses, large camps all were used to house this unprecedented number of people. There was a major issue in that legally all of these people were Dutch citizens and could vote thus they could not be sent back and thus a long-term permanent solution had to be found. This was however harder than initially suspected, originally plans were thrown around to expand some cities in the Eastern provinces a bit to house them and that was it. Yet after a commission had been created it became clear that such an action was not sustainable. In fact, it was clear that the current Dutch economy simply put was not sustainable nor was the current construction culture, urban planning culture, and even land usage, all were found to be not sustainable in a timeframe of 40 years. It was clear something needed to change and for that reason, another commission was created by the Haverman cabinet in 1979. This commission had a simple goal, find a long-term solution to the Netherlands her current problem of housing people and how to integrate it properly with a long-term sustainable economy & housing policy.
Yet before the plan was even done, political trouble started to arise in the provinces of Drenthe, Overijssel, and Gelderland. This was as a journalist uncovered the initially thrown around ideas, of expanding the cities in those provinces at the expense of the Farmers. This seemed to lit a fuse on a tinderbox. This had been coming with hindsight for some time, as those farmers and townspeople were opposite to those in Holland that supported the refugees, as they, in fact, saw it as reverse colonialization and a start of the end of the Dutch identity. While it was not more than some resentment in those three provinces on January 7th, 1980 it became apparent just how serious those people thought it was.
Siege of Lemele
The start of the great change and great troubles
Lemelle was a small town in Overijssel and had nothing of note before the siege, yet on the 7th of January after weeks of political agitations and seemingly being ignored farmers, local people and conservatives made a move unthought of just a week prior. During a convention in the small sleepy town, which was rumored to be turned into a so-called “Indo hub” rumors were later found to be untrue but it did not matter. These people numbering some 1200 total many of them farmers who feared their land to be taken away, stormed the town because it was in fact a weapons dump for the Landmacht. They stormed the town overwhelmed the small security garrison and then, in fact, took it hostage, these members were extremists by all accounts yet their actions signified something of that time, a lack of communication between the government and the people.
What followed was that the extremist known as the “Nederlandse Volks Bescherming” or NVB, fortified the town and ransomed the 450 or so people living in it. Yet the problem was that they were dealing with the government and a security apparatus that came out of a brutal conflict and had long since lost any humanity, according to journalists at least. All of the NVB attempts to negotiate failed, yet their cause gained a mass following as many did not agree with the cosmopolitan view of many of those in Holland, the veterans, and seemingly the goverment.
The NVB tried to negotiate yet failed at every turn and by the 10th of January, the entire town was surrounded by the Marchausee, armed to the teeth with tanks, armored vehicles, and all their soldiers fully equipped as those one could see in the news from the East Indies Crisis. By the 12th of January, it was quite clear that the government was not going to negotiate and that the Marchausee was going to end it.
Battle of Lemele
On the 13th of January 1980, the Marchausee stormed the town and what followed was a short but brutal purge in some way. the Marchaussee having seen combat in the East Indies Crisis, had many combat veterans in its service during the besieging, veterans that were used to killing and only killing. Thus when the siege ended 370 people were dead and 900 were arrested, of which 400 were in critical conditions. This sends a shockwave through the Netherlands made it clear that reform would be needed, but also that some form of open discussion between all parties involved was needed if the Netherlands was to survive this situation they found themselves in.
The talks of 1980
Through 1980 the year was marked with a worsening economic situation yet for the first time open talks between all parties involved on what the future of the Netherlands would mean. These talks led everybody talked and while the NVB continued in erratic actions sometimes hostages and strikes, they never had the steam again that they first enjoyed. These talks lasting a year and eventually, through long talks a compromise was reached a consent would be eventually be seen as the most important thing in modern Dutch history.
De Compromis van 1980
De Compromis van 1980 was a detailed plan presented by the Haverman government to the house of parliament and to the people, it detailed the draining of the Zuiderzee, Waddenzee, the rebuilding and restructuring of the Dutch housing construction policy, redevelopment of infrastructure the economy, and all other things all with the aim of making it long term sustainable.
This would eventually see cities redeveloped, agriculture redeveloped, the Dutch skyline changing forever, and the rise of the new cities and new urban area’s known for their high rises, carless almost layouts, public transport clean energy, and the image of an almost never-ending skyline in some areas of the nation and it would mark the beginning of the changing of Dutch culture forever.
Esteblishment of de Lands ontwikkelings commisie
Geography
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the European Netherlands has a total area of (insert number) km2, including water bodies; and a land area of (insert numbers) km2.The Caribbean Netherlands has a total area of 328 km2 (127 sq mi) It lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N, and longitudes 3° and 8° E.
The European Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is a mostly flat country, with roughly 31% of its area and 39% of its population located below sea level and only about 50% of its land exceeding one meter above sea level. The European mainland is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast that stretch to a height of no more than 321 meters; additionally there are some low hill ranges in the central region of the country. Most regions below sea level are man-made, caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation. Since the late 16th century, through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes, canals and pumping stations, large areas of coastal land were reclaimed from the sea (known as polders). Today nearly 23% of the country's land area is reclaimed from the sea and from lakes.
Much of the country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers: the Rhine (Rijn), the Meuse (Maas) and the Scheldt (Schelde), as well as their tributaries. These three rivers create the largest river delta in the country which also creates the whole south-western geographic region of the Netherlands, the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. The European Netherlands is divided into north and south by the Rhine, the Waal, its main tributary branch, and the Meuse. In the past, these rivers functioned as a natural barrier between fiefdoms and have historically created a cultural divide, this is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognizable on either side of what the Dutch call their "Great Rivers" (de Grote Rivieren). Another significant branch of the Rhine, the IJssel river, discharges into Lake IJssel, the former Zuiderzee ('southern sea'). Just like the previous, this river forms a linguistic divide: people to the northeast of this river speak Dutch Low Saxon dialects (except for the province of Friesland, which has its own language).
Government and politics
The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815, and due to the efforts of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke became a parliamentary democracy in 1848. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterized by an effort to achieve broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole. On top of that, the Netherlands itself is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which is often described as a unique state.
The monarch is the head of state, Constitutionally, the position is equipped with limited powers. By law, the monarch has the right to be periodically briefed and consulted on government affairs. Depending on the personalities and relationships of the monarch and the ministers, the monarch might have influence beyond the power granted by the Constitution of the Netherlands. The majority of said influence comes from the overall popular status the monarchy holds within Dutch society.
The executive power is formed by the Council of Ministers, the deliberative organ of the Dutch cabinet. The cabinet usually consists of 13 to 16 ministers and a varying number of state secretaries including 3 ministers each from the other constituent countries. The head of government is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,, who often is the leader of the largest party of the coalition. The Prime Minister is a primus inter pares, with no explicit powers beyond those of the other ministers with some exceptions. The Prime Minister had been the leader of the largest party of the governing coalition continuously since 1973. Due to a constitutional amendment, the prime minister is the person with executive authority over the use of military force for a period of 190 days. In relation to the kingdom of the Netherlands and her other two countries, each of the two other constituent countries sends its ministers to the Netherlands her council of ministers which in turn together forms the executive body of the Netherlands.
The cabinet is responsible for the bicameral parliament, which also has legislative powers. The 150 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house, are elected in direct elections on the basis of party-list proportional representation. These are held every four years, or sooner in case the cabinet falls (for example: when one of the chambers carries a motion of no confidence, the cabinet offers its resignation to the monarch). The States-Provincial are directly elected every four years as well. The members of the provincial assemblies elect the 75 members of the Senate, the upper house, which has the power to reject laws, but not proposes or amend them. Both houses send members to the OVL Parliament, a consultative council.
Political culture
Structure of the Kingdom
Structure of the Kingdom of the Netherlands circa 1990:
The kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden;) commonly known as the Netherlands, or Dutch union, is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territories in Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia and with several cities scattered around Asia & Africa and small island territories scattered around the world. While the majority of its land area is in Asia the largest and most densely populated part of the kingdom is in Europe, in the Netherlands proper as it is called.
The three constituent countries of the Kingdom—The Netherlands, Nieuw Batavia, and Ceylon. They participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom, while the smaller cities and islands operate either as counties within constituent countries of the Kingdom or are special districts, this may vary. Due to the wide diversity of the population, land area economic power, and military power, the kingdom has developed institutions that are a blend of federal confederation methods of governance being a sui generis.
Confederation in the sense that the constituent countries have their parliament and limited powers, federal due to a common foreign policy military police, and economic policy. From a practical perspective within the Kingdom, the Netherlands is the premier source of tax revue, economic power, military force, and governance. This often in practice leaves the Netherlands to decide the common policies of the Kingdom.
Despite this structures are in place such as the Raad der Staaten, which consists of the elected leaders of the three constituent countries and is presided over by the monarch. This body dictates common foreign policy and economic policy, however, due to the balance of power the Dutch side often has a stronger voice. However, all members of the kingdom have an equal say in policy and have a great deal of domestic autonomy with their parliaments and constituents. This is a unique structure that some say is only possible due to modern technologies and a shared history and economic & military dependency upon each other.
The vast majority of the nation’s land area is located in Oceania in Nieuw Batavia while the Netherlands is the economic and population juggernaut of the Kingdom, with Ceylon being second. There are several city enclaves around the world that have special autonomous status and are equal to the constituent countries in most factors. The total population of the Kingdom is roughly around 58 million.