Acta Historiae Neerlandicae IX, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1976 Studies on the History of the Netherlands

In the Survey of Recent Historical Works, which according to custom concludes this IXth volume of the Acta, is a notice of the recent 'Report of the Dutch research, with suggestions for future development'. Such a report could easily be classified as an attempt to bring pressure to bear on financial resources for support of a somewhat neglected branch of scientific effort, indeed as a symptom of the current disease of notatitis. A recent special issue 'Regeren door notas', of the periodical Beleid and Maatschappij, March-April 1976, discusses this severe Dutch epidemic of official note-writing, for any purpose, on any matter, at any time, by any sort of official committee to any sort of official body. But even if such were the only reason for the production of this Report, which indeed it is not, the Report will stand on its own feet, as significant and of consequence. In general, however, this Report makes sad reading. It would seem that Dutch historical research and historiography lags far behind comparable foreign developments. There are said to be immense gaps in knowledge of and insight into virtually all fields of the Dutch past and moreover a total lack of modem sophistication. Inevitably, currently fashionable techniques such as programming, co-ordination, and teamwork are suggested as desirable, and a preference is expressed for the currently highly regarded socio-historical approach.

Political and Religious Ideas of Netherlanders at the Court in Prague.- The Southern Netherlands and the Foundation of the Dutch East and West India Companies.- The Organization and Effects of Flemish Privateering in the Seventeenth Century.- Social Mobility under the Regents of the Republic.- The Attitude of the Roman Curia to the French Revolution and its Opposite Effects in the Southern and Northern Netherlands.- A Study of Wealth and Income in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.- The Role of Small Countries in the International Politics of the 1860s: The Netherlands and Belgium in Europe.- The Position of the Jews during the German Occupation of the Netherlands: Some Observations.- Survey of Recent Historical Works on Belgium and the Netherlands Published in Dutch.