17,394
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 74:
Line 74: − ==20th Century== − ===1930s and World War II=== − ====Great Depression==== − During the 1930s the Netherlands, like other developed Western economies, suffered much from unemployment and the Depression. The economy was based on trade and agriculture. there was some manufacturing, led by Unilever (soap), Shell (oil refining) and Philips (light bulbs). World trade levels declines sharply, leaving the large Dutch merchant fleet with less business; one third of the ships were laid up. Unemployment reached 17% in 1936, then began a slow decline. GDP fell below the level of the prosperous 1920s. The politically system continued to function normally, with Catholic and Calvinist religious parties in control. There was little mass unrest or Communist activity and the Socialist party remained weak. − ====Dutch East Indies==== − In the overseas empire, especially the Dutch East Indies (later renamed [[Indonesia]]) the fall in commodity prices caused a sharp economic decline, as exports fell by two-thirds. Since a fourth of all Dutch wealth was invested there, investors were badly hurt. The colonial government pursued a policy of "indianization," which meant training more and more locals Indonesians for civil service jobs. There was no self government; a local council was only advisory to the governor. Demands for self-government were rising rapidly among the 67 million inhabitants, most of them Moslems. − ====Dutch fascism==== − A small fringe element of Dutch fascists existed from 1929 to 1940. They were inspired by Mussolini's Italy and was based on traditional corporate ideology. The movement was small, elitist, and consisted of competing bourgeois political associations. It was opposed by the Catholic Church. Nazi-style National Socialism, also existed as an even smaller fringe group; it failed to gain mass support because its ideology was alien to native Dutch political culture. It too was opposed by the Catholic Church. <ref>Erik Hansen, "Fascism and Nazism in the Netherlands 1929-39." ''European Studies Review'' 1981 11(3): 355-385. Issn: 0014-3111 </ref> − ====World War II==== − Although the Netherlands proclaimed its neutrality, the Germans under [[Adolf Hitler]] invaded on May 10, 1940 and after the open city of [[Rotterdam]] was bombed on May 14 by the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' the Dutch army capitulated on May 15. Queen Wilhelmina and her government fled into exile in London, which became their base to fight the Germans, using the small navy and large merchant fleet as its assets, along with its colonies. − − A brutal five year German occupation of the country began; the Dutch were forced to pay all the costs. The attempt of Nazi military governor, Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to win the "Aryan" Dutch for Nazism by promoting industrial recovery met with resistance in the form of strikes and underground activity. 250,000 Dutch civilians were forced laborers at factories in Germany, which were targets of Allied air raids. The heightening demands of the German war machine led to increasingly ruthless exploitation, as more than 40% of Dutch income flowed to Germany by 1942, severely undermining Dutch industry, while large numbers of young Dutch workers went into hiding and the resistance.<ref> Hein A. M. Klemann, "Dutch Industrial Companies and the German Occupation, 1940-1945." ''Vierteljahrschrift Für Sozial- Und Wirtschaftsgeschichte'' 2006 93(1): 1-22. Issn: 0340-8728 </ref> − ====Japanese==== − The Japanese invaded Indonesia in January, 1942, looking for oil. The Shell oil company blew up all the wells and the Japanese, after long repairs, in the end obtained much less than it needed. Japan's victory was swift after it sank the Dutch navy and invaded; nearly 150,000 Dutch citizens found themselves prisoners of the Japanese in horrible conditions. − ====Jews==== − The Nazis as part of the [[Holocaust]] hunted down, deported and killed three-fourths of the 140,000 Jews in the country.<ref>Pamela Griffioen Ron and Zeller, "Anti-Jewish Policy and Organization of the Deportations in France and the Netherlands, 1940-1944: a Comparative Study." ''Holocaust and Genocide Studies'' 2006 20(3): 437-473. Issn: 8756-6583 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]</ref> The most famous victim was [[Anne Frank]] (1929-45), whose family hiding place in Amsterdam was exposed by an informer in 1944 and she died in [[Bergen-Belsen]] weeks before the war ended. − ====Starvation==== − In September 1944, American, British and Canadian forces liberated the southern provinces. The north remained in German hands until May 1945, but the Dutch refused to aid the German war economy and the Nazis cut off food supplies, leading to severe malnutrition and deaths from cold and disease. − − ===Postwar Era=== − After the war the major pillarized sectors began to cooperate in the "polder" style that minimized conflict, as the top officials of each sector met secretly to work out compromises that were then ratified.<ref> Mark Kranenburg, "The political branch of the polder model," [http://www.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Profiel/Netherlands/politics.html ''The Netherlands'' July 1, 1999</ref> In other countries strong polarization had a geographic dimension, leading to separatist movements in Belgium and Canada, but there was little geographical concentration in the Netherlands. − − ===Recent history since 1970=== − − After 1970 the pillarized model began to break down in politics, as religion became less central in the lives of most people, the parties reorganized across the old religious and cultural lines, and labor unions merged.<ref> Paul Dekker and Peter Ester, "Depillarization, Deconfessionalization, and De-ideologization: Empirical Trends in Dutch Society 1958-1992." ''Review of Religious Research'' 1996 37(4): 325-341. Issn: 0034-673x uses survey data, showing that religious factors declined first, followed by secular factors. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3512012 in Jstor]]</ref> The fast growing Muslim immigrant community is building its own separate pillar along religious lines such as was common a century ago, and is still allowed by Dutch laws. There are now Islamic and Hindu schools. − − The leadership in the Netherlands realizes the need for immigration in the era of globalization, falling birth rates and labor shortages. At issue is whether the immigrants will be Europeans, which is tolerated, or be Muslims from Turkey and Morocco, which is controversial. Rotterdam is nearly half Muslim and in every city second- and third-generation Muslims are Dutch and speak Dutch as their first language, but have not been well integrated into mainstream Dutch society. They remain between two cultures and some listen to radical Islamist preachers. However, two-thirds of the immigrants are Dutch citizens and they are well represented in national and local government. The rapidly growingf Dutch economy absorbed the new workers, driving down the unemployment rate for immigrants from 35% to 10% in 2001. − − At first there was a gentlemen's agreement among political leaders that immigration and ethnicity were not to become political issues. That ended and Dutch politics took a right-wing-populist turn following the emergence of Pim Fortuyn, the charismatic leader of a new party, and his assassination in 2002, followed by the ritual murder of anti-immigrant spokesman Theo van Gogh in 2004.<ref> Mark Leon Goldberg, "The Death of van Gogh," [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=8915 ''The American Prospect'' Dec. 3, 2004]; Rinus Penninx, "After the Fortuyn and Van Gogh Murders: Is the Dutch Integration Model in Disarray?" [http://www.cicerofoundation.org/pdf/lecture_penninx.pdf online paper 9 June 2005]</ref> Hostility to Islam has created an increasingly restrictive national immigration and integration policy. A policy of Europeanization rejects "multiculturalism" (which like pillarization would allow Muslins complete control over their schools) and instead calls for civic integration for new immigrants, who are expected to learn Dutch, accompanied by antidiscrimination laws to benefit settled immigrants and their children. The 1998 Newcomer Integration Law (Wet Inburgering Nieuwkomers, "WIN") obliges most non-EU immigrants to participate in a twelve-month integration course, consisting of six hundred hours of Dutch language instruction, civic education, and preparation for the labor market. An immigrant must pass an integration test to get or renew a residence permit.<ref>Joppke, "Transformation of Immigrant Integration," ''World Politics'' 59.2 (2007) 43-273 </ref>
→20th Century: moved
==Historiography==
==Historiography==