- This article is about the Dutch as an ethnic group. For information on the population of the Netherlands, see Demographics of the Netherlands.
The Dutch people (Dutch: Nederlanders, meaning 'Lowlanders') are an ethnic group who form the majority of the population in the Netherlands (13 million in 2006) [9]. The term can have different meanings depending on context and definition, the number of (ethnic) Dutch people today for example can range from 13,000,000 to 25,000,000[10] or even 30,000,000[11]. National identity, and the issue of who belongs to the Dutch people, are controversial issues in the Netherlands.
| File:The Dutch.JPG | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| The Netherlands: 13 186 600 [1] United States: 121,489 [8] | |
| Languages | |
| Dutch | |
| Religion | |
| Protestant (mostly Calvinist), Roman Catholic, agnosticism, atheism, other. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| (In alphabetical order) Afrikaners, Flemings, Frisians. |
Terminology
The term "Dutch" can refer to the entire population of the Netherlands, to those with Dutch nationality and citizenship (essentially the same under Dutch law), to a Dutch nation, or to an ethnic group. The ethnic Dutch are those who have full or partial Dutch ancestry. In the Netherlands, the term "ethnic group" is an academic one, the standard term in general use is volk, and has both national and ethnic connotations.
In the Netherlands (and Flanders), the term "allochtoon" is widely used to refer to immigrants and their descendants. The corresponding antonym autochtoon is less widely used, but it generally corresponds to ethnic Dutch.
Whether the 'allochtones' are treated as part of the Dutch people depends largely on context. Similarly, the Frisians may or may not be included in the Dutch people, according to context and intention. Frisian may refer to an ethnic group, a regional or cultural identity, to inhabitants of the Province of Friesland, or to speakers of the Frisian language. The Kingdom of the Netherlands includes Caribbean islands with an ethnically distinct population, and they may or may not be included in the term "Nederlanders". In nationality law, the term Nederlander denotes a citizen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and also includes persons with clearly non-Dutch ethnicity.
Outside the Netherlands
Outside the Netherlands, the English-language exonym Dutch also refers to people who descend from the Dutch, or at least from from emigrants from the present territory of the Netherlands. The corresponding endonym "Nederlanders" is used in the Netherlands itself as a synonym for het Nederlandse volk, although in some contexts it may refer to the entire population of the Netherlands. Those who identify as 'Dutch' in census statistics in Canada, Australia and the United States, especially if part of second, third generation immigrants or further, are not generally included in the term "Nederlanders" in the Netherlands itself. There, they are referred to as people of "Dutch origin" ("Nederlandse afstamming"). [citation needed]
The Flemish
The Flemish people are not generally regarded as identical to the Dutch people, mainly in a cultural sense. They are however generally seen as a closely related. In fact the Dutch and Flemish see themselves as the closest related people.[12]. Some people even support a re-unification of Flanders and the Netherlands, though they form a minority (aproximatly 40% of last years voters[13]) Historically, pretty much until the early 20th century both the Flemish and the Dutch were grouped, and grouped themselves, under the denominator "Dutch", it should be noted that "Dutch" had a broader definition at the time, and had a mainly religion based subgrouping of "Zuid Nederlanders (Southern Dutch, the predominantly catholic Dutch living below the Rhine) and the "Noord Nederlanders" (Northern Dutch, those living above the rhine and mostly adhering Protestantism).
Afrikaners
The Afrikaners constitute a distinct group in South Africa, and their ethnic origins lie in emigration to the Cape Colony, predominantly (but not exclusively) from the Netherlands. Until the early 20th century, at the time of the Boer Wars, there was a strong sense of unity, this has gradually faded. Most Afrikaners acknowledge that they (predominantly) descend from Dutch people, but they generally do not consider themselves to be ethnic Dutch, and they are not considered 'Dutch' in the Netherlands itself. [citation needed]
History
The history of the Dutch, as of most European peoples, is complex and intertwined through migrations and shifting empires. In this section, a short overview of these issues in relation to the approximate area of the current Netherlands is sketched.
In the Roman Empire, the imperial boundary ran east-west through the present Netherlands, along the Rhine. Within the empire, tribal groups included the Belgae (whose name was adopted in 1830 for the new Kingdom of Belgium), and the Batavii (whose name was adopted for the Dutch Batavian Republic). After the Fall of the Roman Empire, by the end of the Migration Period, the Low Countries were inhabited by Frisians, Saxons and the Franks, a Germanic people first recorded living in Pannonia. Of these three groups, the Franks were most dominant[14], and would in fact conquer large areas of Europe in the subsequent centuries. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided the (Frankish) Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms for the three sons of Louis the Pious. The Low Countries became part of Middle Francia under Emperor Lothair I.
In 962, the Holy Roman Empire was established with the coronation of Otto the Great, extending from the Low Countries to Italy. The Holy Roman empire was a largely decentralized state and its authority within the low countries was never very strong. Later, semi-independent fiefdoms formed in the Low Countries; the most powerful being Brabant, Flanders, Guelders, Holland and Luxembourg. The first steps towards political unification of the Low Countries took place under the dukes of Burgundy (until 1473). The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, issued by Charles V, established the Low Countries as an independent entity, the Seventeen Provinces with boundaries approximating to the present Benelux, as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and France.
Although the Seventeen Provinces had become a political unity, there were still great regional differences. The eastern (e.g., Guelders and Liege) and southern provinces (Artois) were less densely populated and agrarian. These provinces were also partially oriented towards their (German or French) neighbours. A division between North and South was not foreseeable at the time. The primary contrast was between the rich urbanised coastal provinces (Flanders, Zealand and Holland), and the less developed peripheral domains. [15]
As the Reformation gained influence in Europe, Calvinism became very influential in the Seventeen Provinces, including Artesia and Flanders, the base of the Spanish governors. When Catholic Habsburg Spain turned to repressive policies, this added to general dissatisfaction in the Seventeen Provinces. In 1566, a wave of iconoclastic attacks on Catholic churches began what is now known as the Dutch Revolt. During the succeeding rebellion, the Spanish forces managed to re-establish their power in the southern provinces. In the north, the Dutch Republic emerged, defining for the first time an independent Dutch nation. The economic golden age, and spread of Calvinism redefined "thé Dutchman" across Europe, as he predominantly had become a "Hollander" rather than a "Flemming" as had previously been the case. [16]
As the Spanish forces reconquered the Southern cities (in present-day Belgium), of which the fall of Antwerp in 1585 was most notable, many Calvinists, including much of the local economic and cultural elites, fled north. The Southern Netherlands remained under Spanish rule, and became a predominantly Catholic region, which created a religious division between the provinces.
In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia recognised the de facto geopolitical division of the former Seventeen Provinces. The Dutch Republic was prospering and creating the trade-based Dutch Empire overseas, while the Southern Netherlands had lost their leading economic role in Europe. In the 18th century, the power of the Dutch republic started to diminish. After a short lived existence as the Batavian Republic supported by French revolutionaries and the vassal state Kingdom of Holland, the Low Countries were, for a short time (1810-1813), annexed by the French Empire. At this time, the English occupied the Dutch colonial possessions. Except for the Cape Colony (South Africa) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the colonial possessions were returned after Napoleon had been defeated. The lasting division between the Dutch and the Boers (who were Dutch settlers in South Africa) started here. When France was defeated in 1814 and again after the Hundred Days Campaign in 1815, the winning coalition, created the United Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising of the Northern and the Southern Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna. The new state, intended to act as a semi-buffer state between France and Prussia, proved to be unworkable; not only did it include different ethnic and linguistic groups (Walloons, Germans and Dutch), the state was also divided by cultural, religious, and internal economic differences. In 1830, the southern provinces declared their independence in the Belgian revolution. In 1839, the independence of Belgium was recognised by the northern Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the resolution of the status of Luxembourg in 1890, the three states acquired most of their present boundaries.
There has been some call for a "Greater Netherlands", combining the Dutch-speaking regions in Belgium with the Netherlands, since the late 19th century. This wish was voiced by Dutch, and especially Belgian, fascists during the 1930s. The occupation of Belgium and the Netherlands by Nazi Germany brought no major border changes, though, as the Germans would not allow the creation of a larger Dutch state. Today, support for a state that would unifying all Dutch speakers mainly, but not exclusively, comes from the political right, especially on the fringes of the Flemish movement.
In Asia, World War II precipitated the independence of Indonesia, de facto in 1945, officially recognised in 1950. The migration of certain Dutch and Eurasian minorities to the Netherlands was the first of many immigration flows. During the economic boom of the 1960s and 1970s, large-scale labour migration began, at first from Italy and Spain, later predominantly from Turkey and Morocco. The immigration greatly exceeded the emigration of ethnic Dutch to Canada and Australia, which was at its peak in the 1950s. In 1975, with the independence of Suriname (former Dutch Guyana), large numbers of Surinamese (half of Surinam's total 1970 population) also moved to the Netherlands.
Immigration has made the 'ethnicity' and national identity of the Dutch a political issue. In 1950, Dutch descent, Dutch nationality, and Dutch citizenship were in practice identical, and if the Frisians are included, the Netherlands was largely a mono-ethnic society, although colonial influences had been present for a long time. In 1950, most Dutch were either Catholic or Protestant; with a few atheists. Today 900,000 inhabitants count the Islam as their religion. The distinction between those of Dutch origin on the one side, and immigrants and their descendants on the other, has recently played a role in the election speeches by populist leaders, who make reference to the controversial issue of Islam in western societies.
Influence on the world
Although comparatively small in numbers, the Dutch have definitely made their mark on the world, as we know it today. The Dutch Republic was an economic and military power during much of the 17th century, and involved in many conflicts of the time, such as the Anglo-Dutch Wars.
Dutch colonialism still influences the lives of many today. Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans such as the Dutch began to establish trading posts and forts along the coasts of western and southern Africa. Eventually, a large number of Dutch, augmented by French Huguenots and Germans, settled in the Cape Colony. Their descendants in South Africa, the Afrikaners and the Coloureds, are the largest European-descended groups in Africa today, see Demographics of Africa. The Dutch also controlled what is now known as Indonesia, and waged various wars against its native inhabitants in a series conflicts raging from the early 16th to the late 20th century. The area surrounding New York was a Dutch colony and in fact many street names and geographical locations still bear Dutch (though Anglicised): see Legacy of the Dutch in New York.
Contribution to humanity
A significant number of painters and philosophers are Dutch, despite it's small numbers. Remarkable persons include painters like Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Vermeer, and philosophers like Spinoza[17], Erasmus of Rotterdam and Hugo Grotius as well as various poets and writers such as Pieter Hooft, Joost van den Vondel and Anne Frank[17] and scientists like Christiaan Huygens also made their mark on how we today view the world. The Netherlands were arguably the first nation state of the world and one of the first republics in modern Europe. During the early 17th century, the economic reforms, empire and ideas made the Netherlands one of the world's richest countries and the first thoroughly capitalistic country.[18]
Dutch diaspora
The Dutch have been emigrating from their original homeland since medieval times. The first big wave of Dutch immigrants to leave the Low Countries came from present day Northern Belgium as they wanted to escape the heavily urbanised cities in Western Flanders. They arrived in Brandenburg in 1157. Due to this, the area is known as "Fläming" (Fleming) in reference to Duchy that these immigrants came from. Because of a number of devastating floods in the provinces of Zeeland and Holland in the 12th century, large numbers of Dutch farmers migrated to The Wash in Britain, the delta of the Gironde in France, around Bremen, Hamburg and western North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the late 16th century, many Dutchmen and women (Invited by the German markgrave) moved to the delta of the Elbe, around Berlin, where they dried swamps, canalized rivers and build numerous dikes. Today, the Berlin dialect still bears some Dutch features.[19] (See also:Dutch influence on the German language)
Overseas emigration of the Dutch started around the 16th century, beginning a Dutch colonial empire. The first Dutch settlers arrived in the New World in 1614 and built a number of settlements around the mouth of the Hudson River, establishing the colony of New Netherland, with its capital at New Amsterdam (the future world metropolis of New York City). Dutch explorers also discovered Australia and New Zealand in 1606, thought they did not settle the new lands; and Dutch immigration to these countries did not begin until after World War II. The Dutch were also one of the few Europeans to successfully settle Africa prior to the late 19th century. Dutch colonists established Cape Town in 1652 and their descendants are known today as the Afrikaners.[20]
Genetics and appearance
The Dutch decend from a group of Homo sapiens who settled in Europe during the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. These people originated in what is now the Middle East and brought with them a discrete set of Y chromosomal and mitochondrial haplotypes as well as Indo-European languages, agriculture and pottery. Hence the Dutch share a lot of their genetics with other European people, nevertheless there are genetic mutations unique to the Dutch.[21] The percentages of hair colour for the Dutch population are 43% brown, and 40% blonde hair and 17% other (note that this includes non-western ethnic minorities so the actual percentages of blond or brown hair for the Dutch ethnic group are likely to be higher[22]). Generally the Dutch are described as being very tall, and they are indeed the tallest people on earth[23], but this is a relativly recent development. It was only in the 1950s that the Dutch passed Americans, who stood tallest for most of the last 200 years. In fact, in 1848, one man out of four was rejected by the Dutch military because he was shorter than 5-foot-2 (about 155 cm).[24]
Culture and identity
Dutch culture is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as foreign influences thanks to the merchant and exploring spirit of the Dutch.[25] The Netherlands and Dutch people have played an important role for centuries as a cultural center, with the Dutch Golden Age regarded as the zenith. During the 20th century Dutch architects played a leading role in the development of modern architecture, and Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Van Gogh are world renowned[26].
The Dutch people and their culture were historically influenced by the culture of neighbouring regions. France played a substantial role in the history of the Netherlands in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, and there are resulting cultural influences. Cultural contacts with Scandinavia were, and are, much less influential. English-speaking cultural influences are predominant since the Second World war. The Dutch also were influenced by their colonies, most notably Indonesia.
The Dutch and the Flemish share the same language: Dutch. The present state border between the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium does not coincide with any linguistic or dialectal boundary. In the Province of Limburg, the Netherlands border with Wallonia coincides, in places, with the Dutch-French linguistic boundary.
After the Dutch Revolt and the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch and Flemings (who live in Northern Belgium) were not generally seen as one single people or nation, despite the unification during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. [27] Nevertheless they share a sense of being closely related, as the only two Dutch-speaking societies in Europe. They share a language and have a similar culture in some respects. There are some differences: Protestantism and especially Calvinism had almost no influence in Flanders, which remained overwhelmingly Catholic.
The Belgian revolution, domination by a Francophone elite, and structural disadvantage for Dutch-speaking Belgians, led at the end of the 19th century to an oppositional Flemish cultural movement, which soon politicised. It revived interest in the idea of reunification - at present in the form of unity between the Netherlands and Flanders, rather than a recreation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands . Support for the idea has varied: at present no political party represented in the Dutch parliament supports it. (In Flanders, the supporters of the idea are paradoxically found mainly among Flemish separatists. The main separatist party, Vlaams Belang, generally seen as belonging to the extreme right[28], supports an independent Flanders).
Support for the break-up of Belgium is less strong in Wallonia, and there is no major support there for unification with France. An obstacle to any break-up of Belgium is that both groups claim the capital Brussels, historically a Dutch-speaking and culturally Flemish city, currently near 80% Francophone, although officially bilingual.
The Frisian people, who speak their own language and today live mainly in Friesland (a province of the Netherlands), have had some influence on Dutch culture, especially in the northern parts of the province of North Holland proper; also named West Frisia.
Religion
- Also see: History of religion in the Netherlands
The Dutch population can be separated into two main religious groups: Roman Catholics and Protestants. During and after the Dutch revolt against Spain, Protestantism became the dominant religion in most of the country. The provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the region of Twente, however, remained predominantly Catholic.
At 30 percent of the population, Catholics form the largest religious group today. Meanwhile, the Dutch belong to many separate Protestant churches, the largest of which are the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormd) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Gereformeerd), although in 2004 these merged to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the different religious groups were living completely separately from each other, and from the newly emerging socialist labour movement. These sub-societies were a form of horizontal stratification: people lived and married within their own communities, and the pillars had their own schools and universities, media (newspapers, magazines and radio broadcasting associations), sport clubs, shops, hospitals, unions and political parties. This intense social fragmentation was called verzuiling and led to significant tension within Dutch political life. Pillarisation is described in detail in Arend Lijphart's seminal work on consociationalism, The Politics of Accommodation.
After peaking in influence in the 1950s, the social system of pillarisation started to crumble in the early 1960s during the Dutch postmaterialist revolution, due to secularisation, individualism, consumerism, counter-culture, rising living standards, the emergence of mass media (especially television), increased social and geographical mobility, and agitation by movements such as Provo, D66 and Nieuw Links.
A 2004 study conducted by Statistics Netherlands shows that 50% of the population claim to belong to a Christian denomination, 9% to other denominations and 42% to none. In the same study 19% of the people claim go to church at least once a month, another 9% less than once a month, 72% hardly ever or never. [29][30] There is a small Jewish community, mostly in the larger cities. The only religion that has been growing in recent decades is Islam. This is mostly in areas where Turkish and Moroccan immigrant communities have formed.
People of Dutch ancestry in the United States are generally more religious than their European counterparts;[citation needed] the numerous Dutch communities of western Michigan remain strongholds of the Reformed Church in America, a descendant of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Sports
There are a number of sports which are most likely invented by the Dutch, which then spread worldwide, examples include ice hockey[31] and golf.[32]Apart from these worldwide sports there are also a number of local Dutch sports such as polsstokverspringen, kaatsen, klootschieten, kolven and korfbal.
The most popular sports, both for active participation and audience are Football, Cycling, Speed skating, Judo, Hockey, Physical fitness and Tennis.
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 22 million people, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium which was first attested around 470 AD. Dutch is an official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch, Flemish and Surinamese governments coordinate their language activities in the Nederlandse Taalunie ('Dutch Language Union'). Dutch was an official language in South Africa up until 1961, having fallen into disuse since Afrikaans, itself a descendant of Dutch) became an official language in 1925. Of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 0.7% say their home language is Dutch (see article on New Zealand). The number of people coming from the Netherlands, though, is considerably higher but from the second generation on most people changed their language in favour of English.
Standaardnederlands or Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands ('Common Dutch', abbreviated to ABN) is the standard language as taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch Language Union defines what is ABN and what is not, for example in terms of orthography.
Dutch name
In Dutch society a given name is given to a child by the parents shortly after, or before, birth. It is common to give a child several given names, particularly among Catholics, but only one of them is meant to be for daily use. This is often underlined on official documents, as it is often the second or third christian or a different name not even related to the christian names. Dutch surnames are easily recognisable, mainly because of tussenvoegsels such as van, van der or de. In the United States, partly due to the fame of rich industrials such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dutch surnames are often associated with the upperclass of society even though when translated the surnames are often very simplistic. For example, Vanderbilt means "(coming) from De Bilt", De Bilt being a small village in the province of Utrecht.[33]
The image of the Dutch
Symbols
Stereotype "Dutch" symbols such as wooden shoes, tulips, cheese and windmills, are not national symbols of the Netherlands, but reflect a popular image of the Netherlands and the Dutch people. The Netherlands itself has standard national symbols, including the Dutch flag and the national colour orange. The red, white and blue flag is the oldest tricolour in continuous use until today. Orange is the symbolic colour of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. Another symbol of the Dutch is Het Wilhelmus, the Dutch (as well as the worlds oldest[34]) anthem, and is about the Dutch war of independence.
Self-image
The Dutch have a self-image that differs considerably from the image(s) other people have of them (see section below). The Dutch may acknowledge that they are the cleanest people on earth, are thrifty, have an excellent feel for business, are good at foreign languages and have an unequalled ability to coexist with others. They take most pride in their tolerance and flexibility, even though they will most likely not, unless pushed, say that these characteristics make them somehow superior to others. However they do have inconsistencies; for example, a secret mistrust of foreigners and a distaste of alien cuisine.[35]
Dutch image worldwide
Most nations regard the Dutch as being organized and efficient, and harmless. One can hardly be frightened, the stereotypical reasoning goes, by "a nation of rosy-cheeked farmers who live in windmills, wear clogs, have a garden full of tulips and sit on piles of yellow cheese". But apart from the more or less touristy image, the Dutch also have a reputation for being opinionated, stubborn and incurably mean. The Belgians even consider them to be downright devious in business affairs. Dutch frankness completely overwhelms more reticent peoples such as the Japanese who consider the Dutch to be the most arrogant of all the Europeans they do business with[35], but at the same time are impressed by their reputation as formidable merchants. "Where a Dutchman has passed, not even the grass grows anymore" a Japanese saying goes. English people survey the Dutch with guarded approval, as the closest any "continentals" will come to the sacred state of being English. It wasn't always like this. At the time of the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century these two nations were at each other’s throats. An English pamphlet raged: "A Dutchman is a Lusty, Fat, Two-legged Cheese worm. A Creature that is so addicted to eating butter, drinking fat, and sliding (skating) that all the world knows him for a slippery fellow". At this time the English language gained a whole array of new insults such as "Dutch courage" (booze-induced bravery), "Dutch comfort" ("things could be worse") and "Dutch gold" (something which is a fake).[35] Others include:
These terms also gained prominence in 17th century New England during their rivalry with New Holland which was captured (and later recaptured by the Dutch) during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
The Dutch in popular culture
Dutch people generally appear in popular culture in two completely distinct ways. The traditional Dutch image (People in national dress, wearing clogs, having blond hair standing in front of wide, flat landscapes covered with tulips and windmills in the background) and the more recent, and mostly negative, image of non-religious drug addicts, who legalized prostitution, marihuana, abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage — a country where you can get away with practically anything and people living in it who just don't care.
None of these stereotypical images are correct. Dutch people only wear traditional costumes on very special occasions or to entertain tourists [36]. Clogs, or wooden shoes, are not usually worn in public life (although clogs can be seen in public in some smaller towns) even though they are still widely used for gardening and in farming. The drug and value related stereotypes of the Dutch are relatively recent, from around 1985. The Dutch laws no longer establish drug use and small scale sales of some drugs as a criminal act which created the image of Dutch people being drug addicts is a widespread stereotype, especially in the Western Hemisphere. In spite of this, or perhaps due to this, the Dutch have a low figure of drug offences by country and the health effects of drugs are relatively well-controlled. Despite the high priority given by the Dutch government to fighting narcotics trafficking, the Netherlands continue to be an important transit point for drugs entering Europe as well as a major producer and exporter of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs. Legalisation of prostitution was mainly motivated by the wish to protect the health of prostitutes and to fight women trading. Gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia stem from deeply developed values concerning the individual right of personal liberty and self-determination.
Dutch views on others
Dutch people tend to judge foreign cultures using the standards and values they hold dear. Especially cultures whose religious or political customs are seen as intolerant (compared to Dutch standards) are looked down upon.[37]
In comparison to most other cultures, the Dutch are rather reserved in public and do not often touch each other or display anger or extreme exuberance. This is why people and cultures who display these "vices", for example those living around the Mediterranian Sea, are regarded as being too emotional. In Dutch society, extravagantly flaunting ones emotions (whether positive or negative) is seen as lack of control or even as having a psychological disorder.[38]
After centuries of close commercial, military, cultural and religious relations between the Netherlands and the British Isles, the Dutch have a generally positive opinion of the British. Anglophone television programmes and English literature are popular and held in high regard, and English is widely spoken. Americans are typically also thought to be principally "good" people, though somewhat uneducated, unsophisticated and badly guided by their politicians.
For many years, most recently since WWII, a strong animosity existed towards Germans. They were said to be rude, arrogant, noisy and intolerant and in fact most other antonyms of characteristics the Dutch pride themselves on. For many Dutch people it is not a question of "why" they dislike Germans, they just do. According to "The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch", "Telling a Dutch person that their language seems very similar to German is unlikely to benefit your relationship." It humorously adds: "Remarking that the two nations are similar in many ways will probably get you thrown out of the house."
Perhaps strangely, Germans are generally unaware of the fact that they are disliked by their neighbours and often think it is merely a soccer phenomenon, as this is when the anti-German feelings are most visible. The Dutch and Germans have had fierce soccer rivalry ever since the Second World War, eventhough the post war rivalry on Germany's side is actually a reaction on the behaviour displayed by the Dutch.[39]
Dutch antipathy towards Germans goes back to the early 15th century when Germans were seen as uneducated, grumpy, rude peasants who served as cheap labour to the wealthier Dutch.[40] [41]
Entire stories were published in which Germans were portrayed as inferior barbarians. [42]
Belgians on the other hand have an entirely different image. They feature prominently in Dutch jokes in which they are typically portrayed as stupid and uneducated. This is however commonly accepted to be a completely fictional stereotype, originating at the time of the Belgian Revolution, in which the Flemish and Walloons seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Generally Belgians are admired for their educational and health system. Most, if not all, Dutch people consider the Belgians to be the closest related people. It should however be noted that the Dutch, when they speak of Belgians, nearly always mean the Flemish (the Dutch speaking inhabitants of Belgium) rather than the Walloons. [43][44]
Notes
- ^ Autochtone population at 01 january 2006, Central Statistics Bureau, Integratiekaart 2006, (external link)
- ^ According to Factfinder.census.gov
- ^ Based on figures given by Professor JA Heese in his book Die Herkoms van die Afrikaner (The Origins of Afrikaners), who claims the modern Afrikaners (who total around 4.5 million) have 35% Dutch heritage. How 'Pure' was the Average Afrikaner?
- ^ Based on Statistics Canada, Canada 2001 Census.Link to Canadian statistics.
- ^ 2001 Australian statistics
- ^ 2001 New Zealand census
- ^ See Demographics of Germany.
- ^ Belgian migrational statistics.
- ^ 13 186 600, autochtone population at 01 January 2006, Central Statistics Bureau, Integratiekaart 2006, (external link)
- ^ This is when the people who report Dutch ancestry are added (for example Dutch Americans).
- ^ This is when the Flemings are added. Among supporters of the Greater Netherlands/Dietsland and those who advocate (even) closer ties between the Flemish and Dutch, this is a common definition.
- ^ , Perceptie van similariteit, page 21. (Dutch)
- ^ 40% of the members of the Flemish parliament, elected by the Flemish, are part of Vlaams Belang, a party which supports the separation of Flanders and a possible reunification with the Netherlands.
- ^ Map of Frankish kingdoms, (image)
- ^ J. H. C. Blom et al. Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden (First edition), p. 107).
- ^ In J. H. C. Blom et al. Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden. (First edition. p 118).
- ^ a b Both Spinoza as Anne Frank are of non-Dutch heritage. While Anne Frank did have some Dutch blood from her mothers lineage, Spinoza has none since his family were originally Portuguese Jews. Nevertheless, they are generally considered Dutch in the sense they were Dutch nationals raised with Dutch language and culture alongside their own Jewish heritage, who considered themselves members of the Dutch ethnic group as well. This respect goes both ways as is illustrated by their inclusion in a recent game show aiming to identify the Greatest Dutchman of all times (as can be seen here), and the depiction of Spinoza on largest denomination of the national heroes series of Dutch guilder banknotes designed in the 1970s
- ^ Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world. In early modern Europe it featured the wealthiest trading city (Amsterdam) and the first full-time stock exchange. The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as such less benign phenomena as the boom-bust cycle, the world's first asset-inflation bubble, the tulip mania of 1636-1637, and according to Murray Sayle, the world's first bear raider - Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount ("Japan Goes Dutch", London Review of Books [April 5, 2001]: 3-7).
- ^ Onbekende Buren, by Dik Linthout, page 102/103.
- ^ Spread of the Dutch world wide.
- ^ Scientific study of the Dutch genes.
- ^ Planet Internet article, originally a The Independent article. It says the Dutch have 43% brown, and 40% blonde hair and thus 17% other]
- ^ Dutch, World’s Tallest People, Just Keep Growing.
- ^ DWTPJKG, last line.
- ^ For example the introduction of Indonesian spices and herbs.
- ^ Artcyclopedia, list of most popular artists, Van Gogh ranks 2nd, Rembrandt 7th.
- ^ A. Th. van Deursen in J. H. C. Blom et al., Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, p. 118, quoted above.
- ^ "Far-right party suffers rebuff in Antwerp" (HTML). The Washington Times. 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Statistical Yearbook of the Netherlands 2006, page 43
- ^ Religion in the Netherlands, by Statistics Netherlands.
- ^ See the Ice Hockey article.
- ^ Golf was mentioned on February 26 in the year 1297 for the first time in the Netherlands in a city called Loenen aan de Vecht. Here the Dutch played a game with a stick and leather ball. He who hit the ball in a target several hundreds of meters away the least number of times, won.
- ^ See the history section of the Vanderbilt family article, or visit this link.
- ^ The Dutch anthem was written between 1568 and 1572 during the Eighty Years' War. The Japanese anthem has older lyrics, but the melody wasn't added until the early 20th century.
- ^ a b c The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch; "How they see themselves"
- ^ For example in the village of Volendam.
- ^ The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, page 4 and 5; "How they see others" and "Special relations".
- ^ The Undutchables, by White & Boucke, ISBN 1-888580-32-1.
- ^ Onbekende Buren, by Dik Linthout, page 60 till 64 "voetbal".
- ^ "Waarom wordt een Duitser Mof genoemd?" (Why is a German called "Mof"?), in Dutch.
- ^ Dutch etymological dictionary for "mof".
- ^ (Link) Explanation of Anti-German sentiment in the Netherlands. (Dutch)
- ^ Clingendael, "What do you think about with the word "Belgians", "Flemish" or "Walloons"? (Dutch, page 39)
- ^ The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, page 4 and 5; "How they see others" and "Special relations".
