Arblaster, Paul,A History of the Low Countries (2006), 312p.
This is one of only two recent introductory history surveys on the history of the Low Countries available in English. The first problem in writing a general history of the Low Countries is one of definition. Although Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are collectively known as the Low Countries, or more recently as the Benelux countries, they were never one entity. The closest they came to a common history was under Burgundian and then Hapsburg rule. But since the revolt of the Netherlands in the late 16th century, they have been divided politically and culturally. Most authors who attempted to write a general introductory history of the Low Countries have not included Luxembourg, even though the Duchy had a personal union with the Netherlands until 1890. Arblaster, whose field is the literature and language of the Low Countries and teaches at the Zuyd University in he Netherlands, characterizes the three states as “artificial countries.” One could respond that all nations are in fact “imagined communities.” Thus, he takes as his theme the appropriate notion of unity and diversity. Nonetheless, since we use a common term to describe all three, they must have some things in common. It is not language, since in addition to Dutch (a name invented by the English and perhaps a corruption of neder-duytsch, which is what High Germans called the language spoken in the delta region) and French. In addition, a number of strong dialects were spoken in the region. Perhaps the most important factor that the Low Countries have in common is that they are situated at the cross-roads of Western Europe. On the one hand, they were able to benefit from the demographic, cultural and economic exchange that was made possible by their location where the great Western European rivers—the Rhine, the Maas (better known by its French name, the Meuse often used in English), and the Scheldt)—empty into the North Sea, by their intermediate position between the Baltic and the Mediterranean, and their access to the new sea routes to Asia and the Americas. On the other hand, this connectedness meant that foreign states constantly sought to interfere in the affairs of the Low Countries, especially once they became rich.
The book is divided into six chapters of roughly equal length: "From Pagans to Crusaders, 57 BC to AD 1100," "Patterns of Power and Piety, 1100-1384," "The Low Countries United and Divided, 1384-1609," "From Delftware to Porcelain, 1609-1780," "The Rise and Fall of the Liberal Order, 1776-1914," and "World Wars and World Peace, 1914-2002." Combining the Burgundian period with the revolt against Spain offers an interesting perspective. The violent creation of a Burgundian state, and the equally violent breakup of what had become Habsburg territory, with the de facto creation of the Dutch Republic by 1609, which separated the north from the south, reminds us that despite the prosperity achieved by the Low Countries in the early modern period, the region was not blessed by peace. Unlike in most treatments, in which the 17th century is treated as the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic, Arblaster’s organization combination of the 17th and 18th centuries into one chapter allows us to gain a better understanding of the history of the southern, or Austrian, Netherlands during the early modern period. Developments from the 1970s to the present are treated in just a few pages. While the main narrative is political, he does not neglect economic, cultural, religious history and the important topics of immigration and emigration. The book is well written, often witty and provides a good introduction to the subject. It contains a handy chronology of major events, a list of dynasties and rulers, and a good list of suggested further reading in English.