Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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three issues were essential components of the Dutch state's ability to juggle its other
neutrality obligation, namely to present an impartial face to outsiders, with the need to
satisfy the particular interests of the waITing governments in Dutch non-belligerency.
Seemingly, the best way to guarantee neutrality status was to ensure that stronger
neighbours were given no reason to invade. To this end, it was as important for the Dutch to
maintain a large military presence, in an attempt to deter invasion, as it was to uphold
international laws, which could give the justification for attack. Hence, policing the various
neutrality regulations (imposed by international requirement as much as national law) was
as important to the armed forces as the more traditional role of protecting the country's
borders. However, as neutrality became an increasingly complicated matter, as the demands
of belligerent states on non-warring countries became increasingly stifling, and as it became
increasingly difficult for the Netherlands to retain parity with the technological and military
strength of waITing states, the tasks of the Dutch anned forces became more complicated
and contentious and their ability to protect neutrality less viable.
The coming chapters present an analysis of neutrality in its historical context as a
problem of national security and independence. It deals specifically with neutrality as an
issue of military impOliance in time of war. It also tries to answer the following questions:
Why was the Netherlands neutral in 1914? How did the country manage to stay neutral
throughout the course of the Great War? How did the war affect the nature of that
neutrality? So, while the Dutch armed forces play the lead role in much of the following
naITative, they cannot be seen in isolation from the many factors that affected and interfered
with the successful upkeep ofthe nation's non-belligerency.
HISTORIANS AND THE NETHERLANDS IN THE GREAT WAR
Before we tum to the story of the anned forces and Dutch neutrality during the
Great War, it is fitting to first ask why, given that the First World War was such a seminal
world event and presented a significant episode for the evolution of Dutch neutrality policy,
historiography on the subj ect of the Netherlands in the Great War has been relatively scant,
at least until recently. 5 It seems that Dutch inattention to the conflict stems more from
events that rocked Europe between 1939 and 1945 than from those occurring between 1914
5 See: the section "In Smit's Wake", pp.21 - 29.