Editing Netherlands (section)

===World wars and beyond (1890–present)===
{{Main|History of the Netherlands (1900–present)|Netherlands in World War I|Netherlands in World War II}}
[[File:Een uitzinnige menigte verwelkomt de Canadese bevrijders in Utrecht - An ecstatic crowd in Utrecht welcomes the Canadian liberators (4502667274).jpg|thumb|left|upright|People celebrating the [[Liberation Day (Netherlands)|liberation of Utrecht]] at the end of [[World War II]] on 7 May 1945]]
The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, in part because the import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival until the blockade by the British [[Royal Navy]] in 1916.<ref name="Abbenhuis">Abbenhuis, Maartje M. (2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=5gMCfhUR6Y0C The Art of Staying Neutral]. Amsterdam University Press, {{ISBN|978-90-5356-818-7}}.</ref> That changed in World War II, when [[German invasion of the Netherlands|Germany invaded the Netherlands]] on 10 May 1940. The [[Rotterdam Blitz]] forced most of the Dutch army to surrender. During the occupation, over 100,000 [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch Jews]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kampwesterbork.nl/site1.2/English/KAMP/k08.html |title=93 trains |access-date=7 December 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041207064440/http://www.kampwesterbork.nl/site1.2/English/KAMP/k08.html |archive-date=7 December 2004}}. kampwesterbork.nl</ref> were transported to Nazi [[extermination camp]]s; only a few survived. Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany, [[Dutch resistance|civilians who resisted]] were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and the countryside was plundered for food. Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans, over 20,000 Dutch fascists [[Volunteer Legion Netherlands|joined the Waffen SS]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.waffen-ss.nl/main.php|title=Nederlanders in de Waffen-SS|website=waffen-ss.nl|access-date=13 November 2015|archive-date=2 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202043232/http://www.waffen-ss.nl/main.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> Political [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborators]] were members of the fascist [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands|NSB]], the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands. On 8 December 1941, the [[Dutch government-in-exile]] in London declared war on Japan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411208c.html |title=The Kingdom of the Netherlands declares war with Japan |publisher=ibiblio |access-date=2 October 2009}}</ref> but could not prevent the [[Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies]].<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+id0029) Library of Congress, 1992, "Indonesia: World War II and the Struggle For Independence, 1942–50; The Japanese Occupation, 1942–45"] Access date: 9 February 2007.</ref> In 1944–45, the [[First Canadian Army]] liberated much of the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite video |year=1944 |title=Video: Allies Set For Offensive |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39141 |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel]] |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> Soon after [[Victory in Europe Day|VE Day]], the Dutch fought a [[Indonesian National Revolution|colonial war against the new Republic of Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=17 June 2023 |title=Sukarno {{!}} Indonesian Nationalist & 1st President of Indonesia  |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sukarno |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=History of the Netherlands  |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-the-Netherlands |access-date=21 June 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

====Decolonisation====
In 1954, the [[Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands]] reformed the political structure as a result of international pressure to carry out [[decolonisation]]. The Dutch colonies of [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]] and [[Curaçao and Dependencies]] became constituent countries within the Kingdom, on the basis of an equal partnership with the European territories. Indonesia had declared its independence in August 1945. [[Suriname]] followed in 1975. The Netherlands was one of the founding members of [[Benelux]] and [[NATO]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Benelux |url=https://gouvernement.lu/en/dossiers/2018/benelux.html |website=gouvernement.lu |access-date=21 November 2022 |language=en |date=4 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Member countries |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52044.htm |publisher=NATO |access-date=21 November 2022 |language=en}}</ref> In the 1950s, the Netherlands became one of the six founding countries of the [[European Communities]], following the 1952 establishment of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]], and subsequent 1958 creations of the [[European Economic Community]] and [[European Atomic Energy Community]].<ref name="NL: EU member state">{{cite web |title=The Netherlands: EU member state – European Union – Government.nl |url=https://www.government.nl/topics/european-union/the-netherlands-eu-member-state |website=government.nl |access-date=21 November 2022 |date=26 September 2012}}</ref> In 1993, the former two were incorporated into the [[European Union]].<ref name="NL: EU member state" />

Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 [[Dutch people|Dutch]] to leave the country after the war.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409956/Netherlands |title=Netherlands |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref> The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de-[[pillarisation]]. Students and other youth rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as [[women's rights]], [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], [[disarmament]] and [[environmental issues]]. In 2002 the [[euro]] was introduced as [[fiat money]], and in 2010 the [[Netherlands Antilles]] was [[Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles|dissolved]]. Referendums were held on each island. As a result, [[Bonaire]], [[Sint Eustatius]] and [[Saba (island)|Saba]] (the BES islands) were incorporated as ''[[Special municipality (Netherlands)|special municipalities]]'' upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. The special municipalities are collectively known as the [[Caribbean Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Grommé|first= Francisca|chapter= "Thinking, seeing, and doing like a kingdom: The making of Caribbean Netherlands statistics and the 'native Bonairian'|year=2021|doi=10.36019/9781978818705-008|title=Equaliberty in the Dutch Caribbean: Ways of Being Non/Sovereign|pages= 101–117|isbn= 978-1-9788-1870-5|url= https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/11e04fa0-02d7-49d6-a16b-a727a1d6c889|chapter-url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353121877}}</ref>