Travel to Netherlands

 

Holland

The Dutch Republic is the largest country in Northern Europe, situated at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula to the west. There are seven provinces in Holland: Antilles, Breda, DRC, Friesland, Haat, North Holland, Oost-Indies and South Holland. It was founded by King Philip II in 1513, making it the third nation to be founded under that name; it retained its original name as the Netherlands until 1918, when the territory was renamed the Kingdom of Belgium. In 1768, King Nijenhuis decided to annex the kingdom and divide it into smaller states of Amsterdam and Leuven. This way it would have more autonomy over commerce, religion and education. The last king of this new state would be Holy Roman Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1816. He ruled from 1814–1852, when he finally gained full control over France and put an end to Napoleonic rule.

The Dutch Empire's biggest empire is currently known as the United Netherlands (excluding the island territories of Maastricht and Zeeland), which covers almost all of Western Europe. Its colonies consist mainly of the former British possessions - the Netherlands East Indies (present day Indonesia), the Caribbean islands of St. Martin and St. Barthélemy, and parts of Belgium and Luxembourg. Despite being relatively small and not well connected with other countries, they produce most of their oil, shipbuilding, nickel mining, coal and steel.

Holland has a very interesting history, one that includes both positive and negative events for centuries. Some places to visit are Amsterdam, Den Maagt, Groningen and Rotterdam. These cities are important because they were on many routes that brought trading goods between two continents, especially those routes through the ocean. They also contain some of the world's oldest archaeological sites such as the Vrije Universiteit at Den Maagt, which dates back to 500 BC.

Historians believe that Holland had no written language until around 700AD, when Romans came to set up a colony here to practice Christianity. As with Spain and Portugal, this resulted in the first recorded languages developing in Holland - Latin and Afrikaans. However, before that, many European traders settled in and interacted with native people for trade. By 1200 AD, the population of foreigners outnumbered the locals 2 to 1, and the influence of local cultures began to wane.

As the years passed, the number of non-Hollandic settlers increased. At first they did not fully assimilate into the culture or traditions of the natives, but eventually developed close links with them. For example, there is evidence of "Pordem", meaning "allies" in Swahili, referring to groups of men who lived within a distance of 30 or 40 miles from each other and were usually related to either land owners or merchants. Such ties became so strong for the next 150 years that they began to develop into alliances of power. Examples included members of the Javanese government, members of the royal household, war chiefs, military leaders and members of rival tribal clans. One particular leader, Girotto de Graveria, led his own band of soldiers against any potential invaders. When he declared victory for 300 days in 1397, all members of his clan came together and established what became modern-day Ghana as their capital city. They held off the advancing Arabs from invading, but only after signing peace treaties with Christian rulers in Europe, including Hapsburgs and Spanish kings.

In 1415, the Mongols invaded and conquered Holland as revenge for losing the Battle of Agincourt to Henry VII which made the Portuguese king the Duke of Burgundy. After defeating Henry 7 and forcing him to sign peace terms with Louis II, he returned to Spain. On seeing these negotiations, Ferdinand XIII, son of King Francis III of France, ordered his forces to invade Holland. His main army was composed of wealthy Spaniards and English knights; however, they faced fierce resistance and their soldiers died from starvation, sickness, exposure to salt water and disease. Many historians say that this event was the start of the Wars of Religion, in which two opposing factions fought often for religious power or control of major areas of the country. According to legend, it was the decision to invade that lead to William the Conqueror winning the wars between England and France, turning England into Germany.

Holland was ruled for several hundred years by various different monarchs. Their achievements include building the longest sea wall, controlling and stabilising the seas around the coastline, promoting navigation to enable long trade routes and building magnificent cities along the coasts. Many historians believe that these achievements were due to low taxes, good laws and regulations and widespread literacy. Other contributors include the establishment of universities for sciences and engineering (like Erasmus College, later rechristened the University of Utrecht) and medical schools; the latter were established to train doctors, surgeons, and teachers of various trades. The arts flourished throughout Holland with talented artists like Jan Hendrik and Pieter de Hooch. Historians point out that there was a shift from paintings depicting scenes from classical myths to realistic depictions of everyday life. Another contribution to the development of art was created by Johannes Vermeere, whose famous painting Holland Venus is now considered one of his best-known works.

The history of travel in Holland is vast, spanning millennia and featuring periods of cultural diffusion, immigration, political unrest, and even economic decline. As early explorers traveled farther and searched deeper into Europe. With the increase of gold and silver deposits, money was increasingly exchanged across borders for valuable metals such as diamond. Money was used to finance expeditions that helped spread knowledge over foreign lands, such as Columbus' discovery of America. Christopher Columbus, following his voyage to find India discovered Cuba, which subsequently allowed the founding of England and Scotland. During the 1500s, with the rise of the international economy, overseas trade flourished, leading to the growth of transatlantic trade networks. All these changes had a significant effect on the daily lives of ordinary people. More importantly, they greatly influenced the expansion of western European imperialism. Since there was less need for locally produced resources, they could be exported more cheaply to become global commodities. Furthermore, due to an abundance of cheap labor, production costs were lower and thus improved the profit margins of businesses and allowed them to gain economies of scale, becoming more efficient in order to better compete internationally.