Not a country

Holland is not a country. The Netherlands has 12 provinces, which include Noord-Holland and Suid-Holland, which together make up the fictional entity of Holland. tripsavvy.com sums it up concisely:

Why are the terms Holland and The Netherlands used interchangeably for the country? Actually now they aren't. In 2019 the Dutch Culture Ministry decided that, from January 2020, 'Holland' would no longer be used as part of the country's 'branding'. The message hasn't quite got through to the official travel organisation, whose website is (still) holland.com and includes a 'Holland Stories' section.

I'm not quite sure why they think that Holland is not an appropriate brand name, although if the world traditionally referred to England as 'Yorkshire', I might also think a re-brand is in order. It could just be that the residents of the other 10 provinces have had enough of stuck-up Holland ruling the roost.

The Kingdom of The Netherlands was a proud maritime nation in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Dutch under the leadership of William of Orange decided in 1568 that they had had enough of the rule of the Hapsburgs led by Philip II of Spain. Thus began the Eighty Years War which, to 21st century minds, seems like a lack of an exit strategy on both sides. In 1581 the Dutch declared their independence from Spain and the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Holland was one of the seven provinces) was established. It took until 1648 (yes, you've got it, 80 years later) for the Spanish to recognise the Netherlands as an independent country, which seems like an extreme of stubbornness.

The Dutch, far from being complacent after winning - if that's the right word for an eighty year war - their fight, four years later declared war against England. You could accuse them of simply being bored but the battle of these two maritime nations for control of the seas and ultimate colonisation was probably inevitable. Samuel Pepys, in his diary, had a great deal to say about this conflict from his position as Surveyor-General of victualling for naval ships. The war went on, with a couple of brief time-outs for drinks, for 22 years, with both nations determined to be the dominant power of the world's oceans.

A century of peace then ensued for the Dutch people. The price for this was arguably an acceptance that they couldn't compete with the British Empire; after all, their ships couldn't get out into the  Atlantic Ocean without running up against the British Royal Navy. In 1795 the French invaded and Napoleon made his brother, Louis, King of the Netherlands. The Netherlands included Belgium from 1815 (after the final defeat of Napoleon) until 1835 when Belgium seceded. You'd perhaps accuse them of a short attention span.

By now you'll be itching to know the most famous people born in Holland. Van Gogh doesn't qualify - he was born in Zundert in the province of North Brabant. Rembrandt was born in Leiden, in the province of South Holland.✅ Johan Cruyff - Amsterdam, North Holland.✅⚽

Holland, you will not be forgotten.