The Dutch are primarily of Germanic stock with some Gallo-Celtic mixture. Their small homeland often has been threatened with destruction by the North Sea and has often been invaded by the great European powers.Julius Caesar found the region which is now the Netherlands colonised by Germanic tribes in the first century B.C. The western portion was colonised by the Batavians and became part of a Roman province; the eastern portion was colonised by the Frisians. Between the fourth and eighth centuries A.D., most of both portions were conquered by the Franks. The area later passed into the hands of the House of Burgundy and the Austrian Habsburgs. Falling under harsh Spanish rule in the 16th century, the Dutch revolted in 1558 under the leadership of Willem of Orange. By virtue of the Union of Utrecht in 1579, the seven northern Dutch provinces became the Republic of the United Netherlands.

The Netherlands proclaimed neutrality at the start of both world wars. Although it escaped occupation in World War I, German troops overran the nation in May 1940. Queen Wilhelmina fled to London and accomplished a government-in-exile. Shortly after the Netherlands was liberated in May 1945, the Queen returned. Crown Princess Juliana acceded to the throne in 1948 upon her mother's abdication. In April 1980, Queen Juliana abdicated in favor of her daughter, now Queen Beatrix. Crown Prince Willem Alexander was born in 1967. Elements of the Netherlands' once far-flung empire were granted either full freedom or nearly complete autonomy after World War II. Indonesia formally gained its freedom in 1949, and Suriname became independent in 1975. The five islands of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are integral parts of the Netherlands realm but enjoy a large degree of autonomy.