Netherlands in World War I

War conditions disrupted the Netherlands' food imports and caused shortages. From 3 July 1917, authorities in Amsterdam held back the potato supply until there was enough to feed the whole city. This led to a large riot and looting of stores and markets. Rioters broke into warehouses and took potatoes intended to be exported to England.

Two thousand soldiers were called in to break up the riot but were repelled by the rioters. Another clash took place in the city of Kattenberg where three groups of workmen, one from the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland, protested the lack of food for manual laborers. They also demanded that they receive actual food and not promissory papers.[11]

Monument commemorating the dead fishermen of Scheveningen

At the beginning of the war the German army marched near the Dutch–Belgian border in the province of Limburg. For a stretch of 500 metres (550 yd) between border markers 42 and 43, the road was half Belgian and half Dutch territory. Dutch border guards made clear which part of the road was Dutch territory, and as a consequence, the German army avoided it on their westward march. Despite this, the Dutch were falsely accused by Belgian and French newspapers at the time of supporting the German invasion of Belgium.[14]

Dutch sailors suffered from war-related incidents and neutrality violations. Several ships were torpedoed by German U-boats or sunk by British sea mines. The fishing town of Scheveningen lost 300 fishermen. In total, 862 fishermen died and 175 fishing boats were sunk. Some sea mines washed ashore and killed civilians or military specialists tasked with disarming the sea mines.[15] In order to protect merchant ships, the Netherlands negotiated a free channel from the coast via the Dogger Bank to the North Sea with Germany.

Both Allied and German military aircraft violated Dutch airspace. On several occasions, lost British and German pilots dropped bombs on Dutch towns. The worst incident occurred on 30 April 1917, when a lost British pilot of the Royal Naval Air Service mistakenly dropped eight bombs on the town of Zierikzee, damaging several houses and killing a family of three. After initially denying the incident, the British government apologized and agreed to compensate the Dutch for damage and loss of life.[16] A total of 107 airplanes and 24 seaplanes landed in the Netherlands, and 220 crewmen were taken prisoner. Of the crashed planes, 67 were repaired and added to the army's air department.[17]

German Zeppelins on bombing raids against England frequently violated Dutch airspace due to weather conditions such as wind or fog. It is unclear whether Dutch fire was responsible for the downing of the Zeppelin LZ 54. It came down in the sea and led to the King Stephen incident when British sailors let the German crew drown.

Due to its geographical significance and its international connections, the Netherlands became a hotbed of espionage.[18] The country's neutrality allowed citizens of belligerent countries to travel freely to or from the Netherlands. Most spy agencies had operatives in the country. MI6 had a station in Rotterdam under the command of Richard B. Tinsley. It handled several important spy networks in Belgium, such as La Dame Blanche. These networks provided the Allies with intelligence concerning German troops behind the Western Front. The German secret services also used Rotterdam as a base for espionage in Britain. From Rotterdam, spies were sent by ferry to spy on the Royal Navy.

Dutch citizens were in demand as spies, as they could travel freely throughout Europe. Some of these spies were executed for espionage. Haicke Janssen and Willem Roos, two unemployed Dutch sailors, were executed in 1915. Exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari, convicted of spying for Germany in France, was executed in 1917. In total seven Dutch citizens were executed by the British, French, and Germans. Many more were imprisoned.[19]

Some Dutchmen volunteered for service in the French, British, German or Austro-Hungarian armies, but exact numbers are unknown. The German army did not accept foreign volunteers unless they possessed German nationality; they were often directed to allied armies such as the Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian or Ottoman. Some immigrants from the Netherlands to Canada, and a few who lived in the United States, served with various Canadian regiments of the British Expeditionary Force. About 80 of those who served have been identified through the personnel records of the First World War held at Library and Archives Canada.[22]

Commemorative monument to interned Belgian POWs

According to international law, soldiers of the warring nations who entered a neutral country were to be interned for the duration of the war. Of the soldiers who entered the Netherlands, on purpose or by mistake, 33,105 were Belgian, 1,751 British, 1,461 German, eight French, and four American. Among these prisoners were pilots who had flown into Dutch airspace and crashed.[23]

The majority of Belgian and British internees had fled to the Netherlands after the fall of Antwerp in 1914. Belgian prisoners were held captive in a camp in Amersfoort. The camp initially had a very strict regime, but after a revolt that resulted in the death of seven Belgians, the rules softened. As the prisoners would not be released until the end of the war, their wives and children often sought accommodation in the vicinity.

Most British prisoners of war were members of the 1st Royal Naval Brigade. They were interned in Groningen, where they were held captive under a mild regime, which allowed for trips into the city. Some British soldiers formed a cabaret group named The Timbertown Follies, which toured throughout the country. The proceeds were donated to charities.

Many German soldiers entered the Netherlands by mistake. This occurred most frequently at the beginning of the war, as the border between the Netherlands and Belgium was confusing. The German prisoner of war camp was at Bergen in the province of North Holland.

Deserters were not considered foreign soldiers when they entered neutral territory if they were unarmed, removed badges from their uniforms, and proclaimed themselves deserters to the proper authorities. Numbers are unknown, but the majority of deserters by far were German. As deserters had no right to free accommodation or food, some of them were voluntarily interned in POW camps.