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

- Chapter 1
A Nation Too Small to
Commit Great Stupidities: 1
The Netherlands and Neutrality,
1813 1918
It was as if it was self-evident that nobody would busy
themselves with the Netherlands
H. T. Colellbralldel' (1920)2
The essence of neutrality is the avoidance of war: namely, the avoidance of being
involved in the wars of others. But despite its deceptively simple definition, neutrality is not
a homogeneous concept. It has changed meanings over the centuries, reflecting the concerns
of states adopting it as their foreign policy and those desiring to challenge its validity.
Neutrality has a long history going back as far as the sixth century B.C.E. when Milesians
abstained from supporting either Ionian Greece or Persia. 3 During the Middle Ages, it was
COlmnon practice for warring parties to refrain from sinking ships of countries not involved
in the conflict. 4 In the fifteenth century, neutrality became a vaguely defined quasi-legal
tenn referring to nations that opted out of a particular war. Neutrals at that time could
profess partiality to one or other side and could supply it with all manner of materials,
including military goods. 5 Neither contraband regulation nor impartiality were widely
followed, although neutral ships were protected from privateering. 6 Napoleon's disregard
I H. A. Lorentz, Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize winner, late nineteenth century, in Vandenbosch, Dutch Foreign
Policy p. xii (also in Vandenbosch, "The small states in intemational politics" p. 303).
2 "Het was alsofhet vanzelf sprak, dat niemand Nederland moeien zou" (in H. T. Colenbrander, "De intemationale
positie van Nederland tijdens, v66r en na den wereldoorlog" [The intemational position of the Netherlands during,
before and after the world war] in Brugmans (ed.), Nederland in den oorlogstijd p. 103).
3 Raymond, "Neutrality Norms" p. 123.
4 Comelis Boudewijn Wels, Aloofiless & Neutrality. Studies on Dutch Foreign Relations and Policy-Making
Institutions. Utrecht: Hes Publishers, 1982, p. 19.
5 Orvik, The Decline of Neutrality pp. 11 - 12.
6 Alfred P. Rubin, "The concept of neutrality in intemationallaw" in Leonhard et. al. (eds.), Neutrality. Changing
Concepts pp. 16 - 17.