MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Netherlands
ONE LAND · 6 ATLASES
Netherlands, on the map of history
What was Netherlands before it was Netherlands? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Batavia (mod. Netherlands) · The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476
| 264 BC | Tribal peoples & confederations — the opening position |
| 50 BC | Roman clients & allies |
| AD 14 | Roman territory |
| AD 439 | Tribal peoples & confederations |
| AD 476 | Former Roman lands (lost) |
The Low Countries (mod. Netherlands) · The Crusades, 1095–1291
| 1095 | Latin Christendom — the opening position |
OPEN THE CRUSADES ON THE LIVING MAP →
Netherlands · The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848
The Dutch Republic — old, rich and oligarchic — was the age’s first domino: its Patriot revolt (1787) was crushed by Prussia, then accomplished by France as the Batavian Republic (1795). Vienna made it a kingdom and gave it Belgium; 1830 took Belgium back. Its colonial empire, held through it all, funded the return to great-trading-power in miniature.
| JUL 1789 | Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
| OCT 1797 | Napoleonic client & satellite states |
| JUN 1815 | The conservative monarchies |
OPEN THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS ON THE LIVING MAP →
Netherlands · The Great War, 1914–1918
Netherlands · The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945
| JUN 1940 | Axis-occupied — the opening position |
| JUN 1940 | Axis-occupied |
| MAY 1945 | Western Allies |
Netherlands · The Cold War, 1945–1991
| AUG 1945 | NATO & core Western allies — the opening position |
OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →
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