The First World War in the Netherlands

The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international court of justice that encourages the resolution of disputes that involve states, takes seat in the Peace Palace in The Hague. The institute harmonizes with the Dutch effort for peace: the small country has every reason to advance peace and peaceful resolution on account of the overseas trade and its colonies. It has been choosing to remain neutral in conflicts for decades. Given the Hague Peace Conferences (1899, 1907), it seems logical to provide a home for the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

But the tensions in Europe are rising. There has been unrest in the Balkans for many years. The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires are confronted with nationalist movements struggling for independent states or territorial expansion. In a few cases these movements are supported by Russia and sometimes they are combating one another. Two antagonistic power blocs are formed. An arms race develops and within a year of the official opening of the Peace Palace the major powers are at war.

‘All we wish is to be left alone,’ the Dutch newspaper NRC writes on the first of August 1914. Holland’s position is clear: the country wishes to remain neutral. Neutrality is endangered by the Germans, who might plan to pass through the province of Limburg to invade Belgium and France. After a few days of war the Germans and the British indicate that they will respect the neutrality of the Netherlands, but only if this neutrality doesn’t benefit the enemy. Therefore the Dutch constantly need to compromise during the war so as not to offend one of both parties. Sometimes it’s a close call. In March 1916, for example, there are rumours that the British are planning to invade the country and in 1918 the Germans demand free transport across Limburg for the war effort.

The battles begin in August 1914. The Germans invade Luxembourg and Belgium. They burn and loot the town of Leuven and conquer Antwerp on 10 October 1914. One million Belgians flee to the Netherlands, that have a population of only six million people. Local committees and private individuals spontaneously offer accommodation and help.

A large number of refugees returns during the war. Eighty thousand Belgians, both civilians and soldiers, eventually spend the four war years in the Netherlands. A lot of the civilian refugees are accommodated in ‘places of refuge’, small camps with facilities like a post office, an infirmary, a church, shops and even a library. The soldiers are disarmed and interned in camps. There are special camps for British and German soldiers.

The first days of war produce widespread shock in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam stock exchange immediately closes after the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia. A large number of persons withdraw their savings and pubs only accept silver coins, that are stable in value. Monetary dealing are in a deadlock. The Dutch National Bank takes a number of measures to stabilise the economy: they forbid the exportation of gold and introduce emergency money to replace the hoarded silver coins, the ‘zilverbons’. Private persons take steps on their own initiative. Queen Wilhelmina (1880-1962) makes a personal contribution and donates money, wool and garments to a newly founded National Fund for the relief of destitute families.

In Dutch homes the news on the war is followed attentively. Newspapers report extensively on the progress and consequences of The Great War. The Dutch government urges the press to observe a certain restraint: too much praise or too much criticism for one of the belligerent parties might endanger the fragile Dutch neutrality. Not everyone observes the requested reserve. Some newspapers and journalists are proponents of one of the factions and others are easily bribed.

But acts of war and war crimes do influence the public opinion. Louis Raemaekers (1869-1956), cartoonist for the anti-German newspaper De Telegraaf, is quite explicit about his ideas. The German emperor is portrayed as an ally of Satan, and the newspaper describes the Central Powers as ‘a band of heartless scoundrels who caused the war’. The editor-in-chief is arrested in December 1915 and released after seventeen days of imprisonment.

Photographs and movies often say more than words. In illustrated magazines like De Prins, De Katholieke Illustratie, Panorama and Het Leven a lot of space is reserved for illustrated reportages. And in cinemas the Dutch watch films and newsreels from England, France and Germany. These reportages are often partial, while the Dutch press is trying to remain neutral.

The Dutch Empire comprised Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia. The war makes it clear that the Netherlands heavily rely on other countries to keep in contact with the colonies. For instance, the British control postal and telegraph services with the Dutch East Indies and restrict imports and exports. Transport of passengers is getting more and more complicated, chiefly due to the German U-boats. The Indies no longer ship off their sugar, rice, oil, cotton, tobacco, tea and pepper to Europe and try selling them in their own region instead. Shortages in the Netherlands accrue. In the colony there are shortages of machines and medical equipment. In the last year of the war exports nearly come to a standstill. Famine and rebellion are imminent.

The commanding staff of the colonial army fear an invasion and are indecisive whether to train and arm the Javanese since they may rise in arms against the colonizer. Their fear is aggravated by the rise of the first nationalist organisations. The situation is different in the Caribbean West Indies, where restricted trade and communications are an incentive to small-scale agriculture.

From 1917 onwards, the war is getting closer to the Netherlands. Increasingly, German U-boats and British minefields are an impediment to the merchant fleet and fishery. Since the Netherlands rely on imports from overseas, there is a shortage of important raw materials and, consequently, a decline in domestic production. There are great shortages and prices are rising. Corn is scarce. Compared to the previous year, potatoes are twice as expensive. Meat is getting rare. Rationing is introduced. During the last months of the war more than fifty products – fuel, onions, wood, metal, soap, garments, amongst others – can only be purchased with ration books.

In the long term neutrality turns out to be good for the Dutch economy. Industry and commerce are given free rein on the national and international markets now that there is no foreign competition. Companies are forced to develop innovative activities that will turn out to be lucrative – Philips, for instance, will start blowing the glass for its light bulbs. Dutch mining experiences a rapid growth since German coal is no longer imported or only in very small quantities. The arms industry is developing and aviation is growing. At the end of the war the so-called war profiteers turn out to have become very rich, especially when compared to the rest of the population, that is suffering from the shortages. After the war there are three times as many millionaires as before the war.

The map of Europe is redrawn in the Treaty of Versailles – signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand – and in other peace treaties at the end of the First World War. The Allies demand territorial concessions and reparations for all the loss and damage during the war. An international organisation, the League of Nations, now has to deal with settling international disputes through negotiation. It cannot prevent another devastating war from breaking out twenty years later. The neutral kingdom of the Netherlands will not be spared this time.

The First World War lives on in memory as the senseless slaughter in the trenches on the western front. This is the aspect that always gets most attention in movies, stories and poems about the Great War. But the soldiers have probably not experienced it as senseless. They persist, fight for their country and try to force a breakthrough. Furthermore the First World War was much more than just senseless slaughter in the trenches. The conflict had the effect of bringing new social relations and technological innovations – also in the Netherlands.