Dutch Remnant Republic (1962: The Apocalypse)

Doomsday 1962
Belgium and the Netherlands were not as badly damaged as the UK and Germany. Survival was still possible, but tough decisions were to be made. The towns closed their town borders and martial law in the face of growing refugee tides and falling resources. It was horrific in Tilburg, were 2 Dutch Churchill tanks saw off hostile German and desperate Flemish refugees came pouring in, until the tanks ran out of ammunition and retreated in to the town. Food rationing and resource sharing was enacted in the varicose city states as an attempt to minimalize losses as the region was badly overrun by hostile German and Flemish refugees. Denmark was quick to send aid to Germany and the Netherlands, but stopped when the nuclear winter/summer and radioactive fallout began to take there toll. Many dykes were damaged polders around the Zuid Holland region, which became partially flooded and finaly failed after the storm and floods of 1968.

Survival
The towns of Flanders Zeeland, the towns of Dutch Zeeland, ZandVoret, Nijmegen, Vaught, Eindhoven, Breda, Knokke-Heist, Bruges and Tilburg’s local authorities sealed the borders and took control. Each Burgomaster feared the worst and tried to save what little he could, as the Dutch nation imploded in to chaos and died. A severe famine and a cholera outbreak hit the region, killing many people during 1962 and most of 1963. The Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)]], also known among farmers as 'blue-ear pig disease' also killed some pigs in late 1966. Many dykes were damaged polders around the Zuid Holland region, which became partially flooded and finally failed after the storm and floods of 1968. ZandVoret was nigh on destroyed and 12% of its people died,

1967-1982
By 1969, the nation’s then still city states and varicose Flemish refugees -come-tribal groups had come to see the obvious, a more organised nation was needed. Bruges and its satellite village of Knokke-Heist were in the former Belgium, but chose to join the growing ‘Dutch Remnant Federation’ on ethnic Flemings are a form of Dutch, Walloons are a form of French)

Nijmegen joined the fledgling state of Kleve in 1972.

First contact
First contact was made with Kentshire, Lower Saxony and Kingdom of Lille-Wallonia (1962: Doomsday) in May 4th 1967. Fishermen from the Republic of East Anglia (1962: Doomsday), Republic of Hex ham (1962: Doomsday), Lower Saxony (1962: Doomsday), Somme Republic (1962: Doomsday), [[Socialist Durhamshire (1962: Doomsday)]  all landed there during a bad gale, more by good luck than planning in 1973, since most nations wrongly reckoned on the region being uninhabited and/or badly overrun by hostile German or Flemish tribesmen.

Earthquake and tornado
2 separate tornados ripped through Bruges and Zeeland island killing 3 and 7 people respectively in the winter of 2001, the winter of 2009-10 was the worst in 50 years (as in OTL),killing 30 people and 2 Richter scale 4.5 earthquake caused major damage and 2 deaths in Bruges  in 2009.

Military
The armed forces abandoned the use of bows and swords in favour of rifles and pistols in 1995. The army is a volunteer force of 25 and a conscript force of 50.

Transport
Horses are still popular in the nation, despite the resent, but short lived, outbreak of equine ethnocide hematoma.

Economy
It is agrarian by nature largely dependent on agriculture, forestry and selling looted metal from the ruins of nearby towns. A growing food processing, brewing, bread and scrap metal trading industry is beginning to develop. Up-market organic bread is sold to Lille-Wallonia, Lower Saxony and Frisia. Posers a nailed up as and when nessasery by the local authorities. A national once monthly newspaper was launched in 2007 and regional monthly news sheets for Breda/Tilburg and Bruges in 2001.

Healthcare
Thyroid and skin cancers are no longer major issues, and are markedly less than they were before 1974.

The death penalty
Murderers, sex predators, rapists, child molesters, traitors and enemy spies were executed by hanging. A moratorium on hanging has been in place since 1998.