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General Knowledge :: HISTORICAL EVENTS BY COUNTRY :: THE NETHERLANDS

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The Netherlands

The Netherlands: Historical Dates

58 BC	Julius Caesar conquered the area now known as the Netherlands.
AD 925	The Netherlands became part of the Holy Roman Empire.
1100s	Trade and industry developed in the Netherlands and the country became a natural trading center for Western Europe.
1516	The Netherlands passed under Spanish control as Charles V, ruler of the Low Countries, became king of Spain.
1581	The Protestant provinces of the Low Countries declared their independence. Spain and the Netherlands fought for years, until Spain recognized Dutch independence in 1648.
1600s	Dutch trade, culture, and empire prospered as the Netherlands became a leading world power. Amsterdam and Leiden became important European trading and cultural centers.
1714	Exhausted by long, costly wars with France, the Netherlands began to cede control of the seas to England. However, the Dutch continued to control a vast global trading empire.
1795-1813	France captured Amsterdam and occupied the Netherlands during the Napoleonic Wars.
1815	The Netherlands became an independent kingdom united with Belgium.
1830	Belgium seceded from the Netherlands and became an independent nation.
1914-1918	The Netherlands stayed neutral during World War I, but the country suffered as the war hindered Dutch trade.
1940	Germany invaded and conquered the Netherlands. The government fled to London, and the country suffered under Nazi rule during World War II (1939-1945).
1949	After four years of fighting, the Netherlands recognized the independence of its former colony of Indonesia.
1954	Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles became equal members of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
1957	The Netherlands became a founding member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union).
1962	The Netherlands ceded control of its last overseas colony, Netherlands New Guinea, to Indonesia.
1975	Suriname left the Kingdom of the Netherlands and became an independent nation, resulting in a huge influx of Surinamese immigrants to the Netherlands.
1986	Aruba separated from the Netherlands Antilles and became an equal member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
1991	Members of the 12 European Community nations met at Maastricht to consider a draft version of a treaty to increase economic integration and political cooperation. The Maastricht Treaty, as it became known, was ratified in 1993, creating the European Union.