Reuss, M.

Open Marine Archive

Introduction to the Special issue on Water
Management, Communities, and Environment
l/Jis volume IJe/jH redres.l" ,be exisl/llg IJ/fIS iJl 'west-rÎoic' histo";ogmpby in ftl/IOllr
ofurblll1 mul imlitllrioJltl! hiJt01Y Ir dirfCfs the rt.'Jidt,}' ro tlu' sigll~fic({JI/ fedt/-
matioll e./forts rbat tmnsförmed rhe lands hordaiug flit! NortIJ Se", t'JJll'citll6'
tiJe Lou., Countries, in rhe medicI"T!muf eI1r~y moderne/YIJ. This trandorlnlltioJl
U'IIS bath el'onomil' anti ec%gical. wiJl, Jometi!lles IIllilltl'fu/ed ('lIvjronf}le11ltll
f01lJeqlffIJCeS, lZ,e 'post-modern' hütoriogmphy evident in Ibis 11o/U1JIe l'mp/o..ys
}}Jany ofthe y/1}/(' soltrees tllt!t ff11'fier bisrori/lflS wui. bilt tlsks neu' fjuf'J"tirms
mulapp/ies diJf~'r('1Jt mMo/tien! approl1dJl's. All ,be eSJ,~yisrs SJ,Olll riJnt ,har WIlS
J/()thillg juet/it,(blC' (l!JOlit Dureh /muf rec!mllrltioll (lIJd u'/lIt" manageml'1l1.
Martin Reuss, PhD
Senior Historian, Water Resources (Retlred)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Washington, OC)
e-mail: Martreuss@aol.com
Linie in [he namral hismry of rhe Low Counrries is nor somehow relared to
the Norrh Sea. The sea itselfis a recent geological creation. Ten thousand years
ago, the southern part of the North Sea was a marshy plain inhabited by deer,
elk, and Srone Age 11lInters. Ulltil appraximately 6,000 B.C., England was an
appendage atmched to mainland Europc. Meltillg glaciers slowly raised the
water level, hawever, sa tlut by 3,000 B.C. the NartI, Sea had reached levels
close ra what we have raday. Thc young sea, turbulent and rising, anacked
the coastline, freqllently changing the shape af bath England and the Law
COllntries and constandy threatcning the sparse population. l Sea levels
cominued to Alicruate throughotlt the period of Roman occupation anel [hen
actllally feil in the eady medievalperiad, from the 5th ro 10th centuries. By
that time, the comours of the modern coastline had c1early emerged, but the
sea continued to pose a persistent danger. High tides, cOlllbined with gale-force
wincts, cOldd send water ragillg over rhousands ofhecrares of land.
These envirolllllcntal conditions tested even rhe hardiesr settlers. Pear bogs,
frequent illllndations, and storm surges discolIrageel hUlllan settlement, while
periodically risi Ilg sea levels threatened (anel still rh rea ten) catasrrophe; about
olle-flfth of the Ncrherlands is presently below SC;] level, in some areas by six
meters or more. The region has few woodlanels alld nam ral resources. Given
these obstacles, the abilit)' of meelieval Dutch commulliries anel farmers
ra rransform a farbidding landscape inro productive eropIancIs tcstifles to
remarkable human illgenuiry.
?Unfortunare!y, universiry western civilisarion rextbooks and instructors aften
ignore this large1y agrarian story in f..wor ofa more traditional rale thar focuses
on the rise of the Netherl.nds as. gre.t tr.ding .nd cultur.1 center. Relatively
linie attel1tion is given to the concurrent story of how Durch farmers and
villages reclaillled large amOllnts of land, diversified crops, and i lllproved
animal hllsbandry, ofhaw they introduced ncw rechnology and experilllented
with variolIs management schemes ra control the water and resto re the land.
In the early 17th century, 1TI1Ich of this happened wirh a distinctive, and not
ahvays happy, cu\rural blend afCalvinislll and nationalisrn. As cities emerged,
urban entrepreneurs, some with decided ger-rich-quick menralities. slIpplied
the financial muscle far land reclamarion-and reaped much of rhe dividends.
The subseqllcnr improvemcnts in agriculrure and increascd farmland provided
food for the grawing lIrban centers and decreased DlItch dependence on
impons. They helped rhe DlItch become one of the dominant economic
powers af the 17th century.
This volume he1ps redress the bias in favor of lIrban and instirutional history
in traditional DlItch hisroriography. Ir direcrs rhe reader ro the significant
reclamation effores th at transfornled rhe lands bordering rhe Norrh Sea,
especially the Low COllntries, in the medieval and early modern eras. This
transformation was both economic and ecological, wirh sometimes unintcllded
environmcnral consequences. All rhe allthors in rh is baak are direcrly or
indirecrly indebted ra Hendrik van der Linden, whose pioneering work in the
mid-20rh century belied earl ier asslImprions rhar physieal condirions in the
Nerherl.nds h.d lirde ch.nged from rhe e.rly to rhe lare Middle Ages. Insre.d,
Van der Linden showed that medieval sertlers had reclaimed a significant
amount afland in the 1Orh and 11 rh centuries and rhar human activities gave
rise to the processes rh at resllited in land sllbsidence-and increased danger
of Rooding. A broad inrerdisciplin.ry effon since ,he 1950s connrmed Van
der Linden's .rgumenr (V.n der Linden 1956; TeBr.ke 2002: 478-479).
The 'post-modern' historiagraphy evident in the follawing pages employs
many of rhe same SOLI rees that earl ier hisrorians lIscd, but asks new qllestions
and applies differenr analytical approaches. Whereas earlier hisrorians lIsed
rhe rieh archivcs of the various polder boards, same dating back ta the 14th
century, ro write institurionai histories of the boards, today historians employ
computers and spreadsheets to examine lisrs of landawners, size and lIse of
separate holdings, duties paid ra water boards, investmenr in polders, land
inllndarion, and technalogical advancesJ among ather sllbjecrs. This work
employs quanritJtive eXJmination and the organisation of a vaSt amount of
data. H isrorians sllch as William H. TeBrake and Petra J.E.M. van Dam led the
effon in deciphering the records, bur a growing l1lilnber ofDurch hisrorians
(and a few from other cOllnrries) are working rogether tO rcveal all agrarian
world more sociaIly and rechnologically dynamic than had once been thollglH
anel ra ponray a 1111anced alld complicated relationship bet\veen hUl11ans allel
nature in the medieval allel early modern periods.~ In the present volume,
Charles Cornelisse illuminares the ecanomics of pear prodllctian anel indusrrial
anel domestic energy lIse. Tim Soens, Alfons fransen, Piet van Cruyningen,
anel co-authors Milja van Tielhof and Petra van Dam eliscllss the way capital
is obtaineel anel employed far warer management, with specific ecological
conseqllences. All the essayists show that there was nothing inevirable abour
Outch land reclamarion and warer managemenr. Nor was the rransformation
of the landscape always beneficial, either co human settlemenr or ra ecolagical
sysrems.
Cencral CO the StofY of DlItch land reclamation is a slIbsrance rhar inhabitanrs
of more arid counrries rarely (hink abollt: peae. Peat restdrs when dead plancs
are so sarurated wirh warer (warerloggecl) thar insufficient exposure [Q oxygen
prevents their natural deca)'. SlIch was the case rhrollghour mllch ofrhe wesrern
half of the Low Counrries in lare prehistoric times, in part the resllir of rhe
post-glacial rise in sea level rhar raised the grollndwater rable anel slawed river
Aows. This watery environment invited the rapid acclll11ulation of peae. By
the rime the Romans arrived same rwo millennia ago, peat bogs exrended
anywhere from 30 ra 80 or more kilometers inland, and they continued
ra grow sa long as precipitation exceeded evaporation. Layer upon layer of
deca)'ed plant life lifted thc land. Thc bags came in all shapes and sizcs-ridges.
dames, or somethillg in-berween. All had raised centers with water draining
out ra rivers thar transectcd or borde,-ed the bags (TeBrake 2002: 479-480).
Early settlers in the lowlanel souglH the driesr parrs af the councryside sllch
as high banks along srreams, and the)' left the bags wild and uninhabited.
However, araunel the 9th cenrury this border between human call1l11uniries
and surrounding wetlands began to give way. The poptdatian was growing and,
wirh it, the Ilecessiry ra find more lands ra cultivare. Thc solutian appeared
obviatls-drain the bogs.
The work was areluous. Same of [he pear bags l11ight have concained as ll1uch
as 90 percent water. The farmers dllg ditches leading from the uppermost part
ofrhe bags inro neighbaring streams. As the water drailled ofF, the groulldwater
table lowered. Onee the rable desccllded a merel' ar so, peat accullluiation
sropped. :lI1d sod emerged thar was capable of being cultÎvared. Ar first rhe
pear probably was viewed as simply all absracle te fanning. Later, the farmers
dug the peat, dried ir, alld t1sed it far fuel. A5 ncw roWIlS expanded in the
coming centuries alld rhe requirement for fLiel increascd, nUlllel"Otls families
CtIf11ed from agriculrure ra pear mining. Thc SUI11 toralof these acrivities
was a significant alteration of the natural environment. The mosr imporranr
resulr was land subsidcllce, which, in rurn, made drainage more difficult and
Acaused grearer damage and more Aooding when srorrns hit the region (TeBrake
2002: 484), The lowered land neeessitated the use of dikes. dams, sluiees.
and, beginning in the 15th century, windmills ra pump the water from Qne
elevation ro anorher. Embanked parcels ofland within which the water level
was regulated were calied polders; they doued the countryside and, along
with the ubiquirous windmills, molded the familiar Dutch landscape, in the
same way that the 18th century Enclosure Acts crearcd (he 'natura!' English
cOllmrysidc, or the Land Ordinance of 1785 in (he United States imposed
a land parrern thar is still discernable from the air. In rhe Nerherlands, these
changes called for new warer allrhoriries, more revenlle, addirional regulations,
and increasingly complicated warer managemem.
British alld U.S. land patterns reslilted from narional legislation, whereas,
somewhat cOllnter-incuitively, early local initiarives, engineering, and
management shaped the land in the much smaller Netherlallds..' Most
contribll[jons in rhis volume suggest (har fact even in rheir rirles. We read
about Holland. Rijnland (twO essays). the Flemish coastal plain, Staats-
Vlaanderen (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen), and the Diemerdijk. The essays are
revealing and complementary and implicitly suggesr the limited role ofcentral
governmcnr (the Srares-General) in shaping thc Durch countryside. Rathe!',
local and regional warer boards rook the lead in responding ra the common
desire tO reclairn land, control warer (including rhe onslaugiHs of the sea),
and advance technological capability. The story is complicated, however. and
Andrew Wareham righrly points out in his essay thar neirher rhe rise nor fall
of water management can be reduced to simple explanations. His analysis
of pre-modern China, the Low COllntries, and the English fens emphasizes
the importance of social organisation, legal dynamics, and culrural bias in
promoting water management activiries. The same factors slll'e1y apply ro
other water institllrions and acriviries arollnd rhe world. Ir is also notewonhy
rhat wherever rechnology finally became toa expensive, engineering more
professional and ratiOI131, or political and legal jurisdicrions roo complex,
centra I govel11ments evenruaIly tame to the aid of local organisers. aften ar
the cast of Împosing new limirs on decentralized aurhoriry. In the case of rhe
Netherlands, rhis process did nor begin umil the early 19rh century, after rhe
creation of rhe Rijkswaterstaat in 1798.
ReAecting on DUfch land rec!amation, anc cannor help but conclude rhar
lIninrended consequences extended to national culture. Whereas the vasrness
of the American Wesr srimulared a quixotic belief in rhe power of land [Q
regenerare and rejuvenate sociery rhrollgh individllal efTores, rhe confining
space of rhe Dutch lowlands produced a society thar looked to cooperarion
and consensus for its survival. Whereas rrans-Mississippi foresrs promised a
prelapsarian paradise ra the first European serrlers and an idealized yeoman
society ro 19th century Americans, Durch peat bogs brought fonh no similar
imagery. At best, they promised human survival if they could be drained and
even some proht from selling peat for fucl. But, as Soens shows in his study of
the Flemish coastal plain, the peasants could not always pay the cost of water
management. They became leaseholders, while venture capitalists and other
wealthy people bought the land and increasingly controlled water management.
Van Tielhof and Van Dam teIl a somewhat similar story abollt the Rijnland,
where many late 17th century farmers simply could nOt pay the water taxes,
anel Van Crllyningen's essay shows the domination of urban landowners in
investment consortiums in Staats-Vlaanderen in the southwesrern part of
the Netherlands. The important point may be, nevertheless, that local and
regional water management institutions survived. They may have, as Soens
suggests, developed some 'sub-optimal' arrangements for the mainrenance of
water systems but, at least in parrs of the country, they instituted technological,
environmenral, and n.nancial reforms that allowed for better warer regtdation
and increased reveIluc.
Peat bogs discouraged agriculruraJ development, but they hardly could have
inspired the same fear as did wind-drivcn Storms from the sea-the so-caIled
'waterwolf' of Durch hisrory and folklore. Conremporaries suggested that
an avenging deity e1irected these storms at individuals or communiries guilry
of various transgrcssions. The awesome displays of nature were literaIly 'acts
of God'. They promised nothing bU{ devastation and lost dreams. In sum,
the medievallandscape in the Low Coulmies challenged human rechnology,
mgenuity, and spirit. Success depended on having an ahundance of all
three.
Precisely because of the unequal battle with the forces of nature, the Dtltch
feil back on building a line of defense-dikes, dams, and sluices-to lessen
damage when the Storms struck and to regtJlate the supply of water ro the
polders. Military metaphots seem particularly apt when applied to the
Netherlands. Once the Dtltch built their water systems, never could they
let down their guard, never could they afrarel to believe the war was actually
won. Moreover, their fear of the enemy-uncontrolled water from whatever
source-crcated powcrful incentives ro put aside local rivalries anel address
the comman danger. Beginning in the early medieval periociJ the Dutch built
a rechnological system that continlles to be ren.ned ro the present day. It is a
technological system rhar more than shapes the landscape; it is the landscape.
Years ago the American hisrorian Leo Marx wrote about the 'machine in rhe
garden', the inrl'Oducrion of facrories anel mach ines ofall sans inro America's
pastoral environment (Marx 1964). In the case of the Netherlands, the garden
became rhe machine.
ÁGiven the natural challenges facing the Dureh) what can we say abollt their
views of nature? Milja van Tielhof and Petra van Dam observe thar value
judgmencs about ecological issues are time-sensitive. If raday we regard land
los5 as an environmental problem) is it right to make the same judgment
abour 16th or 17th century land loss? Was it. to quote [heir essay, 'always
such a bad thing'? Scienrists and Ilaturalists would 110 doubt say 'yes), citing
dallgers to the ecology independent of time. Christian theologians mighr take
an entireiy different tack) arguillg thar God gave mankind the responsibiliry
to 'rame' [he land. They possibly miss the point that lowered land, wirh
consequent drainage problems and increased damage during StorlllS) might
be less desirabie rhan peat bags. Others might simply conclude thar gaining
profit) or at least a living) from the land is no sin. Regardless of the different
conc1usions, all would agree rhat the key to Outch actions can be summarized
in one word: survival. Farm families for whom the banks ofAmsterdam were
distant absrracrions stl'uggled to make a living on leaseholds or srnall plots.
Their backbreaking labor rurned the Olltch counrryside into an arrificial
landscape thar braught burdens and unexpected challenges. This is the othe,.
side of Olltch history) with lessons thar transeend time and place and must
not be forgorten.
Notes
Thc amouru "nel dunHioll of sea levd AllCru;\tiOlls in the Norrh Sca l'cm:"tÎn comroversial. Fagan (2000: 63-
65) assens th:u sca levels significantly rose in the 11 th :Itld 12rh centuries and then feil again, but Durch :Illd
Flcmish researchers believe na credirable evielence exisls Ihar thc Nonh Sca rose a.long rhe coasdine of the Law
Courmies after 1000 A.D. I (hank the editors for providing informarioll on (his topic.
2 leBtakc's pioneering boak is Mediel'fl! Fromit'r: CI/!tU" mul Ecu/ogy ill Rijn/mul (1985). Perra van Dam's
cOlltributions indllde ViSJt'1/;11 l'l'm11/t'n'!1 (1998). Sinking Peat bogs (2000) alld Ecologieal Challenges.
Technologjcallnllov:uiollS (2002). I am indebtcd 10 Marjolein 't Har! for providing me with an overview of
DUidt archives :lIld Waler board historiography
3 luse the term 'Thc Nerherlands' to describe rhe tcrritory Ihat coincides with loday's borders, bUI it shottld be
remcmbercd ,har the seven norrhern provinccs (Holl;tnd. Zeeland. Utrecht. Friesland. Groningen. Overijssel,
:l11d Gelderland) die! nor win their indcpcndcncc from Spain limit the Pcace of Muenster in 1648. Each
provincc obmined rhc right to vore in thc Stares-General. Thc provincc of Drenthe also exercised some degree
of amhoriry over iu OWll afl-àirs. but rhe stares of Braballl. Vlaanderen. anel Limburg were collsidered spoils
ofwar (and PrOteSt;lllrs feared rhe Carholic Church. which had a srrong fol!owing in these areas). These Slates
had no represem:uion in the States-General nor were Ihey allowed independenr asscmblies.
References
DAM. P. VAN 1998: Vissm iIJ lWIJJIleren. De sluisllisserij op (utltussm Haarlem en Amsterdam en de ecologische
tmnsformmir iu Rijnlaud 1440-1530 (Hilversum).
DAM. P. VAN 2000: Sinking pcat bogs: environmcnral change in J-1olbnd. 1350-1550, ElIlIironmellttll
Histor)1 vol. 5. PI" 32-45.
DAM, I~ VAN 2002: Ecological challenges, technological innovarions: the rnodernization of sluice building
in Holland, 1300-1500. Tec/malagy tlnd Culturf, vol. 43, PI'. 500-520.
FAGAN. B. 2000: T!Je liule ice age: how c!iJllme 11I(1(/e histolJI /300-/850 (Ncw Vork).
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Utrechtse Lm/giJ/akte (Assen).
MARX. L. 1964: TIJt' l1U1chillt' in tbe garden: tec/ma/og)' (///(I tIJe ptlStonJ! ideal in Amerim (Oxford).
lËBRJ\KE.. \Y/. H 1985: Medie/ltll.frontier: mltllre (Uld t'c%g)' iu Rijn/nlld (College Station, Texas).
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Introduction to the Special Issue on Water Management, Communities, and Environment

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