THE CITIZEN ARMY OF HOLLAND 



615 



Several times the government of the 

 Republic was called upon to fulfill the 

 stipulations of some ancient treaty of 

 alliance and to provide her friends with 

 a certain number of ships and a few thou- 

 sand men. Instead of sending ships, the 

 Dutch Government produced an unlimited 

 checkbook, made some sort of humiliat- 

 ing compromise, and bought herself out 

 of all honorable engagements. 



When the Dey of Algeria captured 

 Dutch ships trading in the Mediterra- 

 nean, he was offered an annual bribe if 

 he would desist from bothering Dutch 

 commerce. When British privateers 

 burned Dutch fishing smacks off the coast 

 of Zeeland, the people rushed into print 

 and denounced the wicked Englishmen. 

 But nobody thought of fighting these 

 enemies as their fathers had done. 



It was a sad story. The less we say 

 about it the better. The reward for this 

 policy of indifference and cowardice came 

 in the year 1795. In less than a week the 

 entire Dutch Republic of mighty memory 

 fell into the hands of the French revolu- 

 tionary hordes. Holland in the sixteenth 

 century had been a large business house 

 defended by a mighty fleet. In the eigh- 

 teenth century it became an opulent sav- 

 ings bank, which refused to provide for 

 a new door and new shutters because "it 

 would cost too much." The French 

 revolutionary soldiers, soon followed by 

 Napoleon the First, pushed their way into 

 the treasure-house of this feeble Com- 

 monwealth, declared it to be part of the 

 French Empire, removed everything of 

 any value, and after twenty years of sys- 

 tematic pillaging they turned the erst- 

 while powerful Republic into a geograph- 

 ical idea, without men, without money, 

 without hope, and without courage. 



When finally, on the nineteenth of Oc- 

 tober, 181 3, old Blucher, cursing and 

 swearing at the Corsican usurper, forced 

 his way into the city of Leipzig and 

 turned the French defeat into a rout, 

 there were not more than a dozen men in 

 the former Republic willing to risk their 

 lives for the liberty of their country. It 

 is a matter of record that during the first 

 week after the flight of the French troops 

 from Holland the regular Dutch army 

 did not count more than 651 men. 



From that moment, however, there was 

 a steady improvement. The Kingdom of 

 the Netherlands was formed, under the 

 leadership of the old House of Orange. 

 Every man capable of bearing arms was 

 drafted into the national defenses, and 

 much of the ultimate success of the battle 

 of Waterloo was due to the Dutch forces 

 at Quatre Bras, who engaged the su- 

 perior advance guard of Marshal Ney 

 until the Duke of Wellington had put his 

 army into battle array. 



EVERY BOY IS TRAINED TO DEFEND HIS 

 COUNTRY 



From the year 1815 on, every boy of 

 nineteen in the Kingdom has been obliged 

 to prepare for military service. It is not 

 desirable to give the exact number of 

 soldiers in the army which has been mo- 

 bilized since July of the year 1914. But 

 in a general way we can state that every 

 male being in the country who is of good 

 physical condition and who can walk with 

 a gun across his shoulder has in some 

 direct or indirect fashion given part of 

 his time and his services for the benefit 

 of his country. The old law, which made 

 an exception for only sons, was rescinded 

 several years ago. The Napoleonic sys- 

 tem, which allowed rich young men to 

 buy themselves out of the army, has been 

 abolished. The army is now a democratic 

 school, in which classes are thrown to- 

 gether for one common purpose. 



Every young man who has reached the 

 age of 19 years appears at his special gar- 

 rison. For a full year he is instructed 

 in the rudimentary principles of a sol- 

 dier's trade. If he cares to enter the spe- 

 cial service of artillery, aircraft, or sub- 

 marine work, he will have to spend one 

 or two years more. In that case, how- 

 ever, he learns a useful trade which will 

 help his chances in his future work. 



When he has been taught his business 

 he goes back into private life. Except 

 for a short annual maneuver, he has noth- 

 ing further to do with the military system 

 until a sudden emergency shall call him 

 back to the colors. 



THE NORTH SEA IS HER BEST AEEY 



Holland can hope to accomplish great 

 things with comparatively weak forces, 



