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| 2. The Netherlands |
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(See 1842)| Monarchs: William III (r. 1849–90) and Wilhelmina (r. 1890–1948). | 1 |
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| 1848, Nov. 3 |
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| A new constitution was proclaimed: William II called upon Johan Thorbecke to revise the constitution. The new constitution established two chambers (the upper elected by provincial states and the lower by direct suffrage), asserted ministerial responsibility, and committed education to the government's care. | 2 |
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| 1850 |
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| An election law carried by Thorbecke actually restricted suffrage further, reduced from approximately 90,000 to 75,000 men. | 3 |
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| 1857 |
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| The Primary Education Law retained the religiously mixed school system with state subsidies, but also made it easier to establish “free” schools. The law raised teaching standards and provided for improvement of school buildings. | 4 |
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| 1863 |
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| Slavery was abolished in the Dutch West Indies. | 5 |
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| 1867, March |
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| The king and France made a treaty for the sale of Luxembourg, which resulted in an international crisis, and the sale was not completed. | 6 |
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| 1878 |
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| An education law raised teachers' salaries and required more training. It forced local municipalities to seek financial assistance from the government, helping lead to centralization of the schools. | 7 |
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| 1881 |
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| The various socialist associations were combined into the Sociaal-Democratische Bond (SDB), which adopted a program similar to the Gotha Program (See 1869) but added a clause regarding women's emancipation. In 1884, the SDB took over the socialist newspaper Recht voor Allen, established in 1879. | 8 |
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| 1886, July |
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| The Eel Revolt, in which Amsterdam police were called upon to stop a popular game involving pulling apart eels, sparked demonstrations and underscored popular hatred of the police. The eventual government inquiry led to the enactment of the first Child Labor Legislation (1889). | 9 |
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| 1887, June 17 |
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| Introduction of suffrage reform, which approximately doubled the electorate. | 10 |
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| 1889, Dec. 6 |
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| A Calvinist-Catholic coalition passed a law providing financial assistance for all private denominational schools and continued support of nonsectarian public schools. | 11 |
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| 1890–1948 |
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| WILHELMINA (b. 1880). Until 1898, the queen mother, Emma, acted as regent. | 12 |
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