Nation Application The Kingdom of the Netherlands
Short Nation Name: The Netherlands
National Symbols: 
Crest of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Amsterdam (de iure), The Hague (de facto)
Territory: The Continental Netherlands, the Dutch Antilles, the Windward Islands, Suriname, Indonesia, various African ports
Form of Government: Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: King Wilhelm Ernst Karl Alexander Friedrich Heinrich Bernhard Albert Georg Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (styled
Willem IV)
Head of Government: Chair of the Council of Ministers; Abraham Kuyper, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ideology: Liberalism/reactionairy conservatism, capitalism
Population: 6 million
Military Description: The Dutch military is divided between three branches:
Koninklijke Landmacht - Royal Ground ForcesThe Royal Ground Forces constitute the army of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Due to Dutch European neutrality, these forces are maintained solely for the possible defence of the home front against sudden incursion, though European politics at the time leave little need for a strong and well-equipped army. During peacetime, the army consists mainly of some carreer soldiers and officers, serving in staff duty. During times of war, the army can be expanded twenty-fold through conscription and activation of the army reserves, but it is expected that only thirty divisions, 280.000 men, can be raised. Expansion of the Dutch army is a political debate, and one of the issues on which liberals and reactionaries clash; with reactionaries seeing army expansion as necessary for the defence of the homeland, and liberals seeking to limit non-economic expenditure by the government, though the arms industry favours such expansion.
Dutch strategic doctrine is based around defence. It's economic heartland, Holland, is protected by a ring of fortifications and natural defences. Most notable here are the
polders, low-lying areas that naturally flood should pumps stop working. By flooding parts of the country, any invading army can be stopped dead in its tracks, with the relatively small army holding the fortified line until allied forces can intervene. This strategy hinges on the Netherlands being neutral, however, and being aded by whatever nation their invader is fighting against at the time.
Koninklijke Marine - Royal NavyDutch naval assets are deployed in three different theatres. The main force is stationed in the Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia, to protect colonial interests there. Dutch naval strength is as follows:
7 Coastal Battleships: De Zeven Provincien (1909), Kortenaer (1894-Evertsen class survivor), and five smaller Konigin Regentes (1900-06).
4 Cruisers: Classe Holland (1896-98).
8 Destroyers: Classe Fret (1910-13).
35 Topedo boats: 16 classe G (1904-14), 3 classe Draak (1906), 2 classe Ophir (1901), 5 classe Hydra (1900), Makjan, 4 classe Ardjoeno (1888). Seconde class XXI (1890) and 3 classe K (1905). 8 more in construction.
6 Submersibles: O1 (1905), 4 class O2, and K1 (1913). Two more on order.
35 Misc.: 3 armoured gunboats Brinio class (1912), 2 minelayers Hydra class (1911), gunboat Borneo (1892), 2 Nias (1897), 3 Koetei (1898), 8 Hydra (1873-76), 16 Wodan (1877-79).
Naval expansion is another issue on which the Dutch parliament is divided. Social democrats oppose fleet expansion, on the basis that Dutch neutrality would be harmed by expanding naval capacity. Liberal and reaciontiary politicians, however, are united in the issue, because protection of the Dutch East Indies is vital for Dutch business interests. Parliament recently approved the construction of nine new dreadnaught-class battleships to serve in the Dutch East Indies. However, these ships are under construction in German harbours, partially because of the personal intersession of the king, and this makes the Netherlands partially dependent on continued German peace for their fleet expansion and colonial defence.
Koninklijke Marechaussee - Royal Gendarmerie The Dutch military police. While they officially serve as a police force within the army, they are often deployed as strike breakers. Especially their feared cavalry can often break up a striking crowd through sheer terror.
Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger - Royal Dutch-Indian ArmyThe Dutch land forces in the Dutch East Indies. This force protects colonial interests in the region, and is currently engaged in the conquest and pacification of Atjeh, to complete Dutch control over the Indonesian archipelago. Politically, the KNIL is a hotbed for reactionary politics, with many men joining the KNIL to seek glory and returning with both money in their pocket and racialist views in their heads. Especially middle class officers deployed in the region often find the experience 'enlightening', and many stay behind in order to make their fortune in plantations. The war in Atjeh is slowly drawing to a close, however.
Economic Description: The Dutch economy centers mainly on international trade, both shipping from its colonies in Asia and South America as well as international trade through its ports in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Secondarily, local manufacturing plays a large role, with the industrial sector still expanding, especially in electrical engineering. More and more of the population works in factories, with the rural population slowly dwindling and subsistance farming disappearing as urbanisation increases. Lastly, the income of raw goods and investment capital into Suriname and Indonesia is a third major component of the Dutch economy. However, it is good to note that maintaining these colonies is actually a drain on the Dutch economy, as low venture capital taxes means more wealth flows into the hand of investors, without them paying much taxes to pay for the maintenance of these colonies. Especially the cost to maintain colonial infrastructure and management puts a strain on national coffers. The solution of various political groups differs here, from full decolonisation favoured by the communists up to cutting more costs by reintroducing slavery to the colonies.
Goals: Maintaining the strong economic position and control over the colonies, preventing the insurrection of left-wing elements nationally and internationally
Point of Divergence: The death of queen Wilhelmina in 1902, leading to the ascention of the German grand duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to the Dutch throne
History: In forty years, the Netherlands has seen monumental change in its economy, its politics, and its position in the world. Before the 1870s, the Netherlands was an industrial backwater, kept in a poor state by its economic reliance on trade capital and shipping companies rather than its own production. The holders of trade capital were disinclined to steer government policy towards constructing national railroads and other infrastructure when that money could be used to prop up foreign shipping, which represented only a benefit to the profits of those shipping companies and not the development of the economy in general.
This changed in 1871 with the unification of the German Empire. Almost overnight, German control of the Alsace meant that the Rhine became a major trade artery. The ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam grew sixfold between 1871 and 1900, suddenly creating various national industries where none before had existed. In the port of Rotterdam alone, huge loads of coal, petrol, textiles, and all manner of other goods had to be transported, and their mere presence allowed for other industries to take shape, such as modernised textile production. The money gained from these ventures made possible the creation of Dutch venture capitalist firms, which invested their capital overseas in the exploitation of especially Indonesia. This, in turn, led to the creation of a new capitalist class in the Netherlands, with tremendous sway over national politics unlike anything seen before.
Dutch politics of the day divided the population into various 'pillars'; parts of the population that lived in practical isolation from one another. Catholics, protestants, social democrats, liberals, they all had their own radio stations, newspapers and political parties. The 1870s onward saw these groups struggle; because the franchise was limited to men paying a certain amount of capital gains taxes, the vote was factually limited to men of means, meaning that the pro-labour Social Democrats were relegated to a secondary role in parliamentary politics. As such, political power was shared between the liberals, protestants, and catholics, which differed on many inconsequential aspects and all represented business-friendly politics. Their opinions drifted in the realm of conservatism or progressivism, but even there, their opinions did not stray from the socially acceptable. As such, the Netherlands was very stable politically, albeit that this stability was achieved through the disenfranchisement of the working class.
This political stability was altered with the rise, from 1884 onward, of the first modern trade unions, meaning trade unions with substantial liquidity that could support their members through a strike. These modern trade unions representated a major counter force not only to business interests, which had previously subsisted through underpaying employees, but also to the business-friendly state policy. In 1903, this culminated in nation-wide railroad strikes, in solidarity with the mass firing of Amsterdam harbour labourers. In retaliation, the government of prime minister Abraham Kuyper, himself a conservative protestant from the anti-revolutionary party, managed to get laws through parliament banning strikes by all government employees, and by subsequently nationalising the railways he managed to ban the strikes outright. Socialists called these laws the 'strangulation laws'.
Where this history diverges with real life history is that not Wilhelmina, the young queen with no desire to partake directly in politics, was monarch at this time. Wilhelmina, herself inspired by the late queen Victoria, had passed away in early 1902 during her second miscarriage. She had no direct heir, and nothing remained of the Oranje-Nassau dynasty, which meant that constitutionally the crown fell to a distant cousin: Wilhelm Ernst, the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a German prince. Now, this came as quite the surprise to Wilhelm, now styling himself Willem IV. According to some, he would have to renounce his claim to the Grand Duchy, although because the Dutch king was immune from legal prosecution, this never actually had any effect, and the Grand Duke retained his German titles. He also retained his admiration for Wilhelm I, the German emperor, and had little love for the Victorian notions of his predecessor. Instead, he looked more towards Willem III, the Gorilla King as he had been called, for his active participation in politics.
So it was too that, in 1903, Wilhelm Ernst took notice of Abraham Kuypers and his anti-revolutionairy party. Both of them protestants, they shared misgivings of catholics, liberals, and especially the social democrats. While constitutionally powerless, the king did hold large amounts of influence over politics, able to sway the appointment of new ministers, for instance. This meant that, during the 1905 elections, where Abraham Kuypers and his party lost their majority, the king still managed to intercede to allow Kuypers to retain a ministerial post under a new prime minister, jonkheer Alexander Frederik de Savornin Lohman. Another protestant and rabid conservative, the power struggle between De Savornin Lohman and Kuypers would allow the king to play the umpire, allowing himself final say in many of the big political decisions of the day. And when the 1909 elections rolled around, and Kuypers swept back into power, the balance of the scales merely tipped slightly one way, the king happy to look from the sidelines.
Politically, this has had major repercussions. Wilhelm Ernst is a strong opponent of a universal franchise, and even more of an opponent of extending the franchise to women. To him, and his allies in the anti-revolutionary and the Christian-historical parties, such a change would be unacceptable, and he favours keeping the old system in place which has served him so well. This, and his foreign ancestry, have made him the sworn enemy of social democrats and socialists. While not outright calling for the establishment of a republic, mainly because of the repression this would surely guide their way, they do signal their opposition to Wilhelm Ernst being king. Trade unions too, closely allied to left-wing political parties, have intensified their opposition, with the most radical of trade unions foregoing parliamentarianism altogether for a more revolutionary strategy, including the anarchist National Labour Secretariat.
The most uncomforable issue at the moment is that of Dutch foreign policy. The Netherlands is officially neutral, having no military allies on the European continent outside of pacts for the mutual defence of colonies. Historically, it has close trade relations with Germany, although its political elite, especially the liberal elite, is closer to France and the UK. Socialists, on the other hand, are against any alliance with colonial powers, even opposing Dutch colonial ventures altogether. This makes the close personal relation the king has to the German emperor such an important point. While the official standpoint is that the ministers, not the king, decide foreign policy, it is obvious how much the king could sway his ministers, as he has done with national policy. With tensions brewing, the question remains whether Dutch neutrality will prevail through the future, or that some other force will steer the country into a certain direction.
#ODQHVVF (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)
Posted: Sat May 20, 2023 9:59 am
