The History of the Netherlands

Few countries have fought as persistently against both nature and political domination as the Netherlands. Its earliest inhabitants left megalithic tombs on the sandy uplands while the Romans drew their northern frontier along the Rhine, facing Batavian tribes whose revolt in 69 AD became part of national myth. Medieval Franks, Frisians, and Saxons gave way to feudal counties that gradually came under Burgundian and then Habsburg control, bringing with them the full weight of 16th century religious conflict. The Dutch Revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule was one of the defining struggles of early modern Europe. The northern provinces declared independence in 1581 and founded a republic that would spend its Golden Age building one of the most powerful commercial empires the world had seen. The VOC traded across Asia, Rembrandt and Vermeer painted in Amsterdam, and Dutch scientists pushed the boundaries of knowledge. After Napoleon reshaped Europe, the Congress of Vienna created the Kingdom of the Netherlands, uniting north and south in a fragile arrangement that broke apart in 1830 when Belgium declared independence.