A small country, a big cause (Netherlands)

Preface

In northwest Europe, there is a country across the sea from the United Kingdom. Its area is only the same as today Two and a half Beijing, its name is Holland.

Eight hundred years ago, this place was an uninhabited area with only wetlands and lakes infested by tides. From the 12th to the 14th century, land that humans could live in gradually formed. To this day, one-third of the Netherlands is still below sea level. Without a series of complex water conservancy facilities to stop it, the most densely populated area in the Netherlands would be flooded by the tide twice a day. It is such a place that three hundred years ago, in the 17th century, was the economic center and the richest region in the entire world. The Netherlands, with a population of only 1.5 million, extended its power to almost every corner of the earth and was called by Marx the "first maritime power" at the time.

Where should we begin to describe the story of the miracles performed by the Dutch?

Author: Lonely Hermit 2007-2-3 23:12 Reply to this statement

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2 Episode 2: A Small Country, Big Deeds

The sea always makes waves in the calmest places. History is like the sea, always creating miracles in the most unexpected places. The story of the rise of the Dutch begins with a silvery herring.

Due to changes in ocean currents, large numbers of herring migrate to the coastal areas of northern Holland every summer. The Dutch catch more than 10 million kilograms of herring from the North Sea every year.

Vischel Kirkmeier, Director of the Northern Maritime Museum of the Netherlands:

It is so important to the Dutch economy that many people make a living from it.

In the 14th century, the population of the Netherlands was less than 1 million. At that time, about 200,000 people were engaged in the fishing industry, and the small herring provided a livelihood for one-fifth of the Dutch people.

However, herring is a natural resource, and the Creator did not give the Dutch exclusive rights. Other ethnic groups living on the North Sea organized herring fishing fleets. Three wars broke out between the Dutch and the Scots over fishing grounds. What makes the Netherlands stand out from the fierce competition?

In 1358, in a small fishing village in the north of the Netherlands, a fisherman named Wilhelm Berkelszon invented a method to remove fish intestines with just one knife.

William van der Molen, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

Cut open the belly of the herring, take out the internal organs, remove the head, and then put salt inside, like this It can be stored for more than a year. There were no refrigerators at that time. This method is very unique, so that is why Dutch herring is so popular all over Europe, especially in England.

A Dutch fisherman’s knife transformed a natural resource that everyone can get their hands on into the exclusive capital of the Netherlands. To this day, many Dutch people still deliberately maintain this eating habit formed centuries ago when eating herring. After the herring is gutted, it is swallowed directly by the tail without any cooking.

Dutch State Councilor Joris Forhoover:

Starting from the fishing industry, (the Netherlands) produced trade with Northeastern Europe, England, Southern Europe, and Africa. From the fishing tradition came the maritime (trade) tradition.

With the help of herring, the Dutch began their business travel career. Herring patterns can still be seen on some old houses in Rotterdam. These unobtrusive signs seem to remind people that Rotterdam’s history as the world’s largest port began with a large tank filled only with salted herrings.

Once the circulation and exchange of goods are used as a means of livelihood, the originally unfavorable geographical location also begins to show huge advantages.

The Netherlands is located in northwest Europe, facing the North Sea of ??the Atlantic Ocean and backed by the vast European continent. Europe's two main waterways enter the sea from here. In order to drain waterlogging, the Dutch built a number of canals, forming the most developed water transportation network in Europe at that time. These advantages make it possible for the Netherlands to become a new commodity distribution center in Europe.

The great geographical discovery at the end of the 15th century brought unprecedented commercial prosperity to Europe, and also provided the Netherlands with a historic opportunity to build a commercial empire.

If Portugal and Spain, who were the first to embark on ocean-going adventures, mainly relied on violence to carry out naked wealth plunder, then the Dutch, who followed closely behind, lacked strong royal power and sufficient human resources. It was very natural to choose to rely on business and trade to accumulate wealth, and at the same time, he also accumulated enough competitive skills and business systems to make himself strong.

Acting as middlemen, agents, processors, and promoters, the Dutch loaded spices, silk, and gold from Portugal and Spain and shipped them throughout Europe. When they returned, they transported wheat from the Baltic grain-producing areas, Swedish ironware, Finnish timber, and naval supplies produced by themselves to the two earliest maritime hegemons.

However, Dutch merchants soon discovered that in this lucrative trade, they had to face strong challenges from English merchants. At that time, England was three times larger than the Netherlands and had five times the population. As an island country in the Atlantic Ocean, it has a more advantageous geographical location than the Netherlands. This time, what means will the Dutch rely on to defeat their powerful competitors?

Just as they defeated their opponents by inventing a way to gut herrings with one knife, the Dutch began by designing a cheaper ship to defeat England.

Jost Scheckenbruck, Director of the Dutch Maritime Museum:

Sailors on British merchant ships were armed, so their ships needed harder wood. , and the Dutch ships were almost unarmed. Therefore, considering these factors, you can understand why Dutch ships are very cheap to build and transport goods on Dutch ships, so the Netherlands has become Europe's sea coachman.

Author: Lonely Hermit 2007-2-3 23:12 Reply to this statement

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3 Reply: A small country, a big business (Netherlands)

Previously, typical European merchant ships were built with platforms that could mount artillery. Effectively prevent pirate attacks. The Dutch were the first to take the risk and build a merchant ship that could only transport cargo but could not be equipped with artillery.

The cost of this is that every voyage becomes a risky gamble of fate, but the advantage is that the cost of shipbuilding is low, the price is only half that of British ships, so the freight of goods is also low . Even so, the Dutch were not satisfied. In order to gain as much profit as possible, they added a special design to the ships.

Vischel Kirkmeier, Director of the Northern Shipping Museum of the Netherlands:

Its design is very unique. Its belly is very large, so the hull is very large and round. . And the deck is small. This is done because in Scandinavia, the tax paid on a ship depends on the width of the deck. The narrower the deck, the less you pay. Therefore, the Dutch-made ships have small decks and large bellies. The more profit there will be.

To a large extent, it was with this kind of ship that the Dutch won the world-renowned title of "sea coachmen".

However, in order to remain invincible in the competition, it is obviously not enough to rely solely on special ships. The key to victory or defeat in the end is those who drive the ships.

Vischel Kirkmeier, Director of the Northern Shipping Museum of the Netherlands:

From 1596 to 1598, a famous man named Barentsz was a Dutchman. Captain, he was trying to find a route to Asia from the north. He passed Sanvanya, now a Russian island, but they were trapped by the frozen sea.

Sanwenya is located within the Arctic Circle, where Captain Barentsz and 17 Dutch sailors spent eight months of the long winter. They dismantled the deck of the ship to make fuel in order to maintain body temperature in the severe cold of minus 40 degrees; they relied on hunting to obtain the clothing and food that they could barely survive.

In such a harsh and dangerous situation, 8 people died. But the Dutch merchants did something unimaginable. They did not touch the goods entrusted to them by others, and among these goods were the clothes and medicines that could save their lives.

As winter turned to spring, the surviving merchants finally brought the goods back to the Netherlands almost intact and delivered them to the client. They paid the price with their lives, kept their faith, and created business rules that will be passed down to future generations. At that time, such an approach also brought obvious benefits to Dutch merchants, that is, they won the world market for maritime trade.

Amsterdam, Netherlands Maritime Museum. Every Sunday, a special event is held here to allow children to learn about Dutch history through first-hand experience. Such activities are repeated year after year, even if only one child participates. Teachers are volunteers from different professions, and they meticulously lead the children to relive the lives of Dutch sailors more than four hundred years ago.

Today, Dutch adults often repeat this sentence to their children: "The Netherlands is still the Netherlands because our ancestors took care of their own business."

The Netherlands Our ancestors not only took care of their own business, in fact, at the end of the 16th century more than 500 years ago, they almost monopolized the European maritime trade.

Author: Lonely Hermit 2007-2-3 23:13 Reply to this statement

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4 Reply: A small country, a big business (Netherlands)

Jost Scheckenbruck, Director of the Netherlands Maritime Museum:

At one time, the Dutch fleet was larger than the merchant shipping of England, France, and Scotland combined. There are about 1,800 Dutch merchant ships, and they can transport goods to every corner of Europe.

With the development of commercial trade, cities gradually prospered in the Netherlands as trading markets, warehouses for storing goods, and workshops for repairing ships. Gradually, people living in these cities discovered that a difficult problem that transcended commercial trade and even economic life was before them. This is who should manage the city and how should it be managed?

Like other places in Europe, at the beginning, the owners of Dutch cities were the nobles, because cities were always built on the territory of a certain noble. The nobles established small armies, nominally to provide protection for the city, but in fact to obtain tax revenues by force.

Ido Dehan, professor of political history at the University of Utrez in the Netherlands:

This means that in cities, rich people are more powerful and they can dominate bargaining. The nobles relied on businessmen to provide them with wealth.

Dutch State Councilor Joris Forhoover:

The rise of commerce and cities gave rise to people's desire for economic freedom.

The increasingly wealthy citizens finally made a surprising choice. They bought the city's autonomy from the nobles like goods. From then on, the citizens made laws on their own, and the nobles could not collect taxes directly from them. "Citizen autonomy" has injected strong development momentum into Dutch cities. By the end of the 15th century AD, nearly half of the Dutch population lived in cities.

William van der Molen, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

Every city strives to obtain more trade opportunities. The city is ruled by wealthy merchants and is governed by them. to decide the management of the city.

This city hall, built in the 15th century, will recreate such an important historical scene every 15 minutes: the nobles transfer the management of the city to the citizens.

A moment in Dutch history became immortal with the help of this special timekeeping tool.

While the Dutch were busy running their cities, the political landscape across Europe began to change dramatically.

Some talented and strategic monarchs, relying on the gunpowder introduced by the Mongolian army from the western expedition, destroyed the noble castles guarded by the knights and established countries with centralized monarchs such as Portugal, Spain, Britain and France. These countries possess the incomparable advantages of segregated noble territories and independent commercial city-states. They can effectively mobilize and organize the power of the entire nation. Portugal and Spain relied on this advantage to take the lead in entering the ranks of world powers.

At first, the Dutch seemed unmoved by this trend. They were content to live in separate cities whose only concern was to increase as much wealth as possible.

Willem van der Molen, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

If there is a country under the rule of a king like Britain, France, and Spain, there will be many other countries. For example, if a king wants to expand his country to become the most powerful country in Europe, it will cost a lot of money.

However, in 1543, whether the Dutch wanted it or not, they had to face the problem of the country. That year, the King of Spain gained control of the Netherlands through a political marriage.

What happened next is interesting. When the King of Spain declared that the Netherlands was a sacred and integral part of Spain, the Dutch agreed with this statement; when the King of Spain re-divided the administrative regions of the Netherlands, they accepted it calmly; when the King of Spain sent a new governor for the Netherlands , and they surrendered obediently. But when King Philip II of Spain reached for their purses, the Dutch rose up in defiance.

Ido Dehan, professor of political history at the University of Udrez in the Netherlands:

Philip II needed a lot of money because he had been fighting with France and needed to spend a lot of money. money to maintain. He wanted permanent financial security, but the Dutch refused, agreeing only to provide part of the money for a certain period of time.

Author: Lonely Hermit 2007-2-3 23:13 Reply to this statement

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5 Reply: Small country, big cause (Netherlands)

The Dutch War of Independence broke out. At first, the Spanish army easily crushed the Dutch resistance. In less than six years, 150,000 Dutch people died. The harsh reality forced the fragmented Dutch provinces to unite. In 1579, representatives from the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands signed an agreement in this hall to form a military alliance to fight against the enemy.

After that, the war began to turn in a direction favorable to the Dutch. On the one hand, it was due to the alliance of the Dutch, and on the other hand, it was also because Philip II made enemies on all sides in Europe. Years of wars for hegemony exhausted Spain. of national power.

On July 26, 1581, representatives from various rebellious cities in the Netherlands solemnly announced in The Hague: the abolition of the Spanish King’s right to rule the Dutch provinces.

After sending the king home like an incompetent manager, the Dutch suddenly discovered that they actually had a country.

So, who should manage and protect this country?

Evert Alkema, a professor at the Law School of Leiden University in the Netherlands:

They are not in a hurry to say, we don’t have a king now, because no one had ever done that at that time. , they can't say that we are Japanese and Korean, because this is too avant-garde for them.

For those businessmen who led the War of Independence, what they wanted most was not political rights but commercial profits. Therefore, they hoped to find a strong protector who would take care of the security of the Netherlands. And go take care of your own business.

An incredible phenomenon occurred: the Dutch entrusted their country to Queen Elizabeth I of England. The Queen of England readily agreed to become their monarch and sent troops to protect the lives and property of the Dutch. However, astute businessmen soon discovered that the protection fee charged by the Queen of England was actually higher than that of the Spanish King they had driven away.

Ido Dehan, professor of political history at the University of Utrez in the Netherlands:

Cities in the Netherlands say, no, we don’t think so, maybe it’s not a very good idea . We can have a ruler, but his power will not be too great.

In 1581, seven provinces united and announced the establishment of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. This is a country unprecedented in human history. Many historians say it was the first country in the world to "give full political rights to the merchant class."

Dutch State Councilor Joris Forhoover:

This is very typical in the Netherlands. It is a mixture of democracy and democracy. The actual political power is between businessmen and In the hands of the intellectual elite.

Willem van der Molen, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

Different provinces, especially those with coastal cities, were ruled by the business elites of the cities, and the entire The national government, the representatives and rulers of these provinces, are also generated by these families, so you can think of the Dutch Republic as a bit like a family business.

A new country was born, but its future was still shrouded in mystery. If measured by conditions such as land, resources, and population, the Netherlands hardly has the conditions to survive as a country. What's more, the seven provinces that make up the Republic of China are still independent.

Evert Alkmaa, Professor at the Law School of Leiden University in the Netherlands

Its structure is very loose and the provinces are absolutely independent. They can only agree on tax decisions. In other respects, if they are not unanimous, no decision can be taken. So, it's very loose and sometimes they can be likened to the European Union now.

This small country with a loose structure had to face a serious crisis almost as soon as it was founded. Before independence, trade with Spain was one of the Netherlands' main economic sources. However, after independence, the King of Spain blocked all ports in the country and prohibited Dutch merchant ships from entering Spain.

The lifeline of the economy has been cut off. Where is the way out for the new nation?

The Netherlands relied on its business intuition and quickly found its own advantages. Because this land has a large number of merchants who are full of strong desire for wealth. If their love for wealth is transformed into a kind of power, then the Netherlands will have a more powerful weapon than the royal power. Based on this advantage, the Dutch decided to change from shrewd middlemen to ocean sailing fighters and open up routes to the East and America on their own. So where do the large amounts of funds required for ocean voyages come from?

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In 1602, under the leadership of the Communist Party and the Speaker of the National Assembly Oden Barnvelt, the Dutch United East India Company was established. Just as they created an unprecedented nation, now they have created an unprecedented economic organization.

Professor Wim Vandendel, Department of History, Leiden University, the Netherlands:

Yes, you can say that. It was the first joint-stock company to raise capital by issuing shares, but not shares in the modern sense. People came to the company's offices and wrote down in a book that they had lent money, and the company promised dividends on the shares. This was how the Dutch East India Company raised money.

Lodewijk Wachner, Director of the Amsterdam Historical Museum in the Netherlands:

They gathered 6.5 million funds, which is almost equivalent to 3 million euros. At that time, This money is worth billions, and with this money they built companies.

By raising funds from the whole society, the East India Company successfully turned dispersed wealth into capital for its external expansion. Even the maid of the Mayor of Amsterdam became one of the shareholders of the East India Company. Thousands of citizens are willing to invest their savings in this lucrative but risky business. On the one hand, it is out of their desire for wealth, and more importantly, because the Dutch government is also the East Indies. One of the shareholders of the company. The government converted some rights that only the state could have into 25,000 Dutch guilders into the shareholder India Company, which greatly increased the authority and credibility of the East India Company.

Wim van dendel, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

(The privilege given by the government to the East India Company is) to negotiate and sign treaties and launch wars, so that it becomes It becomes an independent sovereign entity in Asia, or the entire region from South Africa to Japan, which can operate like a country.

After everything was prepared, the East India Company's fleet set sail. The King of Spain treated this overestimating challenger with almost contempt. However, in just five years after the establishment of the East India Company, it sent 50 merchant fleets overseas every year, which exceeded the combined number of Spanish and Portuguese fleets.

Lodewijk Wachnar, Director of the Amsterdam Historical Museum in the Netherlands:

In the first ten years they (the East India Company) did not pay any interest because investors liked to Money was invested in building ships, houses, and establishing a trading kingdom in Asia. After doing this, ten years later, the company paid dividends to shareholders for the first time.

It has not paid dividends to shareholders for ten consecutive years. Why is this kind of business approach recognized by investors?

This is because: the Dutch also created a new capital circulation system. In 1609, the first stock exchange in world history was born in Amsterdam. Shareholders of the East India Company could turn their shares into cash at any time through the stock exchange if they wished.

As early as more than four hundred years ago, there were already more than 1,000 stockbrokers active on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Although they haven't put on the red vest yet, their fixed trading seats have already appeared.

This became the most active capital market in Europe at that time. Not only the Dutch, but also many foreigners came to engage in stock trading. A large amount of dividend income flows from this yard with an area of ??no more than 1,000 square meters into the Dutch treasury and the pockets of ordinary Dutch people. From the British national debt alone, the Netherlands can receive more than 25 million guilders in income every year, which is equivalent to 200 tons of silver. .

When large amounts of gold and silver currency circulated at an unprecedented speed, the Dutch economic bloodline began to become congested. This time, the Dutch problem-solving quest went straight to the heart of the modern economy—building banks.

John Kevorn, Director of the Bank of England Museum:

The Bank of Amsterdam was founded in 1609, about a hundred years earlier than the Bank of England. It is a city bank, treasury bank and Exchange bank. It takes deposits and makes loans. All payments of a certain amount go through banks, so the Bank of Amsterdam plays an important role in the economic stability of the Netherlands. More importantly, it invented what we now call credit. It was called "imaginary currency" back then.

In order to protect the credit of banks, the city of Amsterdam passed legislation stipulating that no one can restrict the freedom of transactions of banks under any excuse. As a result, a seemingly incredible phenomenon appeared: while the armies of the Netherlands and Spain were fighting on the ocean, the silver in the hands of Spanish nobles could still flow freely in and out of the vaults of the Bank of Amsterdam. Dutch banks can legally lend money to their country's enemies.

William van der Molen, professor of history at Leiden University in the Netherlands:

The Dutch established their government, including the national government and local government, to serve their commercial interests. .

Dutch State Councilor Joris Forhoover:

At that time, there were constant battles between the royal families of different kingdoms in Europe. The Netherlands always remained neutral in these battles, and it Focus more on economic development.

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7 Reply: A small country, a great cause ( Netherlands)

Historians agree that the citizens of the Netherlands were the creators of the modern commodity economic system. They organically unified banks, stock exchanges, credit, and limited liability companies into one The interconnected financial and commercial systems have brought about explosive wealth growth.

By the mid-17th century, the global commercial hegemony of the United Provinces of the Netherlands had been firmly established. At this time, the Dutch East India Company already had 15,000 branches, and its trade volume accounted for half of the world's total trade volume. More than 10,000 merchant ships flying the Dutch tricolor flag cruise on the five oceans of the world:

In East Asia, they occupy China's Taiwan and monopolize Japan's foreign trade;

In Southeast Asia, they turned Indonesia into their own colony. The first colonial stronghold they established, the city of Batavia, formed the prototype of today's Jakarta;

In Africa, they started from Portugal They captured the Cape of Good Hope, the fortress of the new route;

In Oceania, they named a country - New Zealand - after a Dutch province;

In South America, they occupied Brazil;

At the mouth of the Hudson River in the North American continent, the East India Company built the city of New Amsterdam. Today, the city's name is New York.

Lodewijk Wachnar, Director of the Amsterdam Historical Museum, Netherlands:

How do Amsterdammers view themselves? Look at this picture, this "Goddess of Amsterdam". In the 17th century Amsterdam was the center of the world. This is why the hand of the Goddess of Amsterdam is placed on top of the earth. Our world, our planet, this world is ours.

Marx commented: The Netherlands in 1648: had reached the peak of commercial prosperity.

It was in 1648 that the citizens of Amsterdam decided to build a new town hall. For quality reasons, citizens did not set a predetermined deadline for completion of the project. In fact, they spent eight years and more than 70 tons of gold to build this magnificent building.

Only people who are making history will have this ambition to pursue immortality.

In 1656, the new city hall was completed. The citizens held a carnival for seven consecutive days. Vondel, the great poet known as the "Shakespeare" of the Netherlands, wrote an ode specifically for the city hall. The lyrics sang: "...We Amsterdammers set sail...Profit guides us across seas and oceans. For love With the heart of wealth, we visit all the seaports in the world."

When Vondel composed this ode, a diplomatic mission sent by the Dutch East India Company sailed to the distant East.

In 1656, the Dutch mission arrived in Beijing. The Qing court, which had just occupied the Central Plains for eight years, received them with excitement. But the Dutch encountered a trouble that all diplomatic missions to China at that time encountered, which was that they had to bow three times and kowtow nine times when meeting the emperor. In fact, until the end of the 18th century, almost no diplomat from a European country was willing to accept such harsh Chinese rules. However, the Dutch agreed without hesitation.

Emperor Shunzhi received the Dutch mission and happily rewarded the mission from the richest country in the world with many gifts. Back at their residence, a member of the mission named John N. Hoff wrote down the reason why they agreed to kneel and worship: "...We just don't want to lose important interests for the sake of so-called dignity."

What is the major interest of the Dutch is trade and making money.

As a commercial republic that dominated the world, the huge wealth gained from trade in the Netherlands in the 17th century was not reflected in the luxurious palaces of princes and nobles. They were used by middle-class merchants to build and Decorate your own home. The wealthy life of the Dutch was truly recorded by a group of outstanding realist painters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt.

Dr. Sandra Bechtol of the Rembrandt Memorial Museum in the Netherlands:

There are many artists in Amsterdam. We know that in the 17th century, a large number of outstanding oil paintings appeared in the Netherlands. work. In the mid-17th century, there were approximately 8 million to 15 million oil paintings in Amsterdam. At that time, everyone liked oil paintings, and every class had oil paintings in their homes, and people could buy these works in the market.

In these works, there are almost no kings, ministers and nobles. Ordinary people and ordinary lives have become the protagonists of the art palace. All living beings who have always been ignored, their joy, sorrow, emotions surging in their hearts, and even their hidden desires are all depicted one by one.

This is an ordinary Dutch morning described by the 17th-century art master Vermeer. Warm colors and normal life order create a calm and peaceful atmosphere. The protagonist is filled with vigorous vitality. Only good nutrition and adequate sleep can create such a healthy body. This kind of focused and peaceful expression will only appear on the faces of people who have no fear of hunger, no need to worry about being displaced all the time, and spend their lives in a prosperous environment.

To this day, the Dutch are still as prosperous and comfortable as this cook, and the business rules created by the Dutch business empire are still affecting the world.

In September 1688, a huge fleet set sail from the Port of Amsterdam. These ships carried the Supreme Consul of the Netherlands, William III, and 20,000 Dutch soldiers. William III's trip was invited by the British Parliament to protect the "religious freedom and property" of British citizens.

The arrangement of history is such a coincidence. At the end of the 17th century, the Netherlands slowed down its development and gradually lost its hegemony in the world. Whether in terms of time or space, William III's departure from the Netherlands to England became a very symbolic transfer of the world's center stage.