Part Seven
...back to... Ed Pack Introduction Page
Spice
Trade
·
spices and herbs have played role in development of
Western civilisation
·
spices today used mostly as flavourings
·
in ancient and medieval times were rare and
precious products and were used for medicine, perfume, incense, and flavouring
·
spices were carried by caravan across China and
India to ports or marketplaces where they were sold for excessive prices
·
some spices were used as a means of exchange in the
early Middle Ages
·
when Mongols and Turks cut off the overland trade
routes they had to find new ones ®
the demand from Europeans was to great to ignore
·
high prices partially a result of the battle for
monopoly of spice trade
·
growth of middle class during Renaissance period
increased popularity of spices
·
conflict continued over who would control spice
trade
·
between the 15th and 17th
centuries Spain, Portugal, England, and Holland fought for control
·
in beginning of 16th century the Dutch
gained control of shipping and trading in northern Europe
·
by end of 16th century the Dutch entered
the spice trade and overtook the Portuguese control
·
by early 17th century Dutch control was
more complete: conquered Malacca in 1641 and brought them control of the Malay
Peninsula and nearby island; 1658 gained control of cinnamon trade in Ceylon;
1663 had exclusive trading rights in the pepper ports along the Malabar Coast of
western India – eventually gained unchallenged rights to Asian spice trade
·
prices fell – Dutch planned to keep their profits
high by burning cinnamon and clove trees; also soaked nutmeg in “milk of
lime” – thought it would prevent rivals purchasing the seeds to grow their
own trees
·
France major power in the 17th century
but did not play a large part in this because it did not invest in the spice
trade
·
Frenchmen did help to break Dutch control on the
market, though – stole cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg from the Dutch and planted
on French controlled islands in the Indian Ocean
The
Netherlands (a.k.a. Holland)
·
Full
Country Name:
Kingdom of the Netherlands; which consists of the Netherlands, Netherlands
Antilles and Aruba
·
Is situated in western Europe, bordering Belgium to
the south, Germany to the east, and to the north and west is bordered by the
North Sea
·
formed in 1815, after breaking away from the First
French Empire under Napoleon
·
“The Netherlands”
means “The Low Countries”
·
12 provinces: Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe,
Overijssel, Flevoland, Gelderland, Utrecht, North Holland, South Holland,
Zeeland, North Brabant, Limburg
·
the name Holland is widely used as being equivalent
to The Netherlands (like the use of England for the United Kingdom or Russia for
the Soviet Union)
·
sometimes referred to as Holland, but that is
incorrect – Holland is actually a smaller part of The Netherlands, broken into
two provinces: North Holland and South Holland
·
very flat country; about half of its surface area
is less than 1m above sea level, with some areas actually below sea level
·
National
Motto:
Je Maintiendrai (French for “I will maintain”)
·
National
Anthem:
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
·
Area:
41,526 square kilometres
·
Population:
16,105,000
·
Capital
City:
Amsterdam (population 735,500); Amsterdam is the nation’s capital, but the
seat of government is Den Haag
·
People:
Over 95% of the population are Dutch (Germanic and Gallo-Celtic stock), most of
the rest are Indonesian, Surinamese or Moroccan
·
Are called Nederlanders (when translating this into
English it means “Dutch”)
·
Official
Languages:
Dutch (spoken by the majority) and Frisian (spoken by a few percent)
·
Language
is referred to as Nederlands
·
Frisian most resembles English
·
Religion:
Catholic – 18%, Protestant – 15%, 5-6% Muslim, 1.3% Hindu, and 63% do not
consider themselves members of a church
·
Government:
parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch
·
Has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815;
before that (1581-1806) it was a republic (was occupied by France from
1806-1815)
·
Always consists of a coalition (there is not a
single political party large enough to get the majority vote)
·
Parliament consists of two houses
·
150 members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer),
elected every four years
·
Senate (Eerste Kamer)
·
Head
of State:
Queen Beatrix van Oranje Nassau
·
Prime
Minister:
Jan Peter Balkenende
·
Famous for its dikes, windmills, wooden shoes,
tulips and bicycles
·
Industries:
service industries, banking, electronics, digital media, horticulture,
agriculture, and shipping
·
Major
Trading Partners:
EU (Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, UK), USA
·
The Dutch made first official landfall in Australia
400 years ago
·
Mariners, merchants and passengers on ships
belonging to the Dutch East Indies Company (Verenigde
Oost Indische Compagnie – VOC), were the first recorded Europeans to step
foot on Australian soil
·
Some of the geographical names such as the Swan
River, Rottnest, Leeuwin, Dirk Hartog Islands, Houtman’s Abrolhos, and the
Geelvinck Channel were from the Dutch explorers
·
VOC ships stopped visiting Western Australian
shores when the world’s first multinational company collapsed in 1796
·
Dutch trade ships did not visit Australia again
until the gold rushes in the 1850s.
·
The Netherlands’ capital
·
Situated 20km from the sea, at the point where
river Amstel joins the river IJ
·
Founded in the 13th century as a small
fishing village
·
Population of about 750,000
·
Country’s second largest port – after Rotterdam
·
Has a surprisingly large number of museums and
galleries, for being such a small city
·
Noted for outstanding museums: the Rijksmuseum, the
Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Rembrandt House Museum, the Anne Frank
House and its world-class symphony orchestra: the Concertgebouworkest
·
City of cafes and bars, there are about 1,500 in
all
·
The city’s canals and waterways embody the very
spirit of Amsterdam
·
Many beautiful bridges, including the famous Magere
Brug span the canals.
·
City of tolerance and diversity
·
Has all the advantages of a big city: culture,
history, entertainment, good transport – but it is relatively small, quiet
·
In the 17th century:
·
Amsterdam was the richest trading city in Europe
·
Its stock exchange was the first to trade
continuously
·
Wages were the highest in the world
·
Population around 200,000
·
City’s motto: Heldhaftig,
Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Resolute, and Merciful)
·
Two universities: Universiteit van Amsterdam
(University of Amsterdam) and Vrije Universiteit (Free University)
·
Public transportation:
·
National and international train connections
·
3 metro lines
·
a light rail line
·
18 tram lines
·
numerous bus lines
·
several ferries across it IJ
·
many use bicycles to get around
·
Has the biggest airport in the Netherlands and the
fourth largest in Europe – handles about 40 million passengers a year
·
Hosted the Olympic Games in 1928
·
Famous Amsterdammers:
·
Karel Appel (painter)
·
Frits Bolkestein (politician)
·
Herman Brood (singer and painter)
·
Anne Frank (holocaust victim)
·
Theo van Gogh (filmmaker)
·
Meindert Hobbema (painter)
·
Multatuli (writer)
·
Simon Carmiggelt (writer and columnist)
·
Johan Cruyff (soccer player)
·
Ruud Gullit (soccer player)
·
Wim Kok (former Dutch prime minister)
·
Harry Mulisch (writer)
·
Jozef Israels (painter)
·
Andre Hazes (singer)
·
Freddy Heineken (beer magnate)
·
Rembrandt (painter)
·
Baruch Spinoza (philosopher)
·
Roemer Visscher (writer)
Windmills
·
Apparatus that harnesses wind power for a variety
of uses (eg. pumping water, grinding corn, driving small sawmills, and driving
electrical generators)
·
Probably not known in Europe before the 12th
century
·
Became familiar landmarks in Holland, England,
France, and Germany
·
Typical Dutch windmill (a.k.a. the tower type) has
a huge tower of stone, brick or wood
·
German, or post, mill – whole building revolved
on a central post
·
At the top of either type there is a revolving
apparatus to which four to six arms are attached
·
Arms – 20-40 feet (6-12m) long – have sails
constructed of light wood, or of canvas attached to a frame
·
A small fan acts like a rudder to keep the wheel
facing the wind
·
Larger windmills can have rotors that span 200 feet
(60m) or more (eg. modern wind turbines)
·
Can produce 1.5MW or more of electricity
·
Can serve as a significant source of electric
energy
·
Extensively used in Europe
·
Denmark is venturing to generate 50% of its
electricity using wind power by 2030
·
As many as 2,000 small wind turbines are used in
Inner Mongolia to provide power to nomadic people
List of References for this page...
·
Spice Trade
www.encyclopedia.com
www.spiceadvice.com/history/index.html
·
The
Netherlands
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Netherlands
www.amsterdam-netherlands.info/
Peters, N (2004) ‘Going Dutch’ : Four Centuries of Contact with Nederlanders in
Tilbury, F. & Wilding, R. (eds) A
Changing People: Diverse Contributions to the State of Western Australia.
Department of the Premier and Cabinet: Perth, WA
·
Amsterdam
www.amsterdam.info/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam
·
Windmill
www.encyclopedia.com
View other Your Work entries... Val's Journal Jodie's Journal
...or view other Ed Pack pages... Introduction Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four
Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve
...or view additional Ed Pack pages... English Mathematics Science/ Society and the Environment Filler Activities
Go to Children's Theatre: My Journal History Notice Board Your Work
Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au
This page last updated: 17th February 2006