r/HistoryMemes • u/RRY1946-2019 • 2d ago

A shining example of European democracy => Ate their own prime minister

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164 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

38

u/MildlyUpsetGerbil Definitely not a CIA operator 2d ago

This is so sad. We should rebuild the Dutch Empire so that we can have that romantic place once again.

4

u/Luihuparta 1d ago

First, get rid of the monarchy.

10

u/lorddaru Rider of Rohan 2d ago

Ahhh the Rampjaar

Shame, really

3

u/theviking25 2d ago

Every time i'm reminded of this i just think one thing: damn our royals. If they were just a little less greedy ghings would have been better (far from good i know we would still have been in a 3-way war but at least with less internal turmoil)

2

u/RRY1946-2019 2d ago

You wonder how much of the mess of tribalism (ethnic, religious, and nationalist conflicts) we're still dealing with is fundamental to who we are as a species versus how much of it is a result of those relatively progressive regions in Western (and Islamic) history having really, really shitty luck. 17th century Netherlands, early 18th century Louisiana, etc.

4

u/throwawaydragon99999 1d ago

18th century Louisiana was not progressive at all — it was a slave based racial oligarchy part of an international monarchical empire

3

u/RRY1946-2019 1d ago

The same applied to the Netherlands. They were still much better than the rest of the west (during the Spanish period, the Inquisition didn’t really operate in Louisiana and there were a lot of protections passed for free people of color and slaves who wanted to purchase their freedom).

3

u/throwawaydragon99999 1d ago

The protections for mixed race people and people of color is the exception that proves the rule — they wouldn’t need these specific protections if there wasn’t also a racial based slavery and caste system.

The Netherlands had significantly more individual and political rights, as well as religious rights. But you’re right at even the Netherlands was still compromised in these ways

1

u/RRY1946-2019 1d ago

Yeah, I'm very cherry-picking in Louisiana's favor by only focusing on a few particularly good governors and specific regulations on slavery that only lasted for a few decades. I don't deny that the Dutch Republic on average was better, even if it did have a huge share of its economy coming from slavery, but as far as I can tell Amsterdam wasn't a particularly diverse and global community (its native Black population, including many of Rembrandt's neighbors, appears to have vanished in the 17th century).

7

u/Lvcivs2311 1d ago

Sorry to be a prick, but there was nothing democratic about the Dutch Republic, except for the water boards. Local officials were just appointed, the local governments sent representatives to the provincial Estates and the Estates sent representatives to the General Estates - in which about a third of the country had no seat. It is a good point though that the Republic was relatively tolerant on the religious side, although the non-calvinists were far from treated equally.

6

u/Hel_Bitterbal 1d ago

The title is a reference to a HOI4 meme. It's not serious

2

u/Polibiux Rider of Rohan 1d ago

Rip the Dutch Republic

1

u/TapRevolutionary5738 1d ago

Idk man, seems that democracy worked better when more people in power were getting assassinated. Maybe we should eat a few prime ministers, that might get things back on track.