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The Dutch into the world. (history backgrounds)
The Netherlands were never an isolated island in the economic, social and political turmoil of history. During some periods in these last 1000 years or so, this was an immigration land, with people coming in by their hundreds of thousands. And I'm talking 16th - 17th century now, not just recent history.
And there were periods were people from these lands swarmed all over Europe and the world.
With the buttons on the left you can read about some of the countries affected.
People left for different reasons, under different names. But bear one constant factor in mind : only desperate people leave their homeland for a dangerous voyage into the unknown.
Roughly, there were three major periods of Dutch diaspora :
But first, one remark. "The Netherlands" what does that mean ?
It's common practice to equal The Netherlands and Holland. But Holland is only a part of the actual Netherlands, and these Netherlands are only a part of the historic Netherlands on the starting point of their reason of existence : the 80-years war of independence against Spain (1568-1648). Those Netherlands being roughly the actual Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Germany and northern France.
If you think this is confusing, you're very right. It's the same for many Dutch and Belgians, especially the Flemish who speak the same language. If people know anything at all about their common history, the view is very often biased and at least selective.
Simplified, you could see it this way : what started in the 1560-ies as a common revolt turned into a bloody civil war between north and south, with all the horrors, streams of refugies and traumatised memories. Then and in our times, just the same.
13th century: the sinking overpopulated land.
As explained on the pages sinking land and urban society, the ignorance of man led to a chain of events resulting in an ecological catastrophe and overpopulation. Especially after a series of apocalyptical floods people started to leave in their thousands.
Not as refugies only, some where invited because of their expertise : how to build dikes and canals, how to make new land from marshes and wetlands. They helped develop large areas in north and eastern Germany, the Wash in England, in Normandy and Brittany, and along the Gironde in southern France.
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16th and 17th century: struggle for independence
The United Netherlands, as they were called at the time, and especially the part that is now Belgium and northern France, was the most developed and richest region of Europe north of the Alps in the 16th century. With as trade and financial center first Bruges, later Antwerp.
It was in these densily populated parts that Reformation spread first. Rapidly and profoundly. To the growing dislike of the very Catholic king of Spain, who by marriage and inheritance also ruled the Netherlands. What's more, he also wanted to impose modern centralised government and taxations. Now that was something this collection of pretty independent regions and cities absolutely did not like. And as the king formally could not impose anything without approval of their sort of parliament, he had a problem. But what he did have was his strong military arm. A recipe for serious trouble.
Basically what happened was that the ruler gradually butchered his chicken with the golden eggs. Religious repression, unrest, ever higher taxes, revolts, more repression, war and destruction. A gliding downfall of production, trade, banking and business in general.
In short, the South remained occupied and a battle field. And economically died, with more than half of the surviving population fleeing, mainly to the north. That North became free and independent : the Golden Age of Holland in the making.
Towns like Amsterdam boomed with a giant influx of people, capital and knowledge, a good basis for exploration and expansion.
Consider that around 1600 almost half of the population of Amsterdam consisted of refugies. In other towns even more. Like in Leiden, some 70% of the population after a massive part of the Flemish textile industry moved there.
Desperate people coming in by their hundreds of thousands. And many sailing out again, with about one chance out of three of ever making it back...
Anyway, it was a combination of factors that led to a sudden expansion that startled the world. With the "Dutch" exploring, settling or creating bases in North and South America and the Caribean, (South) Africa and Asia, especially in India and Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China and Formosa, Korea and Japan.
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19th and 20th century: economic emigration.
The last two centuries saw waves of Dutch emigrating to Canada and the USA, South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand.
Mainly out of poverty, lack of land for farmers and lack of economic possibilities in general. In the 19th century also mixed with religious reasons, when large groups of settlers left for the American Midwest.
Dutch emigration to Canada peaked after the Second World War, partly because it were Canadian soldiers who liberated most of the Netherlands in 1944-45. Today close to one million Canadians supposedly have a Dutch connection.
In the Dutch collective memory South Africa takes a special place. Cape Town was primarely founded in 1652 as a support station for ships to the east, but gradually a thriving Dutch colony developed there. Even after the region was rapidly taken over by the British, the Dutch language survived till today in the form of "Afrikaans". During the times of apartheid, which was broadly disapproved in the Netherlands, the Dutch had very conflicting feelings and emigration into that direction virtually stopped. Nevertheless, most Dutch children still know South African songs in Afrikaans (mainly because it sounds so funny for us).
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