Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Netherlands, commonly referred to as Holland, was a nation situated on the European continent, founded on October 24th, 2020. At its peak, it encompassed the modern day countries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of England, and Wales. It bordered France to the south (until France was dissolved) and Hoeland to the east. The Netherlands was the biggest European country in terms of population, with fourteen members. Thus, it would be one of the leading nations on the server up until its dissolution. The Netherlands went through multiple stages, primarily in terms of its government. It was founded as a republic called the United Provinces of the Netherlands, which had undergone the struggles associated with a newly founded nation. The republican government then collapsed during Multi's Revolt, and a dictatorship would be established, referred to as the Dutch Provisional Government. Under the Provisional Government, the Netherlands distanced from relative isolationism and participated in worldwide conflicts, including the Indonesian War and the Antarctic War. A permanent government was later established again, as a national constitution laid out the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Eventually, the Netherlands would be dissolved on January 10th, being a founding state of the Roman Republic. It was one of the only nations not to be fully revived following the Collapse of Rome.

Founding as the United Provinces
In preparation for the next Earth map, several players of the server — including AbolishSuburbs, agnius06, bonito_pibb, Multi, and Skali — banded together to form a nation in western Europe, then known simply as Holland. A roadmap for the nation was discussed among them, which involved a basic city plan for the capital city; additionally, discourse regarding the system of government to be put in place were had. Eventually, members of Holland agreed to form a federal government called the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The federal government was to be headed by Skali, a position akin to an autocrat; a council, called the High Council, was to be underneath the leader.

The United Provinces of the Netherlands was proclaimed the day before the world began, October 23rd. The world began a day later on October 24th, with the Netherlands being founded along with many other nations. The first city of the world, The Hague, was founded by Skali, and construction on the capital, Amsterdam, would begin shortly thereafter. Members of the Netherlands made swift efforts to obtain superior gear. Due to rapid progress made by Hollanders, as well as the fact that many veteran players were in the nation, many of those outside of the nation considered the Netherlands to be the then leading nation in the game.

The Netherlands quickly took on this mantle in regards to international affairs, harassing their southern neighbor France due to a border dispute regarding the city of Pandsburg and dealing with terrorists such as Fiyu and Sazo's Bigmanland. The nation also contributed heavily to the collapse of the Vincentarian Federation of Mappercraft Colonies through constant mockery, as well as several occupations of its capital New Fragolia.

Provisional Government and the Coalition Wars
Despite being a major power on the world stage, the Netherlands was unstable domestically, especially in its early days. Internal instability culminated, when Multi would rebel in what would be known as Multi's Revolt. The revolt would eventually escalated into an overall civil war, which led to the destruction of most of Amsterdam. In the midst of the chaos, agnius06 seized control of the Dutch government and declared himself Dictator. He and his supports eventually forced Multi to surrender, and he would subsequently kicked out the nation and exiled.

After crushing the rebellion, agnius06 would reinstate the Dutch High Council and resigned himself as Dictator. A day later, Skali seized power, declared himself as King of the Netherlands (with agnius06 as second-in-command), and instated the Dutch Provisional Government. As King, Skali made repairing the nation his first priority; he let Multi back in under certain conditions, removed all previous government positions, and oversaw a project to restore Amsterdam to its previous state.

The Netherlands were alarmed about the rise of Indonesia, an aggressor nation that had destroyed the United Territories of Northern Europe three days prior in the Indonesian-Northern European War and had threatened several other nations. Instead of waiting to find out which nation Indonesia would declare war on next, the Netherlands took the initiative and declared war on Indonesia on November 17th, in what would be the Indonesian War. Among a growing coalition of nations, the Netherlands helped destroy all of Indonesia's settlements. The next day, before Indonesia could capitulate, most of the nation's members were temporarily banned by staff; this ensured the Netherlands and the rest of the coalition a victory in the war. In the peace treaty, known as the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Netherlands would acquire the Indonesian territories of Sulawesi and England and would incorporate as colonies. After the Indonesian War and the controversial destruction of the Slavic Empire in the Slavic-Egyptian War, the Netherlands was generally considered the only major power left in Europe.

The former members of Indonesia returned to the server in early December, founding the nation of Antarctica and continuing to act aggressively. When the Netherlands noticed this, the nation took the initiative once again and led another coalition against Antarctica,, in what would be called the Antarctic War. The coalition ultimately destroyed Antarctica and forced the nation to the surrender. In the peace treaty, the territory of Antarctica was annexed by the Netherlands, similar to their previous annexation of former Indonesian territories.

Even though the Netherlands eventually won out in the Antarctic War, their nation was left in shambles; Amsterdam was heavily griefed, with other cities also being affected. Unlike the last time the Netherlands was majorly griefed, the nation would take a while to return to its previous state.

Introduction of Democracy
After around one and a half months of the Dutch Provisional Government, a discussion concerning a transition to democracy was being had among the citizens of the Netherlands. The provisional leadership eventually caved in; the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be written, outlining a constitution monarchy with an Parliament, an elected Prime Minister, and a new position of King. On December 25th, the Dutch General Election was held. Three candidates vied for the position of Prime Minister: Liberal Party candidate bonito_pibb, Stability Party candidate agnius06, and Centrist Party candidate mradper. The next day, bonito_pibb was declared the winner, winning the majority of seats and the popular vote.

After winning the election, Prime Minister Pibb appointed AbolishSuburbs as Deputy Prime Minister, agnius06 as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Matti as Minister of Stockpile, and mradper as Minister of the Treasury. The Prime Minister's cabinet would begin enact a policy defined by government welfare, public farms, and other state-provided amenities.

In late December, three Netherlanders — agnius06, JaymeCoolSocks, and StanFlash — founded WASA (the Welsh Aeronautics and Space Administration), a project dedicated to researching flight via accelerated minecarts. AbolishSuburbs later joined in on the project as well, and the four would construct a sky railroad across Wales and England to conduct experiments. During the evening of December 29th, in what would become the Wales Incident, King Skali caught onto WASA's operations when he saw the massive railroad floating over Great Britain. Perplexed by this, Skali brought an international team of people to demolish the railroad; however, the four participants in WASA would retaliate, and they would try to oppose their actions by fighting back and attempting to make Wales an independent nation. Tensions escalated to the point where Skali and his team began griefing Wales itself, a move that was considered controversial by some. A deal on part of the Dutch government with the Welsh and their supporters was attempted, but the latter party insistently refused. The Welsh and their supporters would go on to raid the Dutch Parliament, and a brawl would break out there that would encroach into the rest of Amsterdam. Due to strong aversion to what the government had been doing, agnius06 left the Netherlands entirely, instead exiling himself in Zhongguo. Tensions ultimately died down, as those who lived in Wales eventually gave up on attaining independence.

Incorporation into the Roman Republic
The Netherlands would be weakened in the aftermath of the Wales Incident. Even though no full-out war occurred, many resources would be exhausted on both sides, the entirety of Wales would be left in ruins, and agnius06, an important figure in the nation, would leave for good. The nation would become a shell of its former self; many members went inactive, and cities like Amsterdam and The Hague would virtually be left abandoned.

On January 10th, bonito_pibb worked with Pussilamous and Mak4Life to form the Roman Republic, and they coerced most other nations in Europe into joining their scheme. The formerly independent Netherlands would be soon integrated into Rome as the province of Belgica. Noticing this (and overall being fed up with leading the Netherlands), Skali officially resigned as King and abolished the position in favor of a new local government. He along with AbolishSuburbs left the Netherlands, and the two would later found the Empire of Naraka. The formation of the Roman Republic would spell the end of the Netherlands as a force on the world stage entirely. The conflict surrounding the Collapse of Rome left the cities in Belgica in more ruin than it had been, with the Dutch Parliament particularly being severely griefed. Following Rome's eventual demise, an alleged war faction, simply called Holland, would be founded in the Netherlands' place by bonito_pibb, which would be promptly disbanded due to its leader apparently illegally griefing Los Lagos. The Netherlands would never be revived beyond this point, as until the end of the world, the nation of Old Pandsburg would occupy Dutch ruins on the European mainland.

Government
The structure of government in the Netherlands changed a few times throughout its existence. One major aspect that stayed consistent, though, was the federal system of government. Below the national government was the provinces, which were each led by a governor. At its peak, the Netherlands had seven provinces: Amsterdam, The Hague, Pandsburg, Wales, Southern England, Northern England, and Sulawesi.

The Dutch government under the United Provinces was a federal republic with an autocratic leader and a legislature underneath the leader called the High Council. The leader, Skali, technically had absolute power over the High Council and the nation as a whole; however, he rarely used it, instead leaving decisions to the High Council and the governors of the provinces.

When the Provisional Government took over, the High Council was abolished, and the previous position of leader was superseded by the position of Dictator, held by agnius06. The Provisional Government later morphed into a diarchy, of which the diarchs were agnius06 and Skali. A chain of command would be also established in case of a war.

After a month and a half of the Provisional Government, the diarchs agreed to end the regime and to establish a democratic constitutional monarchy. The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands outlined the Dutch Parliament and the positions of Prime Minister and King. The Prime Minister was a position that had to be elected via a majority of Dutch citizens. Once elected, the Prime Minister could appoint a cabinet. The Prime Minister and the appointed cabinet members were the only members of the Parliament, and they could vote on policy for the entire nation; no one else besides the cabinet could participate in the Parliament. The King, Skali, was an absolute ruler who rarely used his power, similar to previous leadership positions of the Netherlands.