a brief History
The Birth of the Settlement
It is difficult to think of a less promising spot for what has become one of the world’s major cities. Something must have been appealing about the marshy outlet of the River Amstel where it meets the River IJ (pronounced “Ay”) — a tidal inlet of the Zuider Zee — even although the area flooded on a regular basis with water forced in by the prevailing winter winds.
The Batavians travelled down the Rhine to found the first permanent settlement here. Almost from the start the water had to be controlled, and the tradition of damming and organized diversion of the river and the tides began. It has been a constant source of concern ever since.
The settlement was entered on maps of the Roman Empire, but following Rome’s decline, the land became the domain of various Germanic tribes in what is known throughout Europe as the “Dark Ages.” This probably had little effect on the fledgling city, whose main trade was fishing.
Towards the end of the first millennium the land we now call the Netherlands was ruled by a number of feudal lords — assorted counts, dukes, and bishops who had total power over the land and the people who lived on it.
From Fishing to Trading
The first wooden houses were built in around 1200, on artificial mounds called terps. The town was fortified against rival lords, and against the seawater — the River Amstel being dammed at what is now Dam Square. This was not just to control the tides but also to manipulate trade, as it prevented seagoing ships from taking their goods down the river — they had to transfer the goods to locally owned boats for their journey. It gave the local populace a healthy income and began two important elements in the city’s history, the predominance of the merchant classes and the use of barges for inland trade.
In 1275 the settlement of Amstelredamme, as it was known, received permission from Count Floris of Holland to transport goods along the river Amstel without incurring tolls, giving the city a monopoly on trade along the river. In 1323 Amstelredamme became a toll-free port for beer, and once a method of preserving herring had been perfected in the late 14th century, the town also had a product with a high profit margin and began exporting fish around Europe.
However, something happened in 1345 which caused Amstelredamme to change from being a mere trading port to a settlement of spiritual importance. A dying man was given a piece of communion bread which he could not swallow. When attendants threw the piece in the fire it would not burn. The event was declared a miracle and within a few years Amstelredamme became a place of pilgrimage, further increasing the wealth flowing into the city.
The early 15th century saw a healthy expansion of trade and the population rose dramatically. Catastrophic fires destroyed a large part of the city in 1421 and again in 1452. Following the second fire, legislation made it illegal to build with wood, and brick became the material of choice. Today, only a few buildings remain from before the fires; the wooden Het Houten Huis in the Begijnhof is considered the oldest. The legislation brought about a veritable feast of civil engineering projects including the building of the city wall, incorporating the Waag and Shreierstoren, in around 1480.
The Arrival of the Spanish
Meanwhile, politically, the climate was changing with a series of dynastic inter-marriages. Philip of Burgundy began to bring some semblance of unification to the Low Countries (the region which roughly translates to the Netherlands and Belgium) in the 1420s. He was succeeded by Charles the Bold, whose daughter Maria married into the House of Hapsburg. Her son Philip married Isabella of Spain and in 1500 she gave birth to Charles, future Charles V, ruler of the Netherlands, Holy Roman Emperor, but more importantly, King of Spain and all her dominions — an empire on which it was said the sun never set.
Spanish rule was ruthless but, for a while, Amsterdam was left alone. Its position as an important trading post kept it apart from the more barbarous behavior in other areas. It saw a threefold increase in its population as refugees flooded in from other parts of the empire. Diamond polishers from Antwerp and Jews from Portugal brought their influences to the city.
Religious Strife
Amsterdam was already developing a reputation of tolerance as these new and disparate groups settled into the city. At the same time, Martin Luther’s new Christian doctrine, Protestantism, was spreading like wildfire across Europe. It took a firm foothold in the northern provinces of the Low Countries — with Amsterdam at its heart. It was at this time that Huguenots (French Protestants) came to Amsterdam to flee persecution in their own country.
To counter Protestantism the Catholic Spanish instigated the vicious and cruel force of Inquisition. In 1535 there were anti-papacy demonstrations in Dam Square and in 1550 an Edict of Blood was issued by the Spanish to hunt out the heretics. Thus began 80 years of civil strife in Amsterdam and the region of Holland.
It is difficult to understand why Charles V, who was born in and had strong family ties to The Low Countries, should treat the region with such harshness, however the dynasty power base was in Spain and emotion had no part in Empire-making. In 1567 he sent the Duke of Alva to enforce heavy taxes and military rule on Amsterdam.
Towards Independence
This atmosphere of intense fear and violence sowed the seeds of revolt. The House of Orange (with a power base around the small town in France) had claim to lands in the Low Countries, and one member, William the Silent, began to organize opposition to Spanish rule.
In 1578, the people of Amsterdam rose up against the papal forces and threw them from the city — a time known as the Alteration. Unfortunately, though, all thoughts of tolerance were forgotten, and the zeal with which the Inquisition sought out Protestants was turned on Catholic worshippers. Their churches were violated and they were forced to convert, or to worship in fearful secrecy.
In 1579, seven provinces north of the Rhine conclude the Treaty of Utrecht, releasing the suffocating grip of Spanish rule. Although William was murdered in 1584, his sons continued his work, and in 1648 the Treaties of The Hague and Westphalia saw the creation of the independent State of the Netherlands, whose boundaries were very much as they are today.
The Coming of the Golden Age
As Spanish influence faded, the Dutch star began to rise. First, they drew up agreements with the Portuguese, who had themselves concluded trade treaties in the East making them the sole source of new goods such as spices and silks. Merchants from Amsterdam bought these goods and sold them in the north, making vast profits in the process.
When the Spanish took Portugal in 1580, the Amsterdam merchants decided to go into the import business themselves, and in 1595 sent their first fleet to Asia. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded and it obtained a monopoly on all trade routes east of the Cape of Good Hope. It founded a headquarters in Batavia (now Jakarta) in Java and obtained a monopoly trade agreement with Japan in 1641. VOC ships under the command of Abel Tasman landed in Australia some 150 years before Captain Cook.
The Dutch also looked to the west, and in 1609 sent Englishman Henry Hudson to search for a route to China. In fact, he landed far from China and discovered the river which still bears his name — the Hudson; he also traded with the native peoples for the purchase of Manhattan Island and travelled to the Caribbean, taking several islands as Dutch colonies.
Dutch ships brought back goods not seen before in the western world. Strange and wonderful creatures, new fruits and vegetables, and crafts of immense beauty, and they were all traded at immense profit with the nations of Europe. The Netherlands entered the period called the “Golden Age,” when the VOC was more powerful than many countries, and Amsterdam was at the heart of this vast trading Empire.
Rich merchants needed banks and a support infrastructure, which developed quickly in the city. People flooded in to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities, the population rose rapidly and the old medieval city simply could not cope. It was still very much within the boundaries set almost 150 years before. Plans were made for a series of new canals forming in a ring or girdle around the old medieval horseshoe — three in all, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht. The canal side lots were sold to the wealthy of the city who built the finest houses they could afford. The confidence of the city brought opportunities for the arts and the burgeoning sciences. The artists Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer, and Paulus Potter were all working in this era, their work much in demand by the merchant classes. At the same time the Guild of Surgeons was learning about the physiology of the body at their meeting place in the Waag, helped by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek who had invented the microscope.
Decline and Fall
Expansion quickly peaked however, and the European powers who had carved up the New World set about testing each other in dynastic conflicts and colonial rivalry. The English were the main rivals of the Dutch on the high seas, and there were several wars between the two in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1665–1667 the Dutch sailed up the River Medway and sank the British fleet moored there.
The 18th century saw Amsterdam grow into the foremost financial center in the world, but the seeds of decline had already been planted. When the English colonies in New England rose up in revolt against the British, they found ready allies in the Dutch. From their colonies in the Caribbean they sent caches of arms and ammunition. The British were furious and went to war in 1780, destroying the Dutch navy and signaling a sudden decline in power and influence from which the Netherlands never recovered. Trade suffered to such an extent that in 1791 the VOC went into liquidation.
In the latter part of the century there were anti-Orange demonstrations by pro-French factions in the country, and in 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte took the Netherlands in his epic march across Europe. Under the yoke of another foreign power, and with trade at an all time low, the Golden Age was truly dead.
The Return of the House of Orange
Napoleon installed his brother Louis as King of Holland and he chose to take the fine Town Hall on Dam Square as his palace — now the Koninklijk Palace. But only four years later he fled the city after civil disturbances broke out when he raised taxes.
When Napoleon’s bubble burst and French power began to wane, William of Orange emerged from exile and was proclaimed king in 1813. Amsterdam had to work its way out of economic decline, but throughout the 19th century the city grew steadily. Industrialization changed the city. With the building of the Central Station at the end of the century, Amsterdam turned its back on its seafaring past and looked towards the mechanical age for its future. The station was built over the old harbor wall and some of the oldest canals in the city center were filled in to allow better access to motorized vehicles. Dam Square was landlocked for the first time in its history. However, in the spirit of the Victorian Age, the philanthropic city fathers funded the building of several major museums and parks, along with instigating social reforms which created one of the first welfare states.
The 20th Century
The Netherlands stayed neutral in WWI and efforts in the first half of the century were concentrated on land reclamation which increased agricultural production and living space. The Zuider Zee was finally tamed with the building of a 19-mile dike, the Afsluitdijk, in the north. In the depression of the early 1930s there were several schemes to cut unemployment, including the creation of Amsterdam Bos — a park and woodland on the outskirts of the city.
The Dutch hoped to remain neutral at the outbreak of WWII, but the Germans had other ideas and occupied the Low Countries in 1940. The Dutch Royal family and Parliament escaped the enemy to set up court in London. Amsterdammers were horrified at the treatment of their Jewish neighbors and the dock workers staged a brave one-day strike to protest, but almost all the Jews were transported to concentration camps, never to return. In Prinsengracht, Otto Frank and his family hid in the attic of their business premises for over two years before being discovered. His daughter Anne wrote a diary during their time in the attic, which became an international bestseller after the war. Anne herself died at a concentration camp only weeks before the war ended.
In September 1944, Operation Market Garden, made famous in the film A Bridge Too Far, saw thousands of allied paratroops dropping into the Netherlands to try and take key bridges on rivers leading to Germany. The people welcomed them and rose up to help them but the operation failed and the Germans punished the Dutch people during the winter of 1944–1945. Food and fuel were withdrawn, leaving the population to starve.
The Modern State
Soon after the end of the war, Dutch colonies in the Far East gained their independence — principally as the new country Indonesia — as Holland sought to rebuild its shattered infrastructure. The Dutch used this period to consolidate their social systems to the benefit of the whole community. Amsterdam became a mecca for counter-culture groups such as hippies, who were drawn by the well-known open-mindedness of the people.
“People power” began to exert its influence which ensured that, in Amsterdam at least, progress did not mean sweeping away the past. Where developers saw the opportunity to demolish derelict canal houses and warehouses, the people fought (sometimes literally) to save what they considered their heritage. Today much of the historic city is protected by statute although any redevelopment provokes much debate. The building of the Muziek Theater in the 1980s, which resulted in the demolition of several old houses, was a case in point — with vitriolic demonstrations by local pressure groups.
The Dutch embraced the European Union (EU) — they joined in 1957 when it was still called the European Community — seeing it as a way of increasing their security and their economic stability. Their natural strengths in agricultural production and trade have ensured their success in the new alliance, and the Netherlands has become an important base for foreign companies who have trade ties in Europe. Throughout the 1990s the Dutch have been at the forefront of a movement to open national borders, increase people’s freedom of movement and expand trade within the EU, taking full part in the delicate negotiations which surrounded the launch of the Euro currency in 1999. Amsterdam has become one of the premier tourist cities in the world, trading on its historic center and its wealth of artistic collections. Today it operates very much as it did during the Golden Age with banking, trade, and modern ”pilgrims” (in the form of tourists) to ensure that it remains a wealthy city.
Perhaps the only specter in the air is the one which worried the inhabitants of old Amstelredamme centuries before; water levels. Global warming over the next few decades threatens to raise water levels around the world, and the Netherlands — “nether” means “low-lying” or “below” — will have to work hard at solving the problem for its future inhabitants.
