The turbulence of the 1960s comes to a head in the Netherlands when the wedding of the heir to the throne, Princess Beatrix, to the German Claus von Amsberg is disrupted by anti-monarchist demonstrators hurling smoke bombs. There is widespread social unrest and a desire for change. A number of political parties produce a new generation of progressive young people. The various governments of the 1960s furnish the Netherlands with one of the most extensive and generous social welfare systems in the world.
