Editing Zeeland (section)

== History ==
[[File:1580 Zelandicarum v Deventer.jpg|thumb|left|[[Abraham Ortelius|Ortelius]] after van [[Jacob van Deventer (cartographer)|Deventer]]: The [[County of Zeeland]] in 1580]]
[[File:Comitatus Zelandiae accurata & novissima delineatia COLLBN Port 33 N 52, COLLBN Port 33 N 52.tif|thumb|left|Carel Allard: County of Zeeland, 1690.]]

Zeeland was a contested area between the counts of [[Count of Holland|Holland]] and [[County of Flanders|Flanders]] until 1299, when the last count of Holland died. The Counts of [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]] then gained control of the [[County of Zeeland]], followed by the counts of [[Bavaria]], [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]], and [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]]. After 1585, Zeeland followed, as one of the 7 independent provinces, the fate of the Northern part of The Netherlands.

[[File:Netherlands. Viewed from a U.S. Army helicopter, gives a hint of the tremendous damage damage wrought by the flood - NARA - 541705.jpg|thumb|[[North Sea flood of 1953]] in a town in [[Zuid-Beveland]]]]

In 1432, it became part of the [[Low Countries]] possessions of [[Philip the Good]] of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]], the later [[Seventeen Provinces]]. Through marriage, the Seventeen Provinces became the property of the Habsburgs in 1477. In the [[Eighty Years' War]], Zeeland was on the side of the [[Union of Utrecht]], and became one of the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]]. The area now called ''{{lang|nl|Zeeuws-Vlaanderen}}'' (or [[Zeelandic Flanders]]) was not part of Zeeland, but a part of the county of [[Flanders]] (still under Habsburg control) that [[Siege of Sluis (1604)|was conquered]] by the United Provinces, hence called ''{{lang|nl|Staats-Vlaanderen}}'' (see: [[Generality Lands]]).

After the French occupation (see ''{{lang|fr|département}}'' [[Bouches-de-l'Escaut]]) and the formation of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] in 1815, the present province Zeeland was formed.

During World War II, Zeeland was occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] between June 1940 and November 1944.<ref name="DeWaard"/> In 1944, Zeeland was devastated by the [[Battle of the Scheldt]] and the [[Battle of the Scheldt#Operation Infatuate: Capture of Walcheren Island|Walcheren Landings]], which brought about the [[Inundation of Walcheren]],  between British and Canadian forces, and the occupying Germans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedops.com/Walcheren.htm |title=Operation Infatuate – Walcheren |publisher=Combinedops.com |access-date=2013-07-10}}</ref>

The catastrophic [[North Sea flood of 1953]], which killed over 1800 people in Zeeland, led to the construction of the protective [[Delta Works]].