History of Dutch nationality
The history of Dutch nationality is the emergence of a sense of national identity in the territory of the Netherlands. Consciousness of national identity was manifested through shared national obligations and rights such as taxation, military service, political and social rights, but most importantly through the concept of citizenship. Dutch nationality was forged through conflict which helped the people of the Low Countries develop a unifying idea of the Netherlander.
Early stages
Before the formation of the Dutch Republic the land of the Low Countries had been inhabited by a number of disparate peoples who migrated from other lands and left only traces of their culture on the territory of the Low Countries. In the 10th century the Franks, Frisians and Saxons who lived in the territory of the Low Countries had no sense of common identity or unifying factors. The name "Dutch" that binds the people together as a single, unified group was not yet in use. Instead, the inhabitants of the lands were loyal to local lords, the territory that they lived on and to the towns of which they were burghers. In the early stages of existence, the concept of national identity had not been developed as a way by which a group of people could self-identify as such. Instead, they were labeled according to the place that they live and by their professions. Over time, these independent towns were subordinate to German, French, Roman or Spanish rule.The turning point in the history of the Low Countries was the Flemish uprising in 1302 against the Francophiles, put into power by the French king. The Dutch burghers together defeated the French army at Kortrijk and, in so doing, developed a sense of their own strength and community.
In the fourteenth century, the Flemish vehemently denied their French citizenship and identified themselves as Fleming. This trend was noticeable throughout other counties and duchies in the Low Countries and formed the basis of the awakening of Dutch nationalism. Nationality, a sense of belonging to a specific group of people disregarding their geographical position, was beginning to evolve even before the formation of the Dutch Republic.
Emergence of the Dutch culture
By the Middle Ages large parts of the population of the Low Countries lived in urbanized centers. These towns and large villages were the carriers of and the centers for self-recognition of Dutch culture. Art and poetry began to emerge, establishing a distinction between the Dutch and other peoples, in particular the French. These urban centers formed out of a realization that cooperation was necessary for survival. Individuals joined together to form communities, and in so doing gave up personal interests and subjugated themselves to local law.The formation of local law was a step towards unifying and defining the peoples' belonging to a specific state within the Low Countries, however it did not produce a feeling of a common nationality across the entire territory.
Before the Dutch Republic
Under foreign rule, the Low Countries were able to extensively develop economically and politically. However, the sense of a shared "nationality" was still non-existent. This sense of nationality was forged through conflict and was the result of opposition to a despotic governing body. This opposition grew stronger with imposed taxation and centralization by the foreign ruler. The Dutch Revolt that occurred as a result of this opposition changed forever the structure of the Netherlands. Known as the Eighty Years War, the revolt lasted between 1568 and 1648 and allowed for the beginning of the formation of a sense of nationality and at about the middle of the 16th century, people no longer described themselves as inhabitants of one of the Provinces, but simply as Belga or Flamengus both signifying Netherlander. An awareness of a common nationality started to emerge as people began to identify themselves with a national group rather than with local interests.Political rights
The States-General of the 17 states of the Netherlands convened annually to discuss matters of economics, religion and politics. Politically, the seventeen states grew closer to each other and by solving common problems began to develop a sense of opposition to the ruler. Through this resistance to outside rule, a sense of belonging to a common nation began to emerge. Centuries of being united by politics and economics allowed the people of the Low Countries – even though they spoke different languages – to feel part of a shared culture: the Netherlandish culture. Nevertheless, even though politically brought together the seventeen states did not develop a feeling of national identity. In the 16th and 17th centuries, these sentiments were not strong enough to mobilize the leading or the common class of the Low Countries. Nonetheless, opposition to centralization imposed by Charles V and Philip II helped to forge a national identity later on. While under foreign rule, neither citizenship nor a nationality law of the Low Countries existed on the national level.Citizenship
Prior to the formation of the Dutch Republic, the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands had urban and not national citizenship. No inclusive citizenship status existed for the population of the Low Countries. Citizenship was a legal status available to all inhabitants of a particular city. There were certain obligation and privileges applied to all those that were burghers. These rights were never formally written down in legal documents, rather existed as a set of practices or city rights varying in every territory.Obligations
- Live with a family in the area of citizenship.
- Pay taxes to the city that one was a burgher of.
- Social duties had to be fulfilled. An example would be the need to be part of militias guarding local streets.
Rights
- Right to freedom from serfdom.
- Right to trial under laws of town of citizenship.
- Right to access social privileges, such as orphanages, guilds, schools, etc.
- Right to not pay customs fee for merchandise sold at local markets. Only those that were citizens had the right to sell their goods at the market. This important privilege pushed many people to acquire citizenship.
- Right to hold public office. Political participation was the right only of citizens and only of those that held the status for more than five years.
Ways to acquire citizenship
- By descent
- By purchase
- By Marriage
- By Gift
Taxation
Religion
Religion was neither a unifying factor of Dutch nationality, nor the seed of the separation of the Low Countries into two separate entities. While both Protestants and Catholics came together in their opposition to Spanish rule, it was only with the common goal of fighting for Netherlands liberties and freedoms, and not for the recognition of the Dutch nationality.Dutch Republic
In 1579, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands. An outcome of the Dutch Revolt, the republic was not yet internationally recognized, but soon gained that status with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The idea of patriotism was widespread but was not a strong force. Similarly, the concept of the ‘fatherland’ was also general but created both unity and disunity within the population inasmuch as it was a debated concept. In the 1780s the national consciousness present for centuries was converted to modern nationalism.Social rights
Even though urban governments showed rare signs of democracy they were primarily an oligarchic system marked by an exclusive hierarchy. Class divisions, however were not as deep as in other European states, and the rights that the common class possessed did not differ much from what the intellectuals could practice. There was a cultural harmony and it prevented the formation of two completely divided classes and allowed for a social participation of all. Similarly, the basis of education was the same for all, and this allowed for a social bond. The difference in rights that the upper and lower classes possessed was reduced to the amount of money available to the individual. If one was wealthy, he could afford higher-level education. However, this alone did not earn him any political privileges or extensive political rights but only the ability to earn more wealth.The whole population of the Dutch Republic did not have the choice of voting for the representative of the Country inasmuch as there was not a choice between a democracy and an aristocracy but rather between an aristocracy and a monarchy. The stadtholder would be a member of the House of Orange-Nassau.
Citizenship rights
In the 18th century, in the Dutch Republic, there was no national civil law which united the whole population. Each town had its own civil law stipulating citizen rights and obligations, based on the citizenship model of the Roman Republic. Citizenship law of the burghers was still restricted to only the town's population, and completely excluded the people of the countryside.The rights of citizenship were based on the principle of jus soli, signifying that rights would be granted to all those born on the territory. However, this was not applied uniformly and in some cities as for example in Nijmegen, citizenship could be acquired only by jus sanguinis. Furthermore, as was the case prior to the establishment of the Dutch Republic, citizenship could be purchased if one had lived in the particular city for a period of time. The price for citizenship likewise varied from place to place. This unique way of naturalization of the 18th century was accompanied by rights, obligations and an oath of allegiance to the community of burghers that one was becoming part of.
In addition, all those that were citizens of the republic had a collection of political and civic rights. The extent to which these rights could be exercised in the Dutch Republic in the 18th century by far surpassed that of other European countries.