Five Brothers and a War

Geography—Rivers and Water

The Dutch have built dykes for more than a millennium. The first dykes were only about one meter high, but as the centuries rolled by, they became increasingly more stout. At a certain point, the defensive measures of simply keeping water out were upgraded to be offensive, where water was pumped out of low-lying areas. The first water-pumping windmill was built in 1282 AD. These measures were further upgraded to actually reclaim low lands. The Dutch began to “reclaim” land starting in the 16 th Century, by constructing dykes and building thousands of water-pumping windmills that would move water up to various levels and locations, then to canals and waterways and eventually out to sea. At a certain point, this “reclaiming” was far more a “claiming” because most of the efforts are done on topography that lies below sea level. It has been done on a massive scale for a long period of time. In the 1800s, there were more than 9,000 windmills in Holland. Essentially, Holland is a series of river deltas, meaning that the movement of fresh water through the nation has been as important as keeping saltwater out. Perhaps Holland should be described as a dizzyingly confusing series of river branches together forming a monumental river delta.

holland

Five Brothers and a War

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