Evening star., 1942-03-15
History Forecasts
Hollands Future
BIZ Frederic J. Hdskin.

Hitler proclaimed that the Netherlands
had been reunited with the Reich. On
another occasion he informed the world
that the new order he was creating was
destined to last for thousand years 1t
follows then that the Dutch will have
to look forward to a millennium Of life
under German rule.
That Is, to put 1t mildly, not q very
pleasant prospect. But there is comfort
in the reminder that such promises OF
coming millennium have been made In
the past. Trusting innocents who watt
ed and prepared themselves for its COM
ing invariably were disappointed. The
millennium that preceded the advent OF
Hitler covers nearly the entire history Of
the Low Countries. In the early 10th
century they were the prey of invaders
as barbaric and ruthless as Hitler's
hordes. The mighty empire of Charlie
magne had fallen apart after his death.
Danish pirates raided the seacoasts Of
France and the Low Countries, sailed up
the rivers, laid inland towns In ashes,
carried of the inhabitants into slavery.
But new order evolved. not at the
dictate of tyrant. 1t was the citizens
Of the fortified towns who created that
order. The safety they enjoyed in the
late Middle Ages was not imposed upon
them. but was a self-created security, a
fruit Of their own industry. They were the
real rulers of the land and its prosperity
was of their own creation. Hereditary
I'D l. ,,,3i d..
order to maintain their political power
the lords needed the financial support
Of the wealthy burghers, who were will
ing to be taxed only in return for free
dom. Thus an even balance was struck
between civil freedom and dynastic au-
thority. The overlords called themselves
rulers by the grace Of God, but they
actually ruled by the grace Of their
urban subjects. who held the purse
strings.
This burgher self-rule, once estab-
lished, never was wrested long from the
people. There we're periods. 1t Is true. In
the thousand years preceding Hitler's
| advent. when the permanence 0f Dutch
autonomy was threatened seriously.
Philip II, Louis XIV and Napoleon each
in turn attempted to crush the inde-
pendence of the Netherlands. 1t is dim
cult to explain to Americans how the
King of Spain ever won foothold in the
Low Countries. He never did in his ca
pacity as King. Of Spain. When the
Dutch revolted against Philip II, they
did not take up arms against the Span
ish monarch, but against their own
hereditary overlord, who happened also
to be King Of Spain.
| In the 18th century the various petty
dynasties that ruled the Low Countries
gradually were supplanted by one noble
house. that Of the Dukes Of Burgundy.
BY intrigue, marriage and conquest they
succeeded in bringing nearly all the
Netherlands under their sway. In the
early 18th century Charles, son Of Philip
the Fair, Duke of Burgundy, succeeded
his father in the Burgundian Neither
lands. In Germany he was elected
Emperor after the death of his grand
father, the Emperor Macmillan. In
Spain he inherited the thrones of his
mothers parents. But in the Low Coun-
tries he was neither Emperor nor King.
He, and his son Philip II after him, ruled
there as Count of Holland. Count Of
iceland, Duke of Gelderland and Duke
of Brabant; but when they needed money
from their Dutch subjects they had to
request their consent to be taxed.
Holding all the Low Countries In one
hand, Charles naturally strove for their
unifcation. Throughout the Middle
Ages Flanders and Artois had been fiefs
of the King of France. the other Low
Countries Of the German Emperor
Among the trophies that Charles brought
home from his wars with France was
the release of the first two from their
vassalage to the French King. Although
he happened to be Emperor himself
Charles was no less anxious as heir OF
the Burgundian Dukes. to assert for the
rest of his heritage a virtual independ-
ence Of imperial obligations. AS Emperor
he invited the Netherlands to send depu-
ties to the imperial diets, and his sister,
who ruled there In his absence, refused
not without his approval, to comply with
the request.
At the diet Of Augsburg in 1548 Charles
persuaded that assembly to recognize the
unity of his Dutch possessions and de-
clared them free from imperial jurisdic-
ton. They were at the time oficially
incorporated with the Empire. but this
inclusion was little more than farce.
for the Dutch treated 1t as scrap Of
paper. They never sent delegates to the
diet. never paid their share Of the imper-
ial taxation. and never asked to be pro-
tected by the Reich. AS far as they
were concerned the bond with the EN-
pire did not exist. When the Dutch Re-
public, at the conclusion Of its successful
war against Philip II and his successors
obtained the recognition of its independ-
ence at the peace treaty OF Westphalia
its official connection with the Empire
ceased to exist.
All selfshness carries the seeds OF its
own destruction, and the aims of Hitler q
Germany are thoroughly selfish. There
never was another world conqueror who
so unashamedly proclaimed the base
motives that actuate him and that he
wishes his people to adopt for their
guidance. f-aggrandizement. control
Of the worlds wealth, assertion of the
so-called master race" over all other
races, annihilation of the Jews, better
life for every German at the expense
of all mont Germans, these are the bold
announcements of Hitler.
Nad philosophy despises love Of one