Dutch (ethnic Group)

Flemings

Main articles: Flanders and Flemings.

The relation between the Dutch and Flemings is a complicated one. The existence of "Flemings" as an ethnic group, is itself debated, and the idea of a Flemish nation or ethnic group is itself fairly recent.^[44]

The Flemish once were, and sometimes still are, regarded as "Dutch". It is however inaccurate to view the Flemish as a Dutch offshoot. A more accurate view would be to consider the modern Dutch and Flemish as having been a single people which subsequently (due to all kinds of factors) split. When this exact split occurred is open to debate (as is, in some circles, the split itself). Some claim it began when the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of Münster, thus creating essentially the first political division between the Dutch, while others say it wasn't until the start of the Flemish movement at the beginning of the 20th century.^[45] As a result of this the Flemish people are generally not regarded as identical nowadays, and most Dutch people see them as a separate ethnic group. At the same time however, the Dutch and Flemish see themselves as the most similar people,^[46] and some institutions see "Fleming" as an alternative term for "Dutch".^[47]

The situation in Belgium itself was/is very vague. Until 1980, for example, the "Flemish community" was called the "Nederlandse Cultuurgemeenschap" (Dutch: [The] Dutch cultural community) and there are people who deny the existence of the Flemish as an ethnic group, and refer to them as Dutch-speaking Belgians instead.

The Dutch and the people now known as Flemings have experienced a separate political development since the Dutch Revolt, with the exception of the short-lived United Kingdom of the Netherlands. As a result of this the Flemish people are generally not regarded as identical nowadays, and most Dutch people see them as a separate ethnic group. At the same time however, the Dutch and Flemish see themselves as the most similar people,^[48] and some institutions see "Fleming" as an alternative term for "Dutch".^[49]

Some people even support a re-unification of Flanders and the Netherlands, though they form a minority; it is not a political issue in the Netherlands and the sentiment is strongest within the right wing of Flemish politics.^[50]

Walloons and Northern French

Walloons, the French-speaking Belgians, generally do not speak Dutch today, but in many cases (some) heritage can be linked to the (historical) Dutch. Many 'Walloon' surnames for example are of Dutch origin^[51] and some of the most well know Walloons, such as Jacques Brel, Goswin de Stassart and Paul Émile de Puydt were (often partly) of Dutch(-speaking) heritage. In Northern France Dutch has been the traditional language for over 1400 years, as a result of this, and migration of other Dutch towards the south, over 1,250,000 French people (on a population of roughly 60 million) have Dutch surnames^[52]. The position of these people is somewhat vague as they, although relatively close to the Dutch-culture area, are often frenchified if not entirely French. For example, in the now French city of Calais one can still find people singing traditional Dutch songs, even though the people who sing them have no idea what they mean.^[53]

Afrikaners

Main articles: Afrikaners and Afrikaans.

The Afrikaners are an ethnic group who live in South Africa and Namibia and who are mainly (though not exclusively) of Dutch descent, much in the same way as Dutch Americans, Dutch Australians or Dutch Canadians. There is however one major difference. The Dutch emigrants and, more importantly, their descendants in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, have adopted English as their first language, while Afrikaners did not and today speak a creolized version of Dutch. Their language, Afrikaans, is mutually intelligible with Dutch and it was hence easier to maintain cultural bands between the two, now separate, groups.

Until the early 20th century, at the time of the First and Second Boer Wars, there was a strong sense of unity, this has gradually faded. Most Afrikaners acknowledge that they descend from the Dutch, but they generally do not consider themselves to be ethnic Dutch, and they may not be considered 'Dutch' in the Netherlands itself.^[54]

Frisians

Main articles: Friesland, Frisian and Frisians.

Frisian may refer to an ethnic group, a regional or cultural identity, to inhabitants of the Province of Friesland, or to speakers of the Frisian language.

Historically, Frisia was a county that was relatively uninvolved with Guelders, Utrecht, Holland, Zeeland and Flanders until the early Middle Ages. However, after a series of wars (often followed by revolts) between the Dutch fiefs and the Frisians they were eventually defeated. From the 1400s onwards Hollandic government and civil servants were installed and from then the fortunes of Friesland are intertwined with those of the present-day Netherlands.^[55]

Though along with Dutch many Frisians speak the Frisian language, which is not a Dutch dialect but a historically separate language and have (to some degree) a separate culture they are not treated as a separate group in Dutch official statistics. In this way Frisians can both be both 'Dutch' and Frisians. It should be noted that 'Frisians' in both Dutch and Frisian is used virtually exclusively for the West Frisians. Frisians in the Netherlands generally do not feel or see themselves as part of a larger group of 'Frisians', including the East and North Frisians of Germany and Denmark, and, according to a 1970 inquiry, identify themselves more with the Dutch than with speakers of the other Frisian dialects abroad.^[56]

Ethnic nationalism

Main articles: Greater Netherlands, Heel-Nederland, and Orangism

There has been some call for a "Greater Netherlands", combining the Dutch-speaking regions in Belgium with the Netherlands, since the late 19th century. This wish was voiced by Dutch, and especially Belgian, fascists during the 1930s, but the occupation of Belgium and the Netherlands by Nazi Germany brought only some tiny border changes. After the Second World War interest in enlarging the Netherlands dwindled.

The Belgian revolution, domination by a francophone elite, and structural disadvantage for Dutch-speaking Belgians led, at the end of the 19th century, to an oppositional "Flemish" (ie. Dutch-speaking Belgian) cultural movement, which soon politicised. It revived interest in the idea of reunification - at present in the form of unity between the Netherlands and Flanders, rather than a recreation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Support for the idea has varied: at present no political party represented in the Dutch parliament actively supports it. In Flanders, there are several parties who openly strive for independence (such as the N-VA, Vlaams Belang, VLOTT and Lijst Dedecker), but none of them actively support or reject an union with the Netherlands. Support for the break-up of Belgium is less strong in Wallonia, as Flanders is financially much stronger and independent, and there is no major political support there for unification with France. An obstacle to any break-up of Belgium is that both groups claim the capital Brussels, historically a Dutch-speaking city, currently near 80% francophone, although officially bilingual.

Dutch diaspora

Main article: Dutch diaspora

Emigrants from the Netherlands since the Second World War went mainly to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and until the 1970s to South Africa, and Dutch immigrants can be found in most developed countries. In several former Dutch colonies and trading settlements, there are ethnic groups of full or partial Dutch ancestry.

The Dutch in Asia

Main articles: Deshima, Dutch Malacca, Dutch Ceylon, Taiwan under Dutch rule, and Dutch East Indies

The Dutch have had a profound effect on the history of South East Asia, Taiwan and Japan; the Dutch settlement on Deshima provided for centuries the only means of cultural exchange between Japan and European civilization, and indeed most of the outside world. In many cases the Dutch were the first Europeans the natives would encounter. As a result there has been some considerable ethnic stereotyping. The Japanese described the Dutch as red-haired barbarians^[57] and in Malay, the language of the former Dutch East Indies, the name for the Long-nosed Monkey literally translates as "Dutchman", as in Eastern Asian eyes the noses of Europeans were exceedingly large.

Descendants

Main article: Indo people

After the Indonesian Revolution, most Dutch were either evacuated or evicted from Indonesia. Ever since the earliest days of the VOC several waves of mainly Dutch males decided to stay in the islands now known as Indonesia. Through the centuries there developed a relatively large Dutch-speaking population of mixed Dutch and Indonesian desccent, known as Indos or Dutch-Indonesians. Nowadays the majority of this group lives in the Netherlands.

The Dutch in the Western Hemisphere

United States

Main article: Dutch Americans

The Dutch had settled in America long before the establishment of the United States of America.^[58] For a long time the Dutch lived in Dutch colonies, owned and regulated by the Dutch Republic, which later became part of the Thirteen Colonies. Nevertheless, many Dutch communities remained virtually isolated towards the rest of America up until the American Civil War, in which the Dutch fought for the North and adopted many American ways.^[59]

Most future waves of Dutch immigrants were quickly assimilated. There have been three American presidents of Dutch descent: Martin van Buren (8th, first president who was not of British descent, first language was Dutch), Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd, elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms) and Theodore Roosevelt (26th).

Canada

Main article: Dutch Canadians

According to the 2001 Canadian census 923,310 Canadians claim full or partial Dutch ancestry.

The first Dutch people to come to Canada were Dutch-Americans among the United Empire Loyalists. The largest wave was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when large numbers of Dutch helped settle the Canadian west. During this period significant numbers also settled in major cities like Toronto. While interrupted by the First World War this migration returned in the 1920s, but again halted during the Great Depression and Second World War. After the war a large number of Dutch immigrants moved to Canada, including a number of war brides of the Canadian soldiers who liberated the Netherlands.

Other notable "Hyphenated Dutchmen"

Some examples of people of Dutch descent among other nations/peoples:

• : Jane Seymour, Audrey Hepburn, George III.
• : André Citroën, Baron de Cloots, Laure Manaudou.
• : Linda Christian, Roberto Vander.
• Dutch Indonesians: See Lists of Indos.
• : Gilberto Freyre, Lobão, Carla Maffioletti, Ismael Nery, Nelson Angelo Piquet, Mariana Ximenes.
• : See List of Dutch Israelis.
• : Dido Havenaar, Mike Havenaar, Ludo Stornebrink.
• : Mercedes Coghen, Aschwin Wildeboer, Olaf Wildeboer, Rafael van der Vaart.
• : Cornelis Vreeswijk, Louis De Geer, Marcus Schenkenberg, Jonas Bronk.

History

The history of the Dutch, as of most European peoples, is complex and intertwined through migrations and shifting empires. In this section, a short overview of these issues in relation to the approximate area of the current Netherlands is sketched.

In the Roman Empire, the imperial boundary ran east-west through the present Netherlands, along the Rhine. Within the empire, tribal groups included the Belgae (whose name was adopted in 1830 for the new Kingdom of Belgium), and the Batavi (whose name was adopted for the Dutch Batavian Republic). After the Fall of the Roman Empire, by the end of the Migration Period, the Low Countries were inhabited by Frisians, Saxons and the Franks, a Germanic people first recorded living in Pannonia. Of these three groups, the Franks were most dominant,^[60] and would in fact conquer large areas of Europe in the subsequent centuries. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided the (Frankish) Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms for the three sons of Louis the Pious. The Low Countries became part of Middle Francia under Emperor Lothair I.

In 962, the Holy Roman Empire was established with the coronation of Otto the Great, extending from the Low Countries to Italy. The Holy Roman empire was a largely decentralised state and its authority within the low countries was never very strong. Later, semi-independent fiefdoms formed in the Low Countries; the most powerful being Brabant, Flanders, Guelders, Holland and Luxembourg. The first steps towards political unification of the Low Countries took place under the dukes of Burgundy (until 1473). The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, issued by Charles V, established the Low Countries as an independent entity, the Seventeen Provinces with boundaries approximating to the present Benelux, as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and France.

Although the Seventeen Provinces had become a political unity, there were still great regional differences. The eastern (e.g., Guelders and Liege) and southern provinces (Artois) were less densely populated and agrarian. These provinces were also partially oriented towards their (German or French) neighbours. A division between North and South was not foreseeable at the time. The primary contrast was between the rich urbanised coastal provinces (Flanders, Zealand and Holland), and the less developed peripheral domains.^[61]

As the Reformation gained influence in Europe, Calvinism became very influential in the Seventeen Provinces, including Artesia and Flanders, the base of the Spanish governors. When Catholic Habsburg Spain turned to repressive policies, this added to general dissatisfaction in the Seventeen Provinces. In 1566, a wave of iconoclastic attacks on Catholic churches began what is now known as the Dutch Revolt. During the succeeding rebellion, the Spanish forces managed to re-establish their power in the southern provinces. In the north, the Dutch Republic emerged, defining for the first time an independent Dutch nation. The economic golden age, and spread of Calvinism, redefined "the Dutchman" across Europe a "Hollander" rather than a "Fleming" as had previously been the case.^[62]



As the Spanish forces reconquered the Southern cities (in present-day Belgium), of which the fall of Antwerp in 1585 was most notable, many Calvinists, including much of the local economic and cultural elites, fled north. The Southern Netherlands remained under Spanish rule, and remained almost entirely Catholic. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia recognised the de facto geopolitical division of the former Seventeen provinces. The Dutch Republic prospered and created the trade-based Dutch Empire overseas, while the Southern Netherlands had lost their leading economic role in Europe. In the 18th century, the power of the Dutch republic started to diminish.

After a short lived existence as the Batavian Republic supported by French revolutionaries, and as the vassal state Kingdom of Holland, the Low Countries were for a short time (1810-1813), annexed by the French Empire. At this time, the English occupied the Dutch colonial possessions. Except for the Cape Colony (South Africa) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the colonial possessions were returned after Napoleon had been defeated. The lasting division between the Dutch and the Boers (who were Dutch settlers in South Africa) started here. When France was defeated in 1814 and again after the Hundred Days Campaign in 1815, the winning coalition, created the United Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising of the Northern and the Southern Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna. The new state, intended to act as a semi-buffer state between France and Prussia, proved to be unworkable; not only did it include different ethnic and linguistic groups (Walloons, Germans and Dutch), the state was also divided by cultural, religious, and internal economic differences. In 1830, the southern provinces declared their independence in the Belgian revolution. In 1839, the independence of Belgium was recognised by the northern Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the resolution of the status of Luxembourg in 1890, the three states acquired most of their present boundaries. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy.

Influence on the world

See also:

Although comparatively small in numbers, the Dutch have definitely made their mark on the world, as we know it today. The Dutch Republic was an economic and military power during much of the 17th century, and involved in many conflicts of the time, such as the Anglo-Dutch Wars.The economy was carried by private enterprises, for the first time on that scale and the Dutch East India Company issued the first freely tradable stock, one of the cornerstones of modern economy.

Dutch colonialism still influences the lives of many today. Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans such as the Dutch began to establish trading posts and forts along the coasts of western and southern Africa. Eventually, a large number of Dutch, augmented by French Huguenots and Germans, settled in the Cape Colony. Their descendants in South Africa, the Afrikaners and the Coloureds, are the largest European-descended groups in Africa today, see Demographics of Africa. The Dutch also controlled what is now known as Indonesia, and waged various wars against its native inhabitants in a series conflicts raging from the early 16th to the late 20th century. The area surrounding New York was a Dutch colony and in fact many street names and geographical locations still bear Dutch (though Anglicised) names, see Legacy of the Dutch in New York for more information.

Contribution to humanity

Further information: List of Dutch people

A significant number of painters and philosophers are Dutch, despite its small population. Remarkable persons include painters like Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Vermeer, and philosophers like Spinoza (though not of Dutch heritage),^[63] Erasmus of Rotterdam and Hugo Grotius as well as various poets and writers such as Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Joost van den Vondel and Anne Frank^[63] and scientists like Christiaan Huygens also made their mark on how we today view the world. The Netherlands were arguably the first nation state of the world and the first republic in modern Europe. During the early 17th century, the economic reforms, empire and ideas made the Netherlands one of the world's richest countries and the first thoroughly capitalist country.^[64]

Culture and society

Dutch culture

Main article: Dutch culture

Dutch culture is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as foreign influences thanks to the merchant and exploring spirit of the Dutch.^[65] The Netherlands and Dutch people have played an important role for centuries as a cultural center, with the Dutch Golden Age regarded as the zenith. During the 20th century Dutch architects played a leading role in the development of modern architecture, and Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Van Gogh are world renowned.^[66]

The Dutch people and their culture were historically influenced by the culture of neighbouring regions. France played a substantial role in the history of the Netherlands in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, and there are resulting cultural influences. Cultural contacts with Scandinavia were, and are, much less influential. English-speaking cultural influences are predominant since the Second World war. The Dutch also were influenced by their colonies, most notably Indonesia.

The Dutch and the Flemish share the same language. The present state border between the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium does not coincide with any linguistic or dialectal boundary. In the Province of Limburg, the Dutch border with Wallonia coincides, in places, with the Dutch-French linguistic boundary.

After the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch and people now known as Flemings (who live in Northern Belgium) began to slowly diverge, this diverging would prove to be a contributing factor to the dissolving of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.^[67] Nevertheless they share a sense of being closely related, as the only two Dutch-speaking societies in Europe. They share a language and have a similar culture. There are some differences: although Calvinism was originally strongest in Flanders, it remained under Spanish control after the Dutch Revolt, and remained overwhelmingly Catholic. (So did the southern part of the modern Netherlands, which was incorporated later into the Dutch Republic, but its culture was not dominant within the Netherlands).

The Frisian people, who speak their own language and today live mainly in Friesland (a province of the Netherlands), have had some influence on Dutch culture, especially in the northern parts of the province of North Holland proper; also named West Frisia.

Animal culture

Many Dutch people keep pets, in fact the Dutch have the most animals per capita in the world today^[68] ; as of 2005, the number of dogs in the Netherlands was estimated at 1,760,000, the population of the Netherlands includes a large number of foreign nationals whose culture is not as dog-friendly,^[69] so the actual percentage of ethnic Dutch dog owners is likely higher than the national average. The number of domestic cats at almost twice that the amount of dogs present(3,300,000).^[70] While the Low Countries generally lack wild animals dangerous to humans - of the mere 3 snake species that are native to the Low Countries, only one is poisonous (the European viper) - nevertheless many Dutch are ophidiophobic. Arachnophobia plays as prominent a role.^[71] This is something the Dutch have in common with other urbanized societies.^[72] Other major animal-related phobias include apiphobia and spheksophobia.^[73]

Religion

See also:

The Dutch population can be separated into two main religious groups: Roman Catholics and Protestants. During and after the Dutch revolt against Spain, Protestantism became the dominant religion in most of the country. The provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the region of Twente, however, remained predominantly Catholic.

At 30 percent of the population, Catholics form the largest religious group today. Meanwhile, the Dutch belong to many separate Protestant churches, the largest of which are the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormd) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Gereformeerd), although in 2004 these merged to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the different religious groups were living completely separately from each other, and from the newly emerging socialist labour movement. These sub-societies were a form of horizontal stratification: people lived and married within their own communities, and the pillars had their own schools and universities, media (newspapers, magazines and radio broadcasting associations), sport clubs, shops, hospitals, unions and political parties. This intense social fragmentation was called verzuiling and led to significant tension within Dutch political life. Pillarisation is described in detail in Arend Lijphart's seminal work on consociationalism, The Politics of Accommodation.

After peaking in influence in the 1950s, the social system of pillarisation started to crumble in the early 1960s during the Dutch postmaterialist revolution, due to secularisation, individualism, consumerism, counter-culture, rising living standards, the emergence of mass media (especially television), increased social and geographical mobility, and agitation by movements such as Provo, D66 and Nieuw Links.

A 2004 study conducted by Statistics Netherlands shows that 50% of the population claim to belong to a Christian denomination, 9% to other denominations and 42% to none. In the same study 19% of the people claim go to church at least once a month, another 9% less than once a month, 72% hardly ever or never.^[74][75] There is a small Jewish community of some 40,000 people, mostly in the larger cities.

People of Dutch ancestry in the United States are generally more religious than their European counterparts ; the numerous Dutch communities of western Michigan remain strongholds of the Reformed Church in America, a descendant of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Sports

There are a number of sports which the Dutch possibly invented or Dutch claim to have invented, which then spread worldwide, examples include ice hockey^[76] and golf.^[77] Apart from these worldwide sports there are also a number of local Dutch sports such as polsstokverspringen, kaatsen, klootschieten, kolven and korfbal.

The most popular sports, both for active participation and audience are Football (Soccer), Cycling, Speed skating, (Field, not ice) Hockey and Tennis.

Traditions of government

The earliest more or less exclusively Dutch politically entity, the Dutch republic, was a confederation of Dutch states and was led by their representatives, the Grand Pensionary (the de facto political leader of the Dutch Republic) and the Stadholder (a descendant of William of Orange) who acted as the Dutch supreme military commander. This system was eventually overthrown in the Batavian Revolution, inspired by the French revolution, in which the Stadholder fled to Britain and the revolutionaries established the Batavian Republic in 1795, which was a more centralised unitary state, not a loose confederation of (at least nominally) independent provinces. The Batavian Republic was actually a vassal state of France, which wanted to tighten its grip by establishing the Kingdom of Holland in 1806 with Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte as head of state, and finally by annexation in 1810 for a period of 3 years, until Napoleon was defeated. An independent Dutch state was put back on the map at the Congress of Vienna, comprising of the northern and southern Netherlands for the first time ever, as an independent monarchy, with strong monarchial powers. When the revolutions of 1848 swept across Europe, the King conceded a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary control, which it has been until this day.

Dutch language

Main article: Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 22 million people, mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Surinam. The language was first attested around 470 AD,^[78] and is an official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. Today the Dutch, Flemish and Surinamese governments coordinate their language activities in the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union).

Dutch was an official language in former countries of the Dutch Empire and in South Africa up until 1961, having fallen into disuse since Afrikaans (itself a direct descendant of Dutch) became an official language in 1925.

Linguistically it can be said that Dutch occupies a central position within the West Germanic languages due to the absence of soundshifts such as the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law, Anglo-Frisian brightening and the Second Germanic consonant shift, which resulted in certain early Germanic languages evolving into English and German.

The Dutch immigrants of the 20th century often quickly began to speak the language of their new country. For example of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 0.7% say their home language is Dutch^[79] despite the percentage of Dutch heritage, is considerably higher.^[80]

Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands ('Common Dutch', abbreviated to ABN) is the standard language as taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch Language Union defines what AN is and what is not, for example in terms of orthography.

Dutch names

Main article: Dutch name

Dutch surnames (and names of Dutch origin) are generally easily recognisable, mainly because of tussenvoegsels such as van, van der or de. In the United States, partly due to the fame of rich industrials such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dutch surnames are often associated with the upperclass of society even though when translated the surnames are often very simplistic. For example, Vanderbilt means "(coming) from De Bilt", De Bilt being a small village in the province of Utrecht.^[81] Unlike what is sometimes thought, Dutch van does not denote any aristocratic status.^[82]

The image of the Dutch

Before reading this section and its subsections do note the following: The section below is based primarily on etiquette and culture books concerning the Dutch. These books tend to/need to generalize in order to stay focused on the main subject. The section below is hence a general overview and not exemplary for all the Dutch.

Symbols

Stereotypical "Dutch" symbols such as wooden shoes, tulips, cheese and windmills, are not considered symbols of the Dutch by the Dutch themselves, but reflect a foreign popular image of the Netherlands and the Dutch. The Dutch national symbols mainly include the Dutch flag and the "national colour" orange (used for the national team in sports). The red, white and blue flag is the oldest tricolour in continuous use. Orange is also the symbolic colour of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, through the principality of Orange. Another symbol of the Dutch is Het Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem, which is considered the world's oldest anthem in use.^[83] The form of the song is that of an apologetic statement by William I of Orange-Nassau, leader of the Dutch revolt against Spain.

Self-image

The Dutch self-image differs considerably from the image(s) other people have of them (see section below). The Dutch often profess that they greatly value hygiene, are thrifty, have an excellent feel for business, are good at foreign languages^[84] and have an ability to coexist with others. The Dutch take pride in their tolerance and flexibility, and are generally modest people. According to the Xenophobe's Guide, perceived negative characteristics are a secret mistrust of foreigners and a distaste of alien cuisine.^[31][86] Traditionally, the Dutch are also a nation of preachers, and it is common to (deprecatingly) speak of "the preacher's wagging finger" (Dutch "het opgeheven vingertje van de dominee") as a typically Dutch trait,^[87][88] especially when referring to the moralising tone that is seen by many as characteristic of Dutch foreign politics.^[89]

Dutch image worldwide

Many nations regard the Dutch as being organized and efficient, but harmless at the same time due to the stereotypical mental picture of "a nation of rosy-cheeked farmers who live in windmills, wear clogs, have a garden full of tulips and sit on piles of yellow cheese".^[90] Apart from the more or less touristy image described above, the Dutch also have a reputation for being opinionated, stubborn and incurably mean. Belgians even consider them to be downright devious in business affairs. Dutch frankness completely overwhelms more reticent peoples such as the Japanese who consider the Dutch to be the most arrogant of all the Europeans they do business with,^[31] but at the same time are impressed by their reputation as formidable merchants. "Where a Dutchman has passed, not even the grass grows anymore" a Japanese saying goes.

Not just the Japanese may experience the Dutch as being (what they consider) blunt or insulting.^[91] The author of "Dealing with the Dutch" illustrates this with a story he got from an American businessman whose Dutch colleague had stayed over for the night and for the first time got American pancakes for breakfast. After the Dutchman ate the pancakes the businessmans wife asked him if he'd enjoyed them. The Dutchman allegedly responded: "Sharon, after tasting these, I understand why your husband is so fat." The author explains that he was just making a compliment and meant nothing by it, however in many other cultures, this would be a grave insult towards the host and could very well be the end of a cordial relationship.^[92]

English people survey the Dutch with guarded approval. It wasn't always like this, at the time of the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century these two nations were at each other’s throats. An English pamphlet raged: "A Dutchman is a Lusty, Fat, Two-legged Cheese worm. A Creature that is so addicted to eating butter, drinking fat, and sliding (skating) that all the world knows him for a slippery fellow". At this time the English language gained a whole array of new insults such as "Dutch courage" (booze-induced bravery), "Dutch comfort" ("Things could be worse") and "Dutch gold" (alloy resembling gold).^[31] Others include:

"Double Dutch" (gibberish) "Dutch cap" (contraceptive diaphragm) "Dutch wife"/"Dutch widow" (prostitute; sex doll) "Dutch widow" (prostitute) "Dutch uncle" (harsh admonisher)

"Dutch metal" (fake gold leaf or fake gold) "Dutch treat"/"Going Dutch" (social date where the invitee pays for himself/herself) "Dutch concert" (noise and uproar, as from a drunken crowd) "Dutch-bottomed" (empty)

These terms also gained prominence in 17th century New England during their rivalry with New Holland, which was captured (and later recaptured by the Dutch) during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

The Dutch in popular culture

Dutch people generally appear in popular culture in two completely distinct ways.^[93] The traditional Dutch image (people in national dress, wearing clogs, having blond hair and blue eyes, standing in front of wide, flat landscapes covered with tulips and windmills in the background) and the more recent, and mostly negative, image of non-religious drug addicts, who legalized prostitution, marihuana, abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage.

None of these stereotypical images are correct. Only a small minority of the Dutch people wears traditional costumes on occasion in certain parts of the country or to entertain tourists.^[94] Clogs, or wooden shoes, are not usually worn in public life, however, they are practical for gardening and farming. The drug and value related stereotypes of the Dutch are relatively recent, from around 1985. The Dutch laws no longer establish drug use and small scale sales of some drugs as a criminal act, which created the widespread stereotype that the Netherlands are a drug-based society, especially in the Western Hemisphere.^[95]

Dutch views on others

The Dutch tend to judge foreign cultures using the standards and values they hold dear. Traditionally, the socio-political climate in the Netherlands has been one of collaboration and working towards compromises. Accordingly, cultures with different standards are often considered unsympathetic. ^[96]

In comparison to many other cultures, the Dutch are rather reserved in public and do not often touch each other or display anger or extreme exuberance. This is why people and cultures who display these "vices", for example those living around the Mediterranean Sea, are regarded as being too emotional. In Dutch society, extravagantly flaunting ones emotions (whether positive or negative) is easily seen as an 'act'.^[97] It's neatly illustrated by the Dutch proverb "Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg" (Just act normal, you'll be crazy enough already).



After centuries of close commercial, military, cultural and religious relations between the Netherlands and the British Isles, the Dutch have a generally positive opinion of the British. Anglophone television programmes and English literature are popular and held in high regard, and English is widely spoken. Americans are typically also thought to be principally "good" people, though somewhat uneducated, unsophisticated and badly guided by their politicians.

For centuries,^[98] and most recently since WWII, a strong animosity exists towards Germans. They are said to be rude, arrogant, noisy and intolerant. For many Dutch people it is not a question of "why" they dislike Germans, they just do. According to The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, "Telling a Dutch person that their language seems very similar to German is unlikely to benefit your relationship." It humorously adds: "Remarking that the two nations are similar in many ways will probably get you thrown out of the house." In recent years, however, the attitude towards German people has become more positive.^[99]

The Germans seem to be generally unaware of the way they are stereotyped by their neighbours and often think it is merely a soccer phenomenon, as this is when the anti-German feelings are most visible. The Dutch and Germans have had fierce soccer rivalry ever since the Second World War, even though the post war rivalry on Germany's side is actually a reaction on the behaviour displayed by the Dutch.^[100]

Belgians have an entirely different image. They feature prominently in Dutch jokes in which they are typically portrayed as stupid and uneducated. This is however commonly accepted to be a fictional stereotype, originating at the time of the Belgian Revolution, in which the Southern provinces seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Most, if not all, Dutch people consider the Belgians to be the closest related people. It should however be noted that the Dutch, when they speak of Belgians, nearly always mean the Flemish (the Dutch speaking inhabitants of Belgium) rather than the Walloons.^[101][102]

See also

• Demographics of the Netherlands
• List of Dutch people
• Dutch customs and etiquette
• Dutch diaspora

Notes and references