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the netherlands intended to remain neutral during the second world war. there were, however, contingency plans involving the armies of belgium, france and the united kingdom. regardless, nazi germany invaded the netherlands on 10 may 1940 as part of their campaign against the allied forces. french forces in the south and british ships in the west came to help but turned around quickly, evacuating many civilians and several thousand german prisoners of war from the german elite airborne divisions.
the country was overrun in five days. only after, but not because of, the bombing of rotterdam the main element of the dutch army surrendered on 14 may 1940; although a dutch and french force held the western part of zeeland for some time after the surrender. the kingdom as such, continued the war from the colonial empire; the government in exile resided in london.
during the occupation, over 100,000 dutch jews[22] were rounded up to be transported to nazi german concentration camps in germany, german-occupied poland and german-occupied czechoslovakia. by the time these camps were liberated, only 876 dutch jews survived. dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in german factories, civilians were killed in reprisal for attacks on german soldiers, and the countryside was plundered for food for german soldiers in the netherlands and for shipment to germany. although there were thousands[23] of dutch who risked their lives by hiding jews from the germans, as recounted in the hiding place (book) by corrie ten boom and the heart has reasons[24] by mark klempner, there were also thousands[25] of dutch who collaborated with the occupying force in hunting down hiding jews. local fascists and anti-bolsheviks joined the waffen-ss in the 4th ss volunteer panzergrenadier brigade netherlands, fighting on the eastern front as well as other units.

dutch resistance members with troops of the us 101st airborne in front of eindhoven cathedral during operation market garden in september 1944.
on 8 december 1941, the netherlands declared war on japan.[26] the government-in-exile then lost control of its major colonial stronghold, the netherlands east indies (indonesia), to japanese forces in march 1942. "american-british-dutch-australian" (abda) forces fought hard in some instances but were overwhelmed. during the japanese occupation of indonesia, the japanese interned dutch civilians and used dutch and indos (eurasians of dutch and indonesian descent) alike as forced labour, both in the netherlands east indies and in neighbouring countries.[27] this included forcing women to work as "comfort women" (sex slaves) for japanese personnel.
the dutch red cross reported the deaths in japanese custody of 14,800 european civilians out of 80,000 interned and 12,500 of the 34,000 pow captured.[28] a later u.n. report stated that 4 million people died in indonesia as a result of famine and forced labour (known as romusha) during the japanese occupation.[29] some military personnel escaped to australia and other allied countries from where they carried on the fight against japan. the japanese furthered the cause of independence for the colony, so that after ve day many young dutchmen found themselves fighting a colonial war against the new republic of indonesia.
princess juliana of the netherlands, the only child of queen wilhelmina and heir to the throne, sought refuge in ottawa, canada, with her two daughters, beatrix and irene, during the war. during princess juliana’s stay in canada, preparations were made for the birth of her third child. to ensure the dutch citizenship of this royal baby, the canadian parliament passed a special law declaring princess juliana's suite at the ottawa civic hospital “extraterritorial”.

on 19 january 1943, princess margriet was born. the day after princess margriet's birth, the dutch flag was flown on the peace tower. this was the only time in history a foreign flag has waved above canada’s parliament buildings. in 1944–45, the first canadian army was responsible for liberating much of the netherlands from german occupation. the joyous "canadian summer" that ensued after the liberation, forged deep and long-lasting bonds of friendship between the netherlands and canada.[30] in 1949, dutch troops occupied an area of 69 km2 (27 sq mi) of the british zone of occupied germany and annexed it. at that time, these areas were inhabited by almost 10,000 people.[citation needed]

signing of the rome treaty. the netherlands is a founding member of the eec in 1957 and the european union in 1993.
[edit]recent history 1945–present
after the war, the dutch economy prospered by leaving behind an era of neutrality and gaining closer ties with neighbouring states. the netherlands was one of the founding members of the benelux (belgium, the netherlands and luxembourg) grouping, was among the twelve founding members of the north atlantic treaty organisation (nato), and was among the six founding members of the european coal and steel community, which would later evolve, via the eec (common market), into the european union.
the 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid ontzuiling (literally: depillarisation), a term that describes the decay of the old divisions along class and religious lines. youths, and students in particular, rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters like women's rights, sexuality, disarmament and environmental issues. today, the netherlands is regarded as a liberal country, considering its drugs policy and its legalisation of euthanasia. on april 1, 2001, the netherlands became the first nation to allow same-sex marriage.
[edit]geography

rivers in the netherlands
main article: geography of the netherlands
the country is divided into two main parts by three large rivers, the rhine (rijn) and its main distributaries, the waal and the meuse (maas). these rivers functioned as a natural barrier between earlier fiefdoms and hence created traditionally a cultural divide, as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognizable north and south of these "large rivers" (de grote rivieren).
the southwestern part of the netherlands is a river delta and two tributaries of the scheldt (westerschelde and oosterschelde). only one significant branch of the rhine flows northeastward, the ijssel river, discharging into the ijsselmeer, the former zuiderzee ('southern sea'). this river also forms a linguistic divide: people to the east of this river speak dutch low saxon dialects (except for the province of friesland, which has its own language).[31]
[edit]floods
main articles: flood control in the netherlands, floods in the netherlands, and storm tides of the north sea
over the centuries, the dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of human intervention and natural disasters. most notable in terms of land loss is the 1134 storm, which created the archipelago of zeeland in the southwest.
on 14 december 1287, st. lucia's flood affected the netherlands and germany killing more than 50,000 people in one of the most destructive floods in recorded history.[32] the st. elizabeth flood of 1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder, replacing it with the 72-square-kilometre (28 sq mi) biesbosch tidal floodplains in the south-centre. the last major flood in the netherlands took place in early february 1953, when a huge storm caused the collapse of several dikes in the southwest of the netherlands. more than 1,800 people drowned in the ensuing inundations. the dutch government subsequently decided on a large-scale program of public works (the "delta works") to protect the country against future flooding. the project took more than thirty years to complete.

the areas of the netherlands that are above sea level
the disasters were partially increased in severity through human influence. people had drained relatively high lying swampland to use it as farmland. this drainage caused the fertile peat to compress and the ground level to drop, whereby they would lower the water level to compensate for the drop in ground level, causing the underlying peat to compress even more. the problem remains unsolvable to this day. also, up until the 19th century peat was mined, dried, and used for fuel, further adding to the problem.
to guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. in the first millennium ad, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. later, these terps were connected by dikes. in the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (english "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. (these agencies exist to this day, performing the same function.) as the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. by the 13th century, windmills had come into use in order to pump water out of areas below sea level. the windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders.
in 1932, the afsluitdijk (english "closure dike") was completed, blocking the former zuiderzee (southern sea) from the north sea and thus creating the ijsselmeer (ijssel lake). it became part of the larger zuiderzee works in which four polders totalling 2,500 square kilometres (965 sq mi) were reclaimed from the sea.[33][34]
[edit]delta works
main article: delta works