The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998/Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso/N/Netherlands,_the/INFOTEXT

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Country in W Europe on the North Sea, bounded
to the E by West Germany and to the S by
Belgium. government The Netherlands is a
hereditary monarchy. Its constitution 1983,
based on that of 1814, provides for a
two-chamber legislature called the
States-General, consisting of a First Chamber
of 75 and a Second Chamber of 150. Members of
the First Chamber are indirectly elected by
representatives of 11 provincial councils for
a six-year term, half retiring every three
years, and Second Chamber members are elected
by universal adult suffrage, through a system
of proportional representation, for a
four-year term. Legislation is introduced and
bills amended in the Second Chamber, while
the First has the right to approve or reject.
The monarch appoints a prime minister as head
of government, and the prime minister chooses
the cabinet. Cabinet members are not
permitted to be members of the legislature
but they may attend its meetings and take
part in debates, and they are collectively
responsible to it. There is also a council of
state, the government's oldest advisory body,
whose members are intended to represent a
broad cross section of the country's life,
and include former politicians, scholars,
judges, and business people, all appointed
for life. The sovereign is its formal
president but appoints a vice president to
chair it. Although not a federal state, the
Netherlands gives considerable autonomy to
its 11 provinces, each of which has an
appointed governor and an elected council.
history The land south of the Rhine,
inhabited by Celts and Germanic people, was
brought under Roman rule by Julius Caesar as
governor of Gaul 51 BC. The Franks followed,
and their kings subdued the Frisians and
Saxons north of the Rhine in the 7th-8th
centuries and imposed Christianity on them.
After the empire of Charlemagne broke up, the
local feudal lords, headed by the count of
Holland and the bishop of Utrecht, became
practically independent although they owed
nominal allegiance to the German or Holy
Roman Empire. Many Dutch towns during the
Middle Ages became prosperous trading
centres, usually ruled by small groups of
merchants. In the 15th century the
Netherlands or Low Countries (Holland,
Belgium, Flanders) passed to the dukes of
Burgundy, and in 1504 to the Spanish
Habsburgs. The Dutch aspired to political
freedom and Protestantism, and rebelled from
1568 against the tyranny of the Catholic
Philip II of Spain. William the Silent,
Prince of Orange, and his sons Maurice
(1567-1625) and Frederick Henry (1584-1647)
were the leaders of the revolt and of a
confederation established in the north, the
United Provinces, which repudiated Spain
1581. The south (now Belgium and Luxembourg)
was reconquered by Spain, but not the north,
and in 1648 its independence as the Dutch
Republic was finally recognized under the
Treaty of Westphalia. A long struggle
followed between the Orangist or popular
party, which favoured centralization under
the Prince of Orange as chief magistrate or
stadholder, and the oligarchical or states'
rights party. The latter, headed by John de
Witt, seized control 1650, but William of
Orange (William III of England) recovered the
stadholderate with the French invasion 1672.
Despite the long war of independence, during
the early 17th century the Dutch led the
world in trade, art, and science, and founded
an empire in the East and West Indies.
Commercial and colonial rivalries led to
naval wars with England 1652-54, 1665-67, and
1672-74. Thereafter until 1713 Dutch history
was dominated by a struggle with France under
Louis XIV. These wars exhausted the
Netherlands, which in the 18th century ceased
to be a great power. The French revolutionary
army was welcomed 1795, and created the
Batavian Republic. In 1806 Napoleon made his
brother Louis king of Holland and 1810-13
annexed the country to France. The Congress
of Vienna united the N and S Netherlands
under King William I (son of Prince William V
of Orange) but the south broke away 1830 to
become independent Belgium. Under William I
(reigned 1814-40), William II (1840-49),
William III (1849-90), and Queen Wilhelmina
(1890-1948), the Netherlands followed a path
of strict neutrality, but its brutal
occupation by Germany 1940-45 persuaded it to
adopt a policy of cooperation with its
neighbours. It became a member of the Western
European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), the Benelux customs
union, the European Coal and Steel Community,
the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom), and the European Community. In
1980 Queen Juliana, who had reigned since
1948, abdicated in favour of her eldest
daughter, Beatrix. The granting of
independence to former colonies (Indonesia
1949, with the addition of W New Guinea 1963;
Suriname 1975; see also Netherlands Antilles)
increased immigration and unemployment. All
governments since 1945 have been coalitions,
with the parties differing mainly over
economic policies. The three most significant
are the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA, 54
seats in the Second Chamber 1986), the Labour
Party (PvdA, 52 seats), and the liberal
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(VVD, 27 seats). The 1987 general election
produced another coalition led by Lubbers,
but he resigned after opposition to his
anti-pollution proposals. The Sept 1989
general election produced little change and
eventually Lubbers formed another
CDA-PvdA-led coalition.