The Netherlands officially became a nation in 1463, and was in a state of feudalism until the 16th century, when it came under Spanish rule. 1568 saw the start of the 80-year War of Resistance against Spanish rule, and 1581 saw the establishment of the Netherlands*** and the Netherlands (formally known as the United Netherlands*** and the United States of America) in seven of the northern provinces, which was formally recognized as an independent nation by Spain in 1648.1 In the 7th century, the Netherlands was the largest colonial power in the world after Spain, and in the 18th century the colonial system gradually collapsed. In the 7th century, the Netherlands was a maritime colonial power and became the largest colonial power in the world after Spain. 18th century, the Dutch colonial system gradually collapsed, and in 1795 the French invaded the country. 1806 Napoleon's younger brother became the king, and the Netherlands was named as a kingdom. 1810 it was annexed into France. 1814 it seceded from France, and established the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the following year (in 1830 Belgium seceded from the Netherlands and became independent). 1848 the Kingdom of the Netherlands became a constitutional monarchy. Became a constitutional monarchy. During World War I it remained neutral. Neutrality was declared at the beginning of World War II, and in May 1940, when it was overrun by German troops, the royal family and government moved to Britain and set up a government-in-exile. 1945 saw the restoration of independence and the abandonment of the policy of neutrality in the post-war period, with the country joining NATO and the European ****embodiment, and later the European Union.
History of the Rise of the Netherlands
The geographic discoveries of the late 15th century brought unprecedented commercial prosperity to Europe and provided the Netherlands with a historic opportunity to achieve a commercial empire.
On July 26, 1581, delegates from all the cities of the Netherlands revolted in The Hague and solemnly proclaimed the abolition of the King of Spain's rule over the provinces of the Netherlands.
In 1588, seven provinces united and proclaimed the United Provinces of the Netherlands*** and the State of Peace. It was a state unprecedented in human history. Many historians say it was the first country in the world to "grant full political rights to the merchant class".
In 1602, the United East India Company of Holland was founded under the leadership of the Grand Speaker of the **** and State, Alden Barnvelt. Just as they had created a country like no other, now they had created an economic organization like no other.
By the mid-17th century, the global commercial hegemony of the United Dutch Provinces*** and States was firmly established. By this time, the Dutch East India Company had 15,000 branches and accounted for half of the world's total trade. More than 10,000 merchant ships flying the Dutch tricolor flag cruised over the world's five oceans:
In East Asia, they occupied Taiwan, China, and monopolized Japan's foreign trade;
In Southeast Asia, they turned Indonesia into their own colony, and the first colonial stronghold they established -- the city of Batavia. -the city of Batavia, which formed the shape of today's Jakarta;
In Africa, they captured the Cape of Good Hope, the stronghold of the New Route, from Portugal;
In Oceania, they named a country -New Zealand- after a province of the Netherlands;
In South America, they occupied Brazil;
On the North American continent, at the mouth of the Hudson River, the East India Company built the city of New Amsterdam, which today is called New York.
The Netherlands in 1648: the zenith of commercial prosperity had been reached.
In 1656, a Dutch mission arrived in Beijing. The Qing court, which had been in power in the Middle Kingdom for just eight years, received them with a sense of excitement. But the Dutch encountered a problem that all diplomatic missions to China of that time encountered, namely, the necessity of performing the great ritual of three bows and nine kowtows during an audience with the emperor. In fact, until the end of the 18th century, hardly any European diplomat was willing to accept this harsh rule of the Celestial Empire. But the Dutch agreed without hesitation.
"...... We just don't want to lose significant benefits for the sake of so-called dignity."
What were the major interests of the Dutch, namely commerce and making money.
In September 1688, a huge fleet of ships pulled anchor from the harbor of Amsterdam, and these ships carried William III, the supreme consul of the Netherlands, and 20,000 Dutch soldiers. William III had been invited by the British Parliament to protect the "religious liberty and property" of English citizens.
History has a way of arranging itself in such a way that by the end of the 17th century, the Netherlands had slowed down and gradually lost its hegemony over the world. In time and space, William III's departure from Holland to England became a highly symbolic shift in the center stage of the world.