Editing Kingdom of the Netherlands

{{Infobox country|name=Kingdom of the Netherlands|population_estimate=17,697,100|leader_name2=[[Mark Rutte]]|leader_name1=[[Willem-Alexander]]|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_title1=Monarch|government_type=Parliamentary constitutional monarchy|area_km2=41,865|population_estimate_year=2022|regional_languages=English<br>Papiamento<br>West Frisian|native_name=Koninkrijk der Nederlanden|official_languages=Dutch|largest_city=[[Amsterdam]]|capital=[[Amsterdam]]|map_width=200|image_map=Netherlands map.png|image_coat=Dutch COA.png|image_flag=Dutch flag.png|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]}}

'''The Netherlands''' is a country located in [[Europe]] with overseas colonies in the Caribbean. It is part of [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]]<ref>{{Citation|author=David G. Haglund|year=2022|title=NATO|title-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/North-Atlantic-Treaty-Organization|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> and the [[European Union]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Matthew J. Gabel|year=2022|title=European Union|title-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> The Netherlands export more food than any other country besides the [[United States of America|United States]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Nash Landesman|newspaper=[[The Grayzone]]|title=Dutch farmers battle technocratic forces driving them into oblivion|date=2022-12-08|url=https://thegrayzone.com/2022/12/08/dutch-farmers-technocratic-plan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209164928/https://thegrayzone.com/2022/12/08/dutch-farmers-technocratic-plan/|archive-date=2022-12-09|retrieved=2022-12-10}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Dutch Revolution ===
In the 16th century, the [[Protestant Reformation]] quickly spread through the Low Countries, which were ruled by [[Hapsburg Spain]]. century. The Spanish cracked down on Protestants in 1566, leading to armed resistance against their rule. [[William of Orange]] led a [[bourgeois revolution]] against [[Philip II|Philip Hapsburg]] which resulted in more than 40 years of war. The Spanish retook [[Kingdom of Belgium|Belgium]] but failed to conquer the Netherlands. Calvinists in [[Holy Roman Empire|Germany]], [[Kingdom of France (987–1792)|France]], [[Kingdom of England (927–1707)|England]], and [[Kingdom of Scotland (843–1707)|Scotland]] supported the Dutch Revolution and sent troops to resist the Spanish. When Spain began a third offensive in 1584, [[Elizabeth Tudor]] of England intervened and defeated the Spanish armada, and Spain finally surrendered in 1609.<ref name=":02222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions|page=99–101|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

=== Colonialism ===
The Netherlands led the [[Slavery|slave]] trade until being overtaken by the [[Kingdom of England (927–1707)|English]] in 1675. They colonized a part of [[North America]] which they called New Amsterdam and was renamed [[State of New York|New York]] after the English took over. The Netherlands banned slavery in 1863 during the [[Statesian Civil War]].<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Domenico Losurdo]]|year=2011|title=Liberalism: A Counter-History|chapter=What Is Liberalism?|page=15–16|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844676934|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=5BB3406BC2E64972831A1C00D5D4BFE4|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacebhsj2yxuoudkhkjp6lzgr5jvgyhu76zxe4gw3d65gpg32a6nded4?filename=Domenico%20Losurdo%2C%20Gregory%20Elliott%20-%20Liberalism_%20A%20Counter-History-Verso%20%282011%29.pdf}}</ref>

== Politics ==
Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the [[Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD) is highly [[Russophobia|Russophobic]] and is strongly backing [[Ukraine]] to be used as a [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] proxy against [[Russian Federation|Russia]]. With the exception of the war in Ukraine, he has highly limited government spending,<ref>{{Web citation|author=Sonja van den Ende|newspaper=[[CovertAction Magazine]]|title=Netherland’s Scandal-Ridden Prime Minister Mark Rutte Embodies Hypocrisy of Global Ruling Elite|date=2022-10-05|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/10/05/netherlands-scandal-ridden-prime-minister-mark-rutte-embodies-hypocrisy-of-global-ruling-elite/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029200516/https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/10/05/netherlands-scandal-ridden-prime-minister-mark-rutte-embodies-hypocrisy-of-global-ruling-elite/|archive-date=2022-10-29|retrieved=2022-12-23}}</ref> causing numerous political crises, concerning, among others, housing, education, healthcare, energy, refugees and nitrogen compound pollution.{{Citation needed}}

The [[Far-right politics|far-right]] [[Party for Freedom]] (PVV) won the 2023 elections with 23.49% of the vote and is attempting to form a coalition with the VVD and the anti-environmentalist [[Farmer–Citizen Movement]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=NPA Antifascist Commission|newspaper=International Viewpoint|title=The resistible rise of the far right in Europe|date=2024-05-19|url=https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article8528|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529031140/https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article8528|archive-date=2024-05-29}}</ref>

=== Current crisis ===
==== Housing ====
Arguably the most severe political crisis the Netherlands is currently experiencing, the Dutch housing crisis is a consequence of decades of capitalist housing policies, as started by the turn away from social democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The crisis is quite severe, with there being 100.000 homeless people and about 900.000 extra houses needing to be built. What is interesting is that despite the massive shortage, about 90.000 houses are empty. This shows that the crisis is caused by capitalism, as a socialist system would immediately allocate these houses to the homeless.{{Citation needed}}

==== Education ====
The Dutch education system can also be considered to be in a state of crisis at present. In the primary school system, there is a shortage of between 7.000 and 10.000 teachers. Wages in all levels of education are also too low, owing to austerity measures of the neoliberal government. The tertiary education system is experiencing problems also. For about a decade, the Netherlands had a university system similar to that of the United States of America, where students had to lend money to go to university. This policy left all students in debts north of 20.000 euros, and such the policy will be reversed in 2023, with the previous system of government-funded tertiary education being reinstated.{{Citation needed}}

==== Healthcare ====
The Dutch healthcare system is one based on compulsory insurance at a private insurance corporation. This causes significant inefficiency, as these insurers are for-profit corporations. Beyond this, though, the Dutch healthcare system, having suffered under the stress of the COVID-19 epidemic, is currently experiencing shortages and long waiting lists, especially in healthcare for transgender persons. The situation is similar to (though not quite as severe as) the UK, though the Netherlands has no fully private healthcare providers as an alternative.{{Citation needed}}

==== Refugees ====
The Dutch refugee absorption system is notoriously inefficient, to the point that human rights organizations such as Doctors Without Borders having to assist in the refugee camps to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Civics education is compulsory for immigrants, though this system is, again, inefficient, with the privatized civics education plunging many financially vulnerable refugees into debt.{{Citation needed}}

==== Nitrogen compound pollution ====
The Dutch central government has for a long time been avoiding European Union regulations on pollution from nitrogen compounds, specifically ammonia and nitrogen oxides. From 2019 onward, EU authorities and the Dutch Council of State have disallowed this policy, which in 2019 caused all construction projects to cease. This has also led to large scale protests from farmers who produce most of the pollution, but do not want to change their ways for fear of it cutting into profits.{{Citation needed}}

== References ==
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[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]
[[Category:Imperialist countries]]
[[Category:European countries]]