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How it starts...
North America
Central America
South America
Africa
Asia |
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the
Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed
Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, aided by
their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism
accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain. Alongside the
English, the Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis
of indirect state capitalist corporate colonialism, via the Dutch East
and West India Companies. Dutch exploratory voyages such as those led by
Willem Barents, Henry Hudson and Abel Tasman revealed to Europeans vast
new territories.
With Dutch naval power rising rapidly as a major force from the late
16th century, the Netherlands dominated global commerce during the
second half of the 17th century during a cultural flowering known as the
Dutch Golden Age. The Netherlands lost many of its colonial possessions,
as well as its global power status, to the British when the metropole
fell to French armies during the Revolutionary Wars. The restored
portions of the Dutch Empire, notably the Dutch East Indies and
Suriname, remained under Dutch control until the decline of European
imperialism following World War II.
Today, the Netherlands are part of a federacy called the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, along with its former colonies Aruba and the
Netherlands Antilles. |
