History of the Netherlands

Among the native tribes which inhabited the Netherlands, the most important are the Batavians. In the 5th century the Romans played the leading role in the world history, trying to convert most of the tribes to Christianity. The southern regions of the Netherlands became the part of the Charlemagne’s Empire with the center in nowadays Belgium. The dominance of the Vikings ended only in the 10th century, the Henry I German monarchs ruled the Netherlands. The country became a Roman colony after King Otto the Great was proclaimed Holly Roman Emperor. The farmers from Flanders and Utrecht started buying the lands in the western part of the country, more and more people settled there and as a result this territory became inhabited. That’s why the country was characterized by its own unique scheme of populating: there were no towns, no villages, just separate farms. The Reformation touches the country greatly. The society was divided according to the religious criteria. The North Netherlands was mainly Protestant, the southern part – Catholic.

At the beginning of the 17th century Dutch republic was the leading nation in colonial trade. The trade agreements were reached with Indonesia, South America, North America, the West Indies, and South Africa. Constant development of the economy stimulated the fact that Holland occupied one of the first positions in the world maritime power, Amsterdam became Europe's financial center. The war with England resulted in losing the colonies in the East and West Indies. The Netherlands became a kingdom in 1806 under Napoleon. The beginning of the 19th century was characterized by the rebuilt of the economy, which based on the development of manufacturing. During World War I the Netherlands stayed neutral. The country planned to hold the same position in the World War II, until it was invaded by Germany. Nowadays the country is famous the legalisation of Cannabis, euthanasia, and same sex marriage. Together with France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg the Netherlands founded the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952 (European Union). The country started circulating the euro in 1992.