The Netherlands, as a nation state, dates to 1568, when the Dutch Revolt created the Dutch Empire. Previously, the Germanic tribes had no written language during the ancient and early medieval periods, so what we know about their early military history comes from accounts written in Latin and from archaeology. This causes significant gaps in the historic timeline. Germanic wars against the Romans are fairly well documented from the Roman perspective; however, Germanic wars against the early Celts remain mysterious because neither side recorded the events. Wars between the Germanic tribes in Northern Belgium and the present day Netherlands, and various Celtic tribes that bordered their lands, are likely due to their geographical proximity.
Belgium, a country with a Dutch-speaking majority, became an independent state in 1830 when it seceded from the Netherlands. Despite the contemporary political boundaries, they share much of the same military history.
Ancient times
Germanic tribes are thought to have originated during the Nordic Bronze Age in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. The tribes spread south, possibly motivated by the deteriorating climate of that area. They crossed the River Elbe, most likely overrunning territories formerly occupied by Celtic people. In the East, other tribes, such as Goths, Rugians and Vandals, settled along the shores of the Baltic Sea pushing southward and eventually settling as far away as Ukraine. The Angles and Saxons migrated to England. The Germanic peoples often had unsettled relationships with their neighbours and each other, leading to a period of over two millennia of military conflict over various territorial, religious, ideological and economic issues.
Germanic tribes often fought both against and for the Roman Empire. On Christmas Day 406, with the freezing of the Rhine, Franks, Allemanni, Burgundians, Suebi and Vandals crossed the Rhine from present day Germany into Gaul. The Franks later expelled the Goths from Aquitaine and absorbed the Burgundians. They were later to give their name to modern France. In 455, under the leadership of their King Gaiseric, the Vandals seized Rome, plundering it for 15 days (and henceforth giving their name to wanton destruction). From 772 to 814, the Frankish King Charlemagne held the Carolingian Empire, an empire which contained nearly all of the following modern day countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France (except Brittany), Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy north from below Rome, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and parts of Spain (northeast), Czech Republic (west), Hungary (west) and Croatia (northwest).
The Batavi The Batavi (Batavians) were a Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area which is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side" (Tacitus, Histories iv). This led to the Latin name of Batavia for the area. The same name is used for several military units, originally raised among the Batavi.
They were mentioned by Julius Caesar in his commentary Gallic Wars as living on an island formed by the Meuse River after it is joined by the Waal, 80 Roman miles from the mouth of the river. He said there were many other islands formed by branches of the Rhine, inhabited by a "savage, barbarous nation", some of whom were supposed to live on fish and the eggs of sea-fowl.
Tacitus named the Mattiaci as a similar tribe under homage, but on the other side of the Rhine. The areas inhabited by the Batavians were never occupied by the Romans, as the Batavians were allies.
The Batavians incorrectly became regarded as the sole and eponymous ancestors of the Dutch people. The Netherlands were briefly known as the Batavian Republic. Moreover, during the time Indonesia was a Dutch colony (the Dutch East Indies), the capital (now Jakarta) was named Batavia. If the ancestry of most native Dutch people were traced back to Germanic tribes, most would lead to the Franks, Frisians and Saxons. Dutch is in fact a Low Frankish language, and is the only language (together with Afrikaans, which descends from Dutch itself) to be a direct descendant of Old Frankish, the language of the Franks.
Military units of the Batavi
Later, Tacitus described the Batavians as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic border wars, with cohorts under their own noble commanders transferred to Britannia. He said they retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: "They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms", Tacitus remarked. They were well regarded for their skills in horsemanship and swimming, for their men and horses could cross the Rhine without losing formation, according to Tacitus. Dio Cassius describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius against the "barbarians" — the British Celts — at the battle of the River Medway, 43:
The barbarians thought that Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge, and consequently bivouacked in rather careless fashion on the opposite bank; but he sent across a detachment of Batavians, who were accustomed to swim easily in full armour across the most turbulent streams. [...] Thence the Britons retired to the river Thames at a point near where it empties into the ocean and at flood-tide forms a lake. This they easily crossed because they knew where the firm ground and the easy passages in this region were to be found; but the Romans in attempting to follow them were not so successful. However, the Batavians swam across again and some others got over by a bridge a little way up-stream, after which they assailed the barbarians from several sides at once and cut down many of them. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 60:20)
The Batavians also provided a contingent for the Emperor's Imperial Horse Guard.
The Batavian legacy Numerous altars and tombstones of the Batavi, dating to the 2nd century and 3rd century, have been found along Hadrian's Wall (notably at Castlecary and Carrawburgh), and in Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Austria. After the 3rd century, however, the Batavians are no longer mentioned, and they are assumed to have merged with the neighbouring Frisian and Frankish people.
The Romans
Until the Franks defeated and pushed them back the Romans established two provinces in the area of the present-day Belgium and a part of the Netherlands. Both were outposts, especially above the Meuse and apart from a few Roman legions sent there to protect the Empires borders, the Roman presence was limited. The provinces were called Gallia Belgica named after the Belgae, a group of Celtic tribes conquered by the Romans, and Germania Inferior (inferior meaning 'low' in Latin, and Germania referring to the area occupied by the Germanic tribes).
During the Revolt of the Batavi, which took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD, the rebels led by Civilis managed to destroy four legions and inflict humiliating defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis eventually defeated them. Following peace talks, the situation was normalized, but Batavia had to cope with humiliating conditions and a legion stationed permanently within her lands.
The Franks The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations. The confederation was formed out of Germanic tribes: Salians, Sugambri, Chamavi, Tencteri, Chattuarii, Bructeri, Usipetes, Ampsivarii, Chatti. They entered the late Roman Empire from the present day Netherlands and northern Germany and conquered northern Gaul where they were accepted as a foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia, Rhineland, Hesse) and the whole of the Low Countries, forming the historic kernel of the two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity of the pagan Frankish king Clovis was a crucial event in the history of Europe. Like the French and Germans, the Dutch also claim the military history of the Franks as their own.
Battle of Soissons (486) The Franks under Clovis I defeat the last Roman army in Gaul.
Battle of Tolbiac (496) The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Alamanni tribe.
Battle of Vouillé (507) The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Visigoths under Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain. (As a result of these victories, the domains of Clovis quadruple)
Battle of Tours (732) One of the most celebrated victories in Western history, the Franks under Charles 'the Hammer' Martel defeated a large Islamic invading force. Historians have debated whether it had the enormous significance that is often claimed, but it was nonetheless a huge symbolic victory .
Battle of Pavia (773) The Franks under Charlemagne defeat the Lombards, led by the Frankish king Desiderius, in Italy.
Saxon Campaigns (773-804) The Franks under Charlemagne repeatedly subdue over three decades of Saxon insurrections.
Siege of Paris (885-886) With 200 men defending Paris, the Western Franks manage to halt and, when outside help arrived, defeat a Viking invasion force of 30,000.
The Frankish Empire (481–843) The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. From 751, under the Carolingian dynasty, it is known as the Carolingian Empire. After the Treaty of Verdun of 843 it was split into East, West and Middle Francia. East Francia gave rise to the Holy Roman Empire with Otto I the Great in 962.
Since the term "Empire" properly applies only to times after the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, and since the unified kingdom was repeatedly split and re-united, most historians prefer to use the term Frankish Kingdoms or Frankish Realm to refer to the entirety of Frankish rule from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Holy Roman Empire (843–1648) The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence, however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other; first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
The Holy Roman Empire was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe and Western Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Emerging from the eastern part of the Frankish Empire after its division in the Treaty of Verdun (843), it lasted almost a millennium until its dissolution in 1806. By the 18th century, it still consisted of the larger part of modern Germany, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as large parts of modern Poland and small parts of the Netherlands and Croatia. Previously, it had included all of the Netherlands and Switzerland, parts of modern France and Italy. By the middle of the 18th century, the empire had been greatly reduced in power.
Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)