Dutch Remnant Republic (1962: The Apocalypse)

Stats
The Dutch Remnant Republic is a democratic European survivor nation based in the south and west of the former Netherlands.

Doomsday 1962
Belgium and the Netherlands were not as badly damaged as the UK and Germany. Survival was still possible in place, but tough decisions had to be made. The Dutch government was willing to take in some refugees, but was quickly spooked by the sheer numbers wishing to enter and soon lost control of the situation on the ground. There would be panic on the streets of most towns as frightened Burgomasters began to unilaterally closed their city borders and bring in emergency laws over the next fortnight, due to the strain of handling the refugees.
 * Known targets were at-


 * 1) I'Jmuidemn- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 2) Amsterdam port- 1x 1kt
 * 3) Rotterdam port- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 4) Charlois Port- 1x 1kt
 * 5) Waalhaven port- 1x 1kt (did not explode and buried it's self 6 ft. in to the ground)
 * 6) Maastricht- 1x 1kt and 1x 10kt (the latter did not explode)
 * 7) Botlek- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 8) Vlaardingen- 1x 1kt
 * 9) Maassluis- 1x 1kt
 * 10) The partial built Europort Rotterdam- 2x 1kt
 * 11) Maasvlakte Rotterdam- 1x 1kt
 * 12) Vondelingenplaat- 1x 1kt
 * 13) Heijplaat- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 14) Verrebroekse Bikken- 1x 1kt
 * 15) Breven-Waaslandhven- 1x 1kt
 * 16) Willmarsdonk- 1x 1kt
 * 17) Delwaldedok- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 18) Zesde Havendok- 1x 1kt
 * 19) Vilegveld Eindhoven airport- 1x 1kt (did not explode)
 * 20) US Military Base Soesterberg, Utrecht- 2x 1kt (1 did not explode)

The towns the towns of Zotermeer, s’Hertogenbosch, Oss, Rosenberg, Dordesecht and Gouda all closed their town borders and declared martial law in the face of growing refugee tides and falling resources 3 Days after Doomsday.

The Dutch government declared a state of emergency in their country 4 days after Doomsday and Utrecht closed it's borders.

The local authorities in the Hague (Dutch: Den Haag), Katwijk aan den Rijn, Katwijk aan Zee, Hoornes-Rijnsoever, Rijnsburg, Tilburg, Vaught, Valkenburg, Schaesberg, Leiderdorp, Delft, Middelburg, Axel, Den Haag and Leiden then sealed their local borders, declared martial law and took control of the local situation the next day, during the continuing political power vacuum.

As Maastricht was overrun on day 7 the provincial authorities in southern Limburg declared martial, food rationing, resource sharing and the closing of the provincial boundaries on the orders of the regional governor, who would also declare UDI from the remnants of the Netherlands a week later.

The local authorities for the towns of Flanders Zeeland, the towns of Dutch Zeeland, Zandvoort, Nijmegen, Eindhoven, Son en Breugel, Breda, Knokke-Heist, Bruges (Dutch: Brugge, French: Bruges, German: Brügge) and Haarlem all took similar action 8 days after Doomsday. It became horrific in Tilburg, were 3 local Dutch Churchill tanks and da machine gun post saw off hostile German and desperate Flemish refugees came pouring in it, until the tanks ran out of ammunition and retreated in to the town. Each Burgomaster feared the worst and tried to save what little he could, as the Dutch nation imploded in to chaos and died.

9 days after Doomsday, the towns of Zotermeer, s’Hertogenbosch, Nijmegen, Eindhoven, Oss, Dordesecht and Gouda all witnessed savage food riots and panic buying the next day and the Dutch police declared martial law in the government controlled western and central regions in order to try and stop the spreading chaos. Looters (especially German ones) were to be shot on sight.

The terrified Dutch government closed the nation's de facto borders and formaly declared martial law in the country 12 days after Doomsday and hid in Den Haag, hoping things would some how improve in time. Their actions were too late, Venlo, Valkenburg aan de Geul, Schin op Geul and Maastricht were overrun by panicked refugees, Groneigen was lost to mob rule and towns of Eindhoven, Boxmeer and Heerlen had been looted of anything of worth.

Food rationing and resource sharing was enacted in the varoucose city states as an attempt to minimalize losses as the region was still being badly overrun by hostile German and desperate Flemish refugees.

Denmark was quick to send aid to Slizewig-Holstine in Germany and to the Netherlands, but this stopped when the nuclear winter/summer and radioactive fallout began to take their toll. Food riots were a regular occurrence and many died after several poor harvests in the 1960’s since many dykes were damaged polders around the Zuid Holland region, which became partially flooded and finally failed after the storm and floods of 1968. Most of it would be reclaimed between 1975 and 2004.

Survival
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. Radiation was a major hazard as it drifted in from the remnants of Germany, the UK and France.

Many dykes were damaged polders around the Zuid Holland region and Flevopolder and Rozenburg, which had became partially flooded and finally failed after the heavy storm and floods of 1968. The storm of 1968 badly flooded much of Zeeland, Haarlem and the costal enclave of Zandvoort was nigh on destroyed, with 12% of its people ding and many were left homeless. Gouda and Delft were badly flooded and abandoned for several months until they could be re-drained by Dutch and Danish engineers. The general lack of manpower and lack of fuel, meant the drainage pumps became inoperative a year after Doomsday. Slowly the flooded areas began sinking back into marsh land from which had come until it could, and was, redrained from the late 1970's onwards using mostly windmills and earth dykes.

1969-1981
By 1972, city states of Tilburg, Vaught, Valkenburg, Schaesberg, Middelburg, Axel, Eindhoven, Son en Breugel and Breda, along with the varicose local 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). The Hague (Dutch: Den Haag), Katwijk aan den Rijn, Katwijk aan Zee, Hoornes-Rijnsoever, Rijnsburg, Valkenburg, Leiderdorp, Delft, Middelburg, Axel, Den Haag and Leiden all joined in over the next 3 years. They started with a free trade and resources sharing zone, ended in a full ecanomic, defence and judical union by 1972. It's nominal leader was the liberal minded Tilburg Burgomaster, Vim van de Waal.

Nijmegen joined the fledgling state of Kleve in 1973. Finaly Zotermeer, s’Hertogenbosch, Rozenburg, Oss, Dordesecht and Gouda then joined the union in early 1974.

Farming began to improve in the mid 1970's and and small scale land reclamation started up in the late 1970's.

First contact
First contact was made with Kentshire, Denmark, Lower Saxony and Kingdom of Lille-Wallonia in May 4th 1967. Fishermen from the Republic of East Anglia, Somme Republic (1962: Doomsday), Socialist Durhamshire 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. Zandvoort in the Dutch Remnant Republic was found by the Frisian Republic in a chance act during 1984.

1982 to date


The Limburg Autonomous Region (OTL the southern 1/3 of Limburg region), which had been under the control of varicose tribal bands and the rival warlord of Maastricht, chose to formulate a separate nation called the ‘Federal Republic of Maastricht’ in 1982. It then joined the D.R.R. in 1985 on an 89%/12% referendum in favour of joining, because of repeated raids by local Dutch and Flemish tribes men and the major German tribes from around the ruins of Aachen. Boxmeer, Schaesberg and Heerlen had also willingly joined in 1984.

The remnant of the local engineering industry in Maastricht autonomous region was used to turn out weapons and maintain the city walls. Agriculture was the D.R.R.’s main asset. Both wished to pool their resources and further there common goal of a united Dutch/Flemish nation.

The north, western and central parts of North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant) province were gradually absorbed and at some times forcibly conquered between 1987 and 1997. The nation was then officially renamed the 'Dutch Remnant Republic' in late 1997. The south east was to remain under the various uncooperative and feuding local warlords and Flemish/Germanic tribal groupings.

1987 and 1988 saw major land reclamation works, the rebuilding of the city of Maastricht and the opening of the water powered Tilburg and Breda sawmills.

A Danish built wind farm was erected on the reinforced coastline by Zandvoort in 2008 and a small Lower Saxony built biomass power station was opened in Den Haag in 2009. Flooding is still a problem in these places, as well as Delft, Dordesecht and Gouda.

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 2,500 and a conscript force of 500. Some guns are imported from Lower Saxony since 2000 and soon replaced swords and bows.

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

Waterworks and food sources
Food is mostly from local farm produce, mostly, milk, beef, fish and crabs.

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.

The main agricultural products are wheat and sugar beet, while cows and pigs are held as livestock. The chief industries are the production of farm equipment, carpentry (both mainly in Eindhoven), textiles and shoes.

The 4 low yield Oranje-Nassau coal mines Heerlen, Schaesberg, Heerlerheide and Heksenberg recommenced minor production in 1999. This coal and the irregular supplies Picardy and Walloon coal are its principal domestic flue and industrial other than Den Haag's biomass power station and sever wind turbine sites.

Beer
Beer in the D.R.R. is known for the pale lagers. They are also sold to Lower Saxony, Lille-Walloon and Kentshire.

Healthcare
Thyroid and skin cancers are no longer major issues, and are markedly less than they were before 1987.

Media
Posters a nailed up as and when nessasery by the local authorities. Both the Den Haag and Maastricht have had a weekly newspaper since 1994. A national once monthly newspaper was launched in 2007 and regional monthly news sheets for Breda/Tilburg and Bruges in 2001.

The arts
The 300 year old literary works of the Dutch playwright and diarist, Pieter Langendijk are a popular cultural icon in the Republic.

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.

Also see:

 * 1) 1962: Doomsday
 * 2) Add-hock weapons at hand (1962: Doomsday)
 * 3) Editorial Guidelines- (1962: Doomsday)
 * 4) Radioactive animals (1962: Doomsday)
 * 5) Survivor Nations (1962: Doomsday)
 * 6) A song in Europe (1962: Doomsday)
 * 7) Alcohol (1962: Doomday)
 * 8) Sports (1962: Doomsday)
 * 9) Transport (1962: Doomsay)
 * 10) Afghanistan (1962: Doomsday)
 * 11) The Europa Alliance (1962: Doomsday)