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IN BEWERKING

Or did you think these windmills were built for fun ?

A general notion - God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland.
That's what they say, and there certainly is truth in it. Around here, as you know by now, the concept of nature is indeed pretty relative. In all times, man was very too often absolutely unaware of the dramatic consequences his interferences were going to have. Sounds familiar ?

The Netherlands were always those low lands by the sea.
But under the sea level ? No, of course not. That would have been sort of science-fiction a thousand years ago.
Until around 1000 AD most of central Holland was a peat wilderness. No place to live permanently.
People discovered that with a proper draining technique, agriculture became possible. But very quickly they noticed, to their horror, that the land was going down. It did not take them long to understand : this was a result of their own actions. Draining the land caused it to sink !
So the building of dams and dikes started to prevent flooding. Ever harder to keep the water out, and most land became unsuitable for agriculture. But as the population had steadily increased, and ever more mouths had to be fed, there was no way back.
When the land became too low for natural drainage, just in time, the windmill was invented. At one point some 10.000 of these mighty machines were working here, most of them to drain the land.
But when you keep on draining, the land keeps on sinking. So, the time came that windmills couldn't do the job anymore. Again, just in time, the even more powerful steam engine was introduced. And later the diesel and electric pumps.
Nowadays, that story is still on going. Ever more people. The land sinking, and the sea level rising ...

Cycling around here, you'll see all elements that contributed to what was after all an ecological catastrophe.
And you'll be able to put a few things together that had consequences for many developments in history. Not just for the Netherlands. There even is a reasonable chance it affected the history of your country as well. See country-links in Resources - 17th Century.

A general notion - You can't build a dike on your own or We all flourish, or we all perish !
The simple and basic fact that, in this country, there is an absolute need to work together if you want to keep dry feet.
From early on in the Middle Ages, very strict rules were established for construction and maintenance of the all important dikes. Concerning all the people protected by that dike. Everybody was compelled by law and social rules alike to work and to contribute to common safety.
This had an immense influence on Dutch mentality and the way this country functioned and organised itself.

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