Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the United States started in 1776 with the first salute at St. Eustatius's Fort Oranje and continues to this day as one of the oldest continual bilateral alliances in the western world. Today they are described as "excellent" by the United States Department of StateU.S. Relations With the Netherlands, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. and "close" by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.Relations between the Netherlands and the United States of America , Rijksoverheid. Founding members of the North Atlantic Alliance and allies since John Adams's visit to the Netherlands in 1782, it is considered one of the strongest military and economic alliances in contemporary history.
The United States and the Netherlands work together both bilaterally and multilaterally in such institutions as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as within the European Union to advance the shared US goal of a more open and market-led world economy and militarily in the context of the North Atlantic Treaty.
As the two nations were never at war or in serious conflict U.S. President Ronald Reagan referred to the alliance in 1982 as "the longest unbroken, peaceful relationship that we have had with any other nation."Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, The American President Project In 2011 U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed that "we have no stronger ally than the Netherlands". In 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump remarked that "the relationship with the Netherlands has never been better than it is now". The two countries have been allies in recent decades in military, anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and peacekeeping missions. They are also the third largest (from the Netherlands to the United States) and largest (from the United States to the Netherlands) direct foreign investors in each other's economies.
History
The United States of America and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have been close allies since the United States became a sovereign nation with the treaty of Paris after the American Revolutionary War and have kept unbroken bilateral ties since.
16th and 17th centuries Starting in the late 16th century, the Dutch and other Europeans began to colonize the eastern coast of North America. The Dutch named their territory New Netherland, which became a colony of the Dutch Republic in 1624. The Dutch colonial settlement of New Amsterdam later became New York City. The present-day flag of New York City is based on the flag of Republic of the United Netherlands. Following the Act of Abjuration the newly independent Dutch Republic quickly rose to power as a major naval power during the Dutch Golden Age. Although primarily focused on the East, New Amsterdam and other Dutch colonies in the Americas quickly rose to significant importance for the Dutch West India Company. After the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Dutch War with the Treaty of Breda the Dutch Republic did not press its claim on New Netherland ending formal Dutch colonization of America.
18th century In the 18th century the Dutch republic supported the Thirteen Colonies during American Revolution from the outset as it was still embroiled in disputes with the British Empire over naval supremacy. Dutch merchants sold many goods to the American rebels, which helped the Thirteen Colonies gain independence from the British Empire. Nearly 4,000 tons of gunpowder was sent by the Dutch in the first half of 1775 alone, many more followed in the next years. The Dutch merchants also provided daily shipments of goods to the American Rebels. Gunpowder was not the only thing they supplied them with; the Dutch also supplied the American Rebels with weapons, including muskets and Dutch long-arms, and tulips. In 1780 John Adams was able to secure a $2 million loan from the Dutch Republic which was vital in funding the revolutionary war. Some historians even argue that without the Dutch helping the American rebels, the outcome of the American Revolutionary War might have been a British victory.
Though the action was disavowed by the government of the Netherlands, on November 16, 1776, the fort at St. Eustatius gave the first formal salute (firing its guns nine times) to a ship flying the American flag. After the pilgrims had lived and worked in Leiden, many founding fathers advocated for a diplomatic mission to the Netherlands. On April 19, 1782, John Adams was received by the States General in The Hague and recognized as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. By doing so, it became the second foreign country to recognize the United States (after France on February 6, 1778). The house that Adams purchased in The Hague became the first American embassy in the world. The Netherlands reciprocated in 1783 as Pieter Johan van Berckel was received as Minister Plenipotentiary in the United States.
Historically the support and friendship offered by the Dutch people to then ambassador John Adams in support of his petition to the States General to defeat the British Empire during the Revolutionary War is seen as the start of the unbroken alliance between the Netherlands and the United States.
19th century Dutch officers in Sumatra (then part of the Dutch East Indies) assisted the U.S. Navy during the First and Second Sumatran Expeditions in 1832 and 1838 respectively. Both operations were punitive expeditions, carried out against Chiefdom of Kuala Batee after the crews of U.S. merchant ships were massacred by the native Malays.
In 1861–63 the Lincoln administration looked abroad for places to relocate freed slaves who wanted to leave the United States. It opened U.S. negotiations with the Dutch government regarding African American migration and colonization of the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America. Nothing came of the idea, and after 1864 the idea was dropped.Michael J. Douma, "The Lincoln Administration's Negotiations to Colonize African Americans in Dutch Suriname." Civil War History 61#2 (2015): 111–137. online
U.S. and Dutch soldiers fought together during the Siege of the International Legations, part of the larger Boxer Rebellion in China.
20th century
The Netherlands was steadfastly neutral in the late 19th and early 20th century trading with everyone but avoiding alliances. In foreign affairs it build up its overseas empire especially in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Neutrality did not stop the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. The Dutch government in exile remained allied to the United States and Dutch troops fought side by side with American troops in various theaters including the Pacific and Europe. The Dutch Resistance supplied intelligence and cooperated with the American effort to liberate Europe at the command of Queen Wilhelmina.
In peacetime following its liberation in 1945 by allied forces neutrality was no longer attractive for the Netherlands and they turned to the new hegemony of the United States as their principal security partner and in turn supported the United States goals in global political affairs. The Dutch tried for years to recover its valuable colony of Indonesia, but the United States was impressed with the anti-communist stance of the Indonesian Republic, and insisted that the Dutch leave. Resentfully, they did so, and refocused their attention on West European and trans-Atlantic relations.Marc Frey, "Decolonization and Dutch-American Relations," in Krabebbendam, ed., Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations (2009) pp 609–20. By the 1950s, according to Giles Scott-Smith the Americans considered the Dutch to be perfect allies in the Cold War:
In the post-war peace the U.S. was generous with Marshall Plan funds, designed to modernize Dutch technology and help it integrate into what became the European Union. The Netherlands political climate was dominated by a desire to never see war on the European continent again in the wake of World War 2 and Dutch foreign minister Dirk Uipko Stikker started advocating for a strong, militarily integrated trans-Atlantic alliance. Together with other Western Union members (Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom) and with the backing of the United States' secretary of state George C. Marshall they negotiated the Treaty of Brussels.
In recognition of the Dutch People's admiration and respect for the war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower, on his birthday October 14, 1947 at the Dutch embassy in Washington, D.C., ambassador Eelco van Kleffens presented the "legendary hero of World War II" with an ‘honorary sabre’. Weighing nearly five pounds, the gold-encrusted sabre was embedded with hundreds of gemstones and had been meticulously handcrafted by one of the most skillful goldsmiths in The Netherlands; Edelsmidse Brom in Utrecht.
With the Dutch American alliance for the first time taking on a decidedly military character, talks at the Pentagon in early 1948 laid the foundation for the North Atlantic Treaty. In recognition of his earlier work in establishing the Western Union, Dwight D Eisenhower advocated for Dirk Uipko Stikker to become its third secretary general.Krabebbendam, ed., Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations (2009) pp 641–662, 761–772, 864–874.
Immediately following the tighter integration of military forces in the context of NATO, the United States became increasingly worried about the rise of communism in the second phase of the Cold War, culminating in the Korean War. With their newly established military cooperation, the Netherlands joined the United Nations Command. Despite strong anti-war sentiments in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations (NDVN) was deployed to assist the United States military operation, with maritime efforts following shortly after.
As prosperity returned, Dutch tourists increasingly came to the United States. They had become fascinated by American movies, music, and television programs and took advantage of the sharp drop in transatlantic airfares in the 1960s. The tourists chose destinations based on their media exposure, so Hollywood and New York City were favored. Tourism thus reinforced the stereotypical images portrayed in the American media.Marc Dierikx, "In Pursuit of the American Dream: The Spread of the Televised American Image and the Rise of European Tourism to the United States, 1945–1980." European contributions to American studies 30 (1996): 114–132.
Relations became tense in 1981 when United States President Ronald Reagan rejected détente and escalated the Cold War. Reagan deployed cruise missiles or INF (intermediate-range nuclear forces) weapons at Woensdrecht in the Netherlands to counter new Soviet missile deployments. A wave of protest resulted. In 1982 four Dutch journalists were killed by Washington-backed government forces in El Salvador. To calm the tensions, Washington sent a new ambassador, Paul Bremer. By 1985 he won Dutch approval for the INF deployment and the Dutch supported Reagan's dealings with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.D.F.J. Bosscher, "The Nadir of Dutch-American Relations: Ronald Reagan, El Salvador and Cruise Missiles." in Dynamics of Modernization (VU University Press, 1998) pp. 67–83.
In 1982 President Ronal Reagan marked April 19, 1982 as the first Dutch-American Friendship Day. It commemorates two centuries of unbroken diplomatic, economic, and peaceful Dutch-American relations.
In 1989 with tensions building in the lead up to the first Gulf War, the Netherlands joined the US led coalition against Iraq at the request of US secretary of state James Baker.
The Netherland and United States have been both held active roles in global peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sinai Peninsula.
Modern relations