Traveling Tuesday: The Netherland - More than Tulips and Windmills

Traveling Tuesday: The Netherlands – 

More than Windmills and Tulips

Tucked between Belgium and Germany in Western Europe, the Kingdom of the Netherlands (literally “low country”) is a bit larger than the US state of Maryland, but smaller than West Virginia. The North Sea which borders the north and west of the country is constantly a threat. If the Dutch had not erected dikes, canals, dams, and pumping stations, the country would have washed away centuries ago. There are more than 1,491 miles of dikes that protect the low, flat lands (nearly 50% of which lies below sea level) from the North Sea. One source indicates that without the dikes 65% of The Netherlands would flood daily.

Because of its lack of mountain ranges and natural borders, The Netherlands has not been able to prevent invasions, and other nations occupied the country for a large part of its history: the Romans, Celtic tribes, Germanic groups, Vikings, the Franks, Austrians, and the Spanish have all invaded and/or occupied the country.

It would take the Eighty Years’ War with Spain to finally give The Netherlands their independence in 1648. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon put his brother Louis on the throne, but in 1814 Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands joined together as one country called the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands are often erroneously referred to as Holland. In actuality, Holland is a region within the country that consists of the two provinces of North and South Holland. The country has twelve provinces in total.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a “sovereign state” which includes four “constituent countries” of

Aruba, Curaca, Sint Maarten, and the Netherlands. The mode of government is a constitutional monarchy which means the head of state is a King or Queen whose limited powers are laid down in the Constitution. A cadre of ministers and state secretaries are responsible for the day-to-day duties of running the government. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland.

Most of the 17th century is referred to as the Dutch Golden Age, a time when the Dutch empire became one of the major seafaring and economic powers – By 1650, they owned 16,000 merchant ships and through the Dutch East India Company and Dutch West India Company established colonies and trading posts across the globe. Their science, military, and art (Rembrandt, Vermeer, Steen, van Ruisdael, and van Gogh to name a few) were world-renowned.

Most people conjure up visions of tulips and windmills when they think of the Netherlands, but since the 16th century, the Dutch economy has included shipping, fishing, agriculture, trade, and banking. The country is one of the world’s ten leading exporting countries with food being the largest sector. Other major industries include chemicals, metallurgy, machinery, electrical goods, and tourism. In addition, the discovery of natural gas in the 1950s has played a major part in the revenue for the country.

Bicycling is the common form of transportation with almost as many miles covered by bicycles as by train. There are an estimated eighteen million bicycles which is more than one per capita, and twice as many as the approximately nine million motor vehicles.

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A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after most of the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Then her friend Margery talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, raven-haired leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

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Photo Credits:

Map: By U.S. Central Intelligence Agency - Netherlands (Political) 1987 from Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Netherlands Maps, Public Domain

Castle: Pixabay/Eveline de Bruin

Bicycles: Pixabay/Ralf Gervink