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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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BS1 part 05.zip
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BS1 part 5
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World_Atlas_3.adf
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TEXTA
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1991-09-30
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In 55 BC, Julius Caesar conquered the region, which was dominated
by Celtic and Germanic tribes. After the fall of Charlemagne,
the Netherlands (Then consisting of Holland, Belgium and
Flanders) fell to Spain. The Spanish tried to prevent the Dutch
move towards political independence and Protestantism
(1568-1573). William the Silent, the Prince of Orange, led a
confederation of the northern provinces in the Union of Utrecht
in 1579. In 1581 the Dutch repudiated allegiance to the Spanish
crown and led to naval, economic and artistic dominance in the
17th Century. In 1795, the French formed the Batavian Republic
and in 1806 Napoleon made his brother king of Holland. In 1810,
Holland was annexed by France and in 1813 the French were
expelled. In 1830 the Kingdom of the Netherlands was created,
which included present day Belgium. During World War I and II,
The Netherlands observed neutrality but was brutally occupied by
the Germans. After the war, The Netherlands joined NATO (The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and in 1957 became a charter
member in the European Common Market. Throughout the 1950s and
1960s The Netherlands gave independence to most of its world
wide colonies, which created mass emigrations to The Netherlands,
adding to serious unemployment. Although The Netherlands has
become heavily industrialized, its small and productive farms
export large quantities of pork and dairy foods. In 1988, The
Netherlands permitted the installation of 48 cruise missiles in
the defense of NATO. Rotterdam handles the most cargo of any
port in the world and The Netherlands has over 3,478 miles of
canals. @