It's January 1916. Strong winds have been blowing for three days and was pushing water into the Zuider Sea. In some areas, the water level had been raised by as much as 70 centimeters.
This was putting immense pressure on the dikes. And one by one, they started to break. the freezing water broke through the dikes and flooded huge pastures and entire villages.
Dozens of people died and thousands more lost their home. This was a humanitarian disaster. And for the Netherlands, it could not have been at a worse moment.
Two years earlier, World War I had started. The Netherlands remained neutral, but they were significantly affected as it led to a disruption of trade and commerce. There were food shortages.
There was high unemployment. And the Dutch were financially strained. It was during these incredibly trying times that the flood occurred.
But it was exactly this hardship, this hunger, and this violence from the ocean that prompted the Dutch to approve an ambitious plan. The goal was to build a dam that would turn this ocean into a lake. This would help improve safety.
Then they would reclaim large swaths of land to use for agriculture. This would help solve the food shortages. It did all of these things.
And this explains in some odd ways why it is that the Dutch love their tulips, their windmills, and cheese. This is how the Dutch solved an impossible problem with Hindsight. Around 10,000 years ago, the last ice age ended.
Land ice was melting and was raising the global sea levels. This eventually formed the North Sea and a large lake in the center of the Netherlands. The Romans around here zero.
Named this Lacus Flevo. Remember that name. This lake would constantly flood.
Every few decades there was a large flooding event that killed thousands to tens of thousands of people. This continued for centuries until the lake eventually joined with the ocean. We're now in the Middle Ages and the lake was referred to as Aelmere.
Remember that name as well. The Dutch became increasingly ingenious with their water management, At least as early as the 14th century they began reclaiming land. But their true masterpieces date back to the 1600s.
It was the Dutch Golden Age, a period of rapid development that saw the rise of the Netherlands as a global superpower. Much of the country at that time was covered with lakes. And in 1612, they decided to reclaim this one.
This is the Beemster. They used windmills to drain the water, and they repurposed the land for agriculture. This created a thriving community of farmers and some very happy investors who made a return on investment in just one year.
It was the beginning of a trend. Only two years later, the map looks like this. Many of the lakes were gone, but the villages along the Zuider Sea were still frequently plagued by floods.
This could be incredibly damaging and sometimes cost hundreds of deaths. As early as 1667, a plan was proposed to close the Zuider Sea. The idea was to build dams along the Wadden Islands to drastically shorten the Dutch coastline.
But the technical capabilities at that time did not yet match their imaginative power. The Golden Age came to an end in the 1670s, and Great Britain rose to dominance. Projects of such scale were a pipe dream for now until 1848.
That year, a series of revolutions swept across Europe with the aim of removing kings and queens and to establish independent nation states. The king was quickly to make a preemptive concession and he handed power to Parliament. This was followed by a large investment in infrastructure and a better position for entrepreneurs.
At this moment, the desire to reclaim the Zuider Sea rekindled. That same year, a plan was proposed to build a dike from Enkhuizen to Stavoren to turn this part of the ocean into a lake. Amsterdam at that time looked like this and was still surrounded by large lakes.
The plan was to reclaim this as well. But this plan failed to take the drainage from the river IJssel into account. It was ultimately discarded.
Another proposal came the following year. This included the construction of many more dikes around the Zuider Sea and the Wadden Sea. Both oceans were proposed to be almost completely drained.
But the plan was considered to be technically impossible. It was also discarded. Engineers continued planning while the Dutch kept busy on other projects.
All around Amsterdam, where these Great Lakes. But in 1852, the Haarlemmermeer was completely drained using steam engines. Shortly thereafter, the other lakes were also drained and a 21 kilometer long canal was dug to improve the position of the Amsterdam Harbor.
These projects demonstrated how far the technical capabilities had advanced, especially the Haarlemmermeer which had a deepest point of seven meters. This boosted confidence. But it was still nothing compared to the massive task to reclaim the Zuider Sea.
In 1866, a plan was proposed to build a dike around the shallow part of the sea and to drain the water using steam engines. The plan was considered technically feasible, but it was rejected over concerns of financial feasibility. Later, a simplified version of this plan was proposed and approved.
The puzzle seemed to be finally solved. The government passed laws to begin construction and detailed plans for its execution were finally prepared. But at the same time, some critical voices started to emerge.
There was critique on the cost of the project and on the impact that it would have on local fishing communities. The political will was gradually lost, and in 1877 it was canceled. This was the closest that they had come to executing a centuries-old dream.
The Dutch had finally gathered a technical know how, but still needed to find a way to find the political and the social will. In 1891, there was another break in the case. Cornelis Lely released his plan.
Remember that name. He proposed to build a dam to close the Zuider Sea. and smaller dikes in a newly formed lake.
Lely selected these areas for reclamation based on the type of soil that would be exposed. And he prioritized land that would be suitable for agriculture. There were critical voices from the start about the cost and the impact on coastal communities.
But proponents praised the potential for new farmland and a lower cost retaining all these dikes around the sea. But what made this plan different was Lely himself. He was a brilliant engineer, but also a talented politician.
He managed to sell this plan to the people, focusing his arguments on the reduced cost of maintaining the hundreds of kilometers of dikes. An argument that resonated with the people. Despite the commonly held belief that this was the best way to do it.
The plan lacked sufficient urgency to be formalized. But that's when World War One started. The food shortages came, and then the terrible flood of 1918.
The Dutch finally decided that Lely’s plan should be executed. The construction started with the Afsluitdijk, a 30 kilometer long dam that closes the Zuider Sea. It started in 1920 and continued for well over a decade.
Meanwhile, they started building a small test polder to study how to salty soil that would be exposed. Could be prepared for agriculture. But the real challenge came of reclaiming the much larger Wieringermeer.
The first step was building dikes. After which the water was pumped out. This process took several months and let it dry, barren wasteland of salty soil.
They discovered that they had to sell rye, barley and grass clover. So they did. And then they dug a complex network of ditches to transport the excess water.
It was the 1930s And in the Netherlands, like anywhere else in the world, the economic crisis hit. There was a record high unemployment and the Dutch saw an opportunity there. They sent thousands of these jobless young men to work on this polder, the dug the ditches by hand.
Of the 14,000 kilometers of ditches. 80% were dug using nothing but shovels and brute force. The polder was finished and ready for agriculture.
Four years later, that same year, the dam, too close to sea, was opened. 1932 was a year of celebration. The Zuider Sea was now closed and renamed IJsselmeer, meaning the lake of the River IJssel.
This river was going to turn to water fresh over the course the next five years. This was an environmental disaster for the fish stock and for the communities that lived of its exploitation. But after these accomplishments, there was no more money for the project and it was uncertain whether the other Polders were actually going to be built.
Prime Minister Hendrikus Colijn was determined to persevere despite the country's financial hardship. The plan was to now reclaim the largest polder, but Colijn decided to prioritize the northeast polder. That is because these lands could be entirely dedicated for agriculture, which at that moment was a more pressing concern.
Construction started and World War II began. Germany occupied the Netherlands and the engineering teams suffered enormous shortages. But the dikes were built.
The water was drained and the ditches were dug. This time using machines. By the time the northeast loader was finished, 500 kilometers of road, 59 bridges and 300 farms were built.
It was an exhaustive task. Under German occupation after the war, the Dutch focused on rebuilding the country. And for a couple of years, there wasn't any funding available to finish the job.
But they also started to notice another problem with the newly built Northeast Polder. It lies below sea level and lower than the mainland. This causes several issues.
Groundwater from the mainland was now slowing into the polder, depriving the mainland from water and making it less fertile. Secondly, the Polder was sinking, causing massive damages to housing and infrastructure. When the Dutch started working on Eastern Flevoland in 1950, they made a few changes to the design.
They added a border lake. The idea was that this would absorb water, reduce oxidation, and it would act as a buffer zone. This would slow subsidence and improve on the same problems from happening to this polder.
The construction was carried out over the next five years. The Dutch were now using small aircrafts to plant the crops. Whereas the Northeast Polder was primarily intended for agriculture.
Eastern Flevoland was aimed at fixing the housing crisis. The urban centers of the Netherlands were rapidly growing and there was a shortage of affordable housing. This polder was going to fix that.
The plan was to build new cities across this polder to ease the pressure on nearby cities. And this is exciting developments. Disaster struck.
In 1953, there was a massive flood in the southwest of the Netherlands. It killed with thousands of people and thousands more lost all that they had. Many were prompted to move away.
Amongst them, my family. They moved from this area to the east of the Netherlands. But many others decided to move to the newly built polder or became the first migrants to settle on this land.
At this stage, only two polders had yet to be reclaimed. In the original plan, the Markerwaard were supposed to be next. The Dutch government envisioned to build a second international airport.
On this polder, as well as a large military training facility. But the decision was made to first train Southern Flevoland. That's because it's much cheaper and it would help with closing the docks of Eastern Flevoland.
Reclamation finished in 1968, and a few years later The dike from Enkhuizen to Lelystad was also completed. This created Lake Marker. Small villages and large urban centers were built on the polders.
This especially got into high gear in the 1980s with the construction of Almere. Its proximity to Amsterdam made it an attractive location. And it motivated Lelystad to find innovative ways to compete for settlers.
In 1986, Flevoland became the 12th province of the Netherlands, a moment for celebration. Markerwaard was now the only project that remained. Its design went through several changes, but the plans were never approved.
In the 1980s, the pushback from environmentalists was growing. It was taken more seriously. Gradually, the desire to maintain a lake was becoming more prevalent.
The plans were paused in 2003. They were canceled. This is what the Netherlands looks like today.
About a fifth of the country's current land area has been reclaimed from lakes or the ocean. A quarter is located below sea level and only half of the country lies more than one meter above the ocean. The relationship that the Dutch have with the water contributed to the modern stereotypes.
These are windmills where their first technique that was used to reclaim land on a larger scale. The soil that they exposed was salty and suitable for only a few crops, but it happened to be perfect for tulips. This helped the Netherlands become the biggest exporter of these plants.
Another plant that grows well on these Polders is grass. Probably the country's most famous polder De Beemster, is now world famous for its production of cheese. Beemster Cheese gets a specific taste from milk that is produced by cows that feed exclusively on grass that grows on sea clay.
It's fair to say that centuries of land reclamation have changed more than just the geography of the Netherlands. It has helped shape its cultural heritage and identity. Now, remember all the surnames that I asked you to remember?
Well, that's because much of this history is now embedded in the country's place names. The name Flevoland is derived from the Roman word for this lake. Lacus Flevo Its capital Lelystad is called after the engineer who designed these plans.
Cornelis Lely, The largest city, Almere, is named after the name of this lake in the Middle Ages – Aelmere. The people living in Urk which used to be an island, still say that they live on Urk as opposed to in Urk, implying that they still identify as being on an island. Emmeloord, the biggest city in the Northeast Polder is named after a village that used to be on an island in this exact location.
The history of this region is still very much alive today. I selected these two videos for you to consider for your next watch.
