The Netherlands Timeline

1287 Dec 14 St. Lucia's Flood
St. Lucia's flood (Sint-Luciavloed) was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287 (the day after St. Lucia Day) when a dike broke during a storm...
1421 Nov 18
to 1421 Nov 19
 St. Elizabeth's Flood of 1421
The St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421 was a flooding of an area in what is now the Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary which was formerly November ...
1648 May 15
to 1648 Oct 24
 The Peace of Westphalia is Achieved through the Treaties of Osnabrück and Münster
The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24, 1648, respectively, and written in French, that ended both the Thi...
1810 Dec 22 Loss of HMS Minotaur
MINOTAUR was wrecked on the Haak Sand near the Texel on 22 December 1810. The 2nd lieutenant and eight midshipmen with 100 men were saved and made prisoner; the rest, numbering about ...
1830 Aug 25
to 1831 Aug 12
 Belgian Revolution
The authorities permitted, on the evening of the 25th, the first performance of an opera by Scribe and Auber, entitled La Muette de Portici, which had been previously proscribed. The hero...
1940 May 9 German Forces Occupy Luxembourg
Germany initiated Fall Gelb on the evening prior to and the night of 10 May. During the late evening of 9 May, German forces occupied Luxembourg. Army Group B launched its (feint) offensi...
1940 May 10 Battle for The Hague
Although the German troops managed to capture the three airfields, they failed in their primary objective of taking the city of Hague and forcing the Dutch to surrender. Accordingly, the ...
1940 May 10 Battle of Fort Eben-Emael Begins
he Battle of Fort Eben-Emael was a battle between Belgian and German forces that took place between 10 May and 11 May, 1940, and was part of the Battle of the Netherlands, Battle of Belgi...
1940 May 10 Battle of Maastricht
The Battle of Maastricht was one of the first battles that took place during the German Campaign on the Western Front. Maastricht was a key city in order to capture the Belgian Fort Eben-...
1940 May 10 Nazi German Forces Begin Operation Fall Gelb with Attack on the Netherlands
On the morning of 10 May 1940 the Dutch awoke to the sound of aircraft engines roaring in the sky. Nazi Germany had commenced operation Fall Gelb and attacked the Netherlands, Belgium, Fr...
1940 May 12 General Winkelman Orders Destruction of Dutch Bridges and Oil Reserves to Prevent German Advance
In the afternoon General Winkelman received information about armoured forces advancing in the Langstraat region, on the road between 's-Hertogenbosch and the Moerdijk bridges. He still f...
1940 May 13 Dutch Cabinet of Ministers Flees the Netherlands Amidst German Invasion
In the early morning of 13 May General Winkelman, advising the Dutch government, considered the general situation to be critical. On land the Dutch had been cut off from the Allied front ...
1940 May 13 German Forces Capture the Grebbeberg
The fall of the Grebbeberg was a huge blow to the Dutch. Defeat at this location meant the collapse of the entire Grebbeline and forced the Dutch to a full retreat of six divisions to the...
1940 May 14 German Air Force Decimates Rotterdam
The paratroopers enjoyed more success in Rotterdam and areas near the critical Moerdijk bridges. Dutch troops bitterly contested Dordrecht, another critical target. After four days of fig...
1940 May 14 Germans are Repelled from the Afsluitdijk by Dutch Heavy Artillery
Earlier in May 1940 two infantry sections (70 men) were sent to the end of the dyke to prevent German landings beyond the vision of both fortresses. The Germans soon found out about these...
1940 May 15 Dutch Army Surrenders to Germany Despite Continued Fighting in Parts of the Netherlands
At 05:00 on 15 May a German messenger reached The Hague, inviting Winkelman to Rijsoord for a meeting with von Küchler, to negotiate the articles of a written capitulation document. Both ...
1940 May 17 German Occupation of the Netherlands Officially Begins
"I looked out of the open window, over a large area of Amsterdam, over all the roofs and on to the horizon, which was such a pale blue that it was hard to see the dividing line. As long as..." —Anne Frank
1940 May 18 Dutch Province of Zeeland Surrenders to Germany
By late afternoon on May 17th, it was clear that the Germans had conquered the whole of Zeeland apart from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. The battle around the Sloedam was still raging, but Dutch uni...
1942 Jan 11
to 1942 Jan 13
 Battle of Manado
The unit of Compagnie Menado, which numbered only 188 men under Captain W.F.J. Kroon and Landstorm Compagnie with its 200 troops under 1st Lieutenant F. Masselink were not enough to oppos...
1942 Jan 11
to 1942 Jan 12
 Battle of Tarakan (1942)
The Battle of Tarakan took place on January 11–12, 1942. Even though Tarakan was only a small marshy island at northeastern Borneo in the Netherlands East Indies, but the 700 oil wells, o...
1942 Jan 23
to 1942 Jan 24
 Battle of Balikpapan (1942)
While the Japanese invasion force was landing at Balikpapan, on the early morning of January 24, at around 02:45, the Allied (ABDACOM's) 59th US Navy Destroyer Division under Rear Admiral...
1942 Jan 30
to 1942 Feb 3
 Battle of Ambon
From 6 January onwards, Ambon was attacked by Japanese aircraft. Allied aircraft made some sorties against the approaching Japanese fleet, with little success. On 13 January, the two B...
1942 Feb 4 Battle of Makassar Strait
The Battle of Makassar Strait, also known as the Action of Madura Strait, the Action North of Lombok Strait and the Battle of the Flores Sea, was a naval battle of the Pacific theatre of ...
1942 Feb 13
to 1942 Feb 15
 Battle of Palembang
The Battle of Palembang was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred near Palembang, on Sumatra, on 13–15 February 1942. The Royal Dutch Shell oil refineries at nea...
1942 Feb 18
to 1942 Feb 19
 Battle of Badung Strait
The Battle of Badung Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 19–20 February 1942 in Badung Strait between the American-British-Dutch-Aust...
1942 Feb 19 Japanese Forces Invade Portuguese Timor
During the night of 19–20 February, 1,500 troops from the Imperial Japanese Army's 228th Regimental Group, 38th Division, XVI Army, under the command of Colonel Sadashichi Doi, began land...
1942 Feb 27 Battle of the Java Sea
The Battle of the Java Sea was a major naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy, on Febru...
1942 Feb 28
to 1942 Mar 12
 Battle of Java (1942)
The Battle of Java (Invasion of Java, Operation J) was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred on the island of Java, between 28 February and 12 March 1942. It involv...
1942 Mar 31 Imperial Japanese Navy Begins Sustained Attacks on Allied Forces in the Indian Ocean
Following the destruction of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command forces in the battles around Java in February and March, the Japanese sortied into the Indian Ocean to destroy B...
1942 Apr 1 Japanese Forces Gain Control of Island of Borneo
The Battle of Borneo was a successful campaign by Japanese Imperial forces for control of Borneo island and concentrated mainly with the subjugation of Kingdom of Sarawak, North Borneo an...
1942 Jul SS Assumes Control of Westerbork Refugee Camp, Converting it to a Concentration Camp
Westerbork concentration camp (Dutch: Kamp Westerbork, German: Durchgangslager Westerbork) was a World War II concentration camp in Hooghalen, ten kilometers north of Westerbork, in the n...
1942 Jul 13 Anne Frank and her Family are Joined by the Pels Family at the Achterhuis
On 13 July, the Franks were joined by the van Pels family: Hermann, Auguste, and 16-year-old Peter, and then in November by Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist and friend of the family. Anne wrote o...
1942 Nov Anne Frank and her Family and the Pels Family are Joined by Fritz Pfeffer at the Achterhuis
On 13 July, the Franks were joined by the van Pels family: Hermann, Auguste, and 16-year-old Peter, and then in November by Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist and friend of the family. Anne wrote o...
1944 Mar Anne Frank Hears of a Plan to Create Public Record of German Occupation on Radio Broadcast and Begins Reworking Diary in Hopes of Publication
Anne's diary began as a private expression of her thoughts and she wrote several times that she would never allow anyone to read it. She candidly described her life, her family and compan...
1944 Aug 4 Anne Frank and her Family are Arrested by the Gestapo
On the morning of 4 August 1944, the Achterhuis was stormed by the German Security Police (Grüne Polizei) following a tip-off from an informer who was never identified. Led by Schutzstaff...
1944 Aug 7 Anne Frank and her Family are Transported to Westerbork Concentration Camp
On the morning of 4 August 1944, the Achterhuis was stormed by the German Security Police (Grüne Polizei) following a tip-off from an informer who was never identified. Led by Schutzstaff...
1944 Sep Herzogenbusch Concentration Camp is Liberated by the 4th Canadian Armored Division and the 96th Battery of the 5th Anti-Tank Division
Due to hunger, sickness and abuse at least 749 children, women and men died in the concentration camp. 329 of them were executed at the execution site, just outside the camp. When allied ...
1945 Apr 12 Westerbok Concentration Camp is Liberated by the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division
The Westerbork camp had a "double life." While most inmates stayed in the camp for only short periods of time before being deported, there was also a "permanent" camp population of 2,000 ...
1947 Anne Frank's Diary is First Published in the Netherlands as Het Achterhuis
Otto Frank gave the diary to the historian Annie Romein-Verschoor, who tried unsuccessfully to have it published. She then gave it to her husband Jan Romein, who wrote an article about it...
1949 Apr 4 The NATO Agreement is Signed in Washington DC
The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty and th...
1962 Jan 8 Harmelen Train Disaster
It was shortly before twenty past nine in the morning of Monday January 8, 1962 when a train bound for Amsterdam was snaking through the junction. Consisting of two electric multiple unit...
1974 Jul 7 West Germany Beats the Netherlands to Win the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final
The 1974 FIFA World Cup Final was the final match of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the 10th FIFA World Cup, a competition to determine the best national men's football team over the previous f...
1978 Jun 11 Archie Gemmill Becomes Unlikely Hero through Key Goal Against the Netherlands in 1978 World Cup Finals
Scotland's greatest World Cup moment came against the Dutch at the 1978 Finals. To guarantee progress from their group, Ally MacLeod's side needed to win by three goals - no easy task. An...
1978 Jun 25 Argentina Beats the Netherlands to Win the 1978 FIFA World Cup Final
The Final of the 1978 FIFA World Cup was contested between host Argentina and The Netherlands. The match was won by the Argentines in extra time by a score of 3–1. Mario Kempes, who finis...
1986 The Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation Publishes the "Critical Edition" of Anne Frank's Diary
In 1986, the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation published the "Critical Edition" of the diary. It includes comparisons from all known versions, both edited and unedited. It...
1998 Dec 9 Amsterdam District Court Imposes a Penalty on Denial of Authenticity of Anne Frank's Diary
In 1991, Holocaust deniers Robert Faurisson and Siegfried Verbeke produced a booklet titled The Diary of Anne Frank: A Critical Approach. They claimed that Otto Frank wrote the diary, bas...
2000 May 13 Enschede Fireworks Disaster
S.E. Fireworks, a company that stores fireworks articles, is located in the middle of the working class housing estate of Mekkelholt in the northern Dutch city of Enschede. On 13 May 2000...
2001 Dutch Government Retrieves Five Omitted Pages of Anne Frank's Diary
Cornelis Suijk—a former director of the Anne Frank Foundation and president of the U.S. Center for Holocaust Education Foundation—announced in 1999 that he was in the possession of five p...
2005 Aug 2005 Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade
The Amsterdam Gay Pride has been held since 1996 and can be seen as one of the most successful in acquiring social acceptance. The weekend-long event involves concerts, sports tournaments...
2006 Aug 5 2006 Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade
This weekend marks the highlight of the gay calendar in Amsterdam, Gay Pride Amsterdam, also known as Amsterdam Pride. As one of the most popular gay pride celebrations in the world, the ...