Netherlands. Belated Industrialization. Dutch Environmental History

The Netherlands has a special position on the globe, and that position has influenced the Dutch environment and environmental history. The country is located at the mouth of several rivers (Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, IJssel), which makes part of the country a delta. This location at the mouth of rivers means that the country has to deal with much more waste than it produces itself. It receives also the waste, mostly chemical, that is dumped into these rivers in other countries.

A great part of the country lies below sea level, which has caused great problems in getting rid of superfluous water. The general impression is that the Netherlands has had to deal with only the dangers from the sea. However, besides the sea there is the water within: superfluous rain water, seepage water. For many centuries the Dutch have been controlling these waters just to keep their land habitable.

A great part of the country is rather flat, which means that there are no fast-running waters and that people have had to cope with stagnant waters. This fact had important consequences for the sanitation of the country. Discharging waste in water didn't mean that one had done away with the problem; at best one had merely put it on a neighbor's doorstep.

Because a great part of the country lies near the sea, most of the time a fresh wind blows. For this reason the Netherlands has less air pollution than several other countries. Its flatness is an advantage because the wind is not hindered by mountains. But because of specific wind directions in the eastern and southern parts of the country, people suffered from air that was polluted elsewhere.

The Netherlands has a rich variety of types of soil. A great deal of the western part of the country (the provinces of North and South Holland) is a mixture of clay and bog peat, whereas the province of Sealand consists mainly of marine clay. However, some parts of these provinces are sandy; there is a difference between old and new marine clay; and there are mixtures of sand and clay. The eastern part of the country is built up from sand, bog peat, and peat moor, and brook dales have a mixture of clay, sand, and peat.

Most of the great peat bogs have been cut off. In the West this process started during the Middle Ages and in the East, after the sixteenth century. In some regions the former peat bogs were converted to arable (suitable for cultivation) land and in other regions, to pastures. (Today the Netherlands tries to regain some of the peat by transforming agricultural land.)

This variety had consequences for agricultural use, especially when people didn't dispose of artificial fertilizers. As a matter of fact, the quest for manure was a theme during at least four centuries before 1900. By and by an elaborate system for gathering waste (manure) and distributing it to various agricultural regions was developed.

Belated Industrialization. Compared to other western European countries the Netherlands began the Industrial Revolution rather late—in the second half of the nineteenth century. However, this belated industrialization did not mean that the Dutch took advantage of the lessons of the past from other countries—the same problems (e.g., overcrowding of cities and polluted air and water) occurred in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands did not exist as a unified nation before 1789. Before that date the country north of the rivers Meuse and Rhine was split into seven provinces, each with a great measure of autonomy. Within each province the towns were the real centers of legislation; or, in some of the eastern provinces with only a few towns, there were other legislative bodies.

Environmental measures had a local or regional impact but had some general characteristics. One of these characteristics was the habit of getting rid of waste at the expense of neighbors, for example, by discharging wastewater in a way that wouldn't harm local citizens but might harm other locales. This practice was continued into the twentieth century.

The fact that the Netherlands has been densely populated for centuries has had consequences: Many large industrial, agricultural, and building projects could not be undertaken in a vacuum. Through the ages this problem has become worse, especially since 1900. The construction of roads and railroads was increasingly accompanied by protests. For example, during the nineteenth century an environmental objection was raised against one of the first railroads—between the Hague and Rotterdam. Conflicts also occurred between several governing boards, for example, between water authorities and communities over draining the effluent of the latter into the waters of the first or between one municipality and another over dumping of refuse.

The Netherlands consumed much more than its basic agriculture and natural resources could provide. Beginning in the Middle Ages the Dutch had to import wheat, furs, wood, and other commodities. The Dutch used a great part of the world for their needs: cereals from the Baltic, furs from Russia and other parts of Europe, wood from Norway, Germany, and eastern Europe, wine from France and southern Europe, metals from Sweden and Germany, and so on.

A system that has become common worldwide in the twentieth century was already customary for the Dutch nearly seven hundred years ago. This system had serious ecological consequences, for example, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Germany clear-cut forests to accommodate trade of the so-called Holländerstämme (tree trunks destined for the Netherlands).

Dutch Environmental History. During the Middle Ages the Dutch in the western part of the country drained the peat bogs in a way that had a lasting effect not only on the landscape, but also on the water level. The works of the early Dutch had effects that have continued into modern times. Compacting of soils started in the eleventh century and is still of current interest to the present inhabitants.

The landscape also was changed by the digging of peat. In the regions where peat was found, it was cut below the groundwater level. As a result large lakes developed, in some cases causing serious problems for people living on the surrounding lands. A lasting effect was caused by the darinkdelven, an activity that was practiced especially in the southwestern coastal part of the country whereby saliferous (containing salt) soil or peat was dug to extract salt.

However, sometimes too much was dug, allowing the sea to enter. In fact, the coastline of the provinces of Sealand and North Brabant would look different now if the inhabitants of those provinces during the Middle Ages would have been more prudent in their salt production.

Another problem during the Middle Ages was environmental pollution, mainly in the cities. Many keur- boeken (local laws) were passed against water pollution caused by industries such as tanneries, breweries, and textiles. Individuals also were regulated, for example, concerning the disposal of solid and fluid waste.

Livestock kept in cities also created problems. For instance, pigs were used to clean up debris in the mostly unpaved streets, but they left behind their feces. The waste of fish and vegetable markets were another problem. Authorities did their best to control these problems but generally with little result.

With time these problems increased. Especially during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries many new industries arose, mainly in Holland (the western part of the country). Many of these industries (vinegar factories, sugar refineries, gin distilleries, cement factories) caused serious environmental problems.

Especially in Amsterdam, the country's most important trade and industrial center, water pollution and stench became serious problems. The city board tried to handle these problems with town planning whereby tanneries and dying industries were placed in special quarters of the city. Other municipalities tried to do likewise.

Several places in the countryside suffered from pollution. The growing of hemp in the provinces of Utrecht and Holland and flax in the Southwest, mainly for the shipbuilding industry, had serious environmental consequences. During processing, both crops have to be soaked in water for several weeks. This soaking caused a heavy stench. Later hemp and flax were grown in the northern part of the country with comparable consequences.