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

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worsening relations with Germany, their closest neighbour and strongest economic link. In
the careful balance of power wrought in the late nineteenth century, obvious allies were few
and far between.
Map 2: The Netherlands, 1914
Marking major railway lines, towns and fortified positions (large grey lines)
Neutrality, furthemlore, made extremely good business sense. Over the ages, the
Netherlands developed as a commercial mediator within and outside Europe. Economically,
it relied heavily on seabome trade. In 1914, for example, the Dutch merchant marine was
larger than that of the French, Italians or Spanish. Their merchants were able to capitalise
on the country's favourable geographic placement, giving easy access to the seas and useful
river routes into Europe. They relied on peaceful conditions so that distribution of their