Armed Forces of the Netherlands

During the First World War, the Netherlands declared neutrality.

After the outbreak of World War II on September 4, 1939, the Netherlands declared neutrality, but on May 10, 1940, German troops launched an invasion of the Netherlands . On May 15, 1940, the armed forces of the country surrendered and the Germans occupied the territory of the country. Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia in 1941 - 1942 were occupied by Japan .

On February 18, 1948, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg and France established the International Military Sports Council with a center in Brussels.

On March 17, 1948, in Brussels, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed an agreement on collective security and military assistance ( Brussels Treaty ), which created the Western Union - the first closed-type military-political bloc in post-war Europe, which provided for a joint planning of military operations, standardization of armaments and the creation of "mobile armed forces" of 23 divisions (15 of which were to be provided by France, 5 divisions by England, and Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were to jointly prepare three divisions) ^[1] .

On April 4, 1949, the Netherlands joined NATO .

The armed forces of the Netherlands take part in UN peacekeeping operations (casualties in all UN peacekeeping operations involving the country amounted to 28 people) ^[2] .

The Netherlands has been participating in UNMISS since its inception in 2011, when South Sudan became an independent country. The tasks include ensuring the protection of civilians, development of cooperation, humanitarian assistance. ^[3]

The Netherlands Ground Forces and Air Force participated in UN and NATO operations in the Bosnian War . They were especially criticized for the reprisal in Srebrenica (1995), which they could not prevent. In 2002, a commission of Dutch experts came to the conclusion that the Dutch battalion, led by Colonel Tom Carremans, was sent to carry out an initially impossible mission, being also poorly prepared. This conclusion led to the resignation of Prime Minister Wim Kok and his cabinet in the same 2002.

During the NATO military operation against Yugoslavia (1999), a Dutch F-16 aircraft shot down a Yugoslav MiG-29 .

Since 2003, the Netherlands has been participating in the war in Afghanistan , the government sent a military contingent to the ISAF . In addition to the armed forces of the Netherlands, contract servicemen took part in the operation (employees of private military and security companies who provided security for the external perimeter of the Dutch embassy in Kabul and two military bases of the Dutch ISAF contingent in the province of Uruzgan, as well as performed other functions) ^[4] . In connection with the completion of Operation Enduring Freedom on December 31, 2014, Operation Decisive Support began in Afghanistan on January 1, 2015, in which the Dutch contingent is participating.

The Netherlands took part in the war in Iraq ; in July 2003, the government sent troops to the international coalition forces . The contingent was withdrawn from Iraq in the spring of 2005. Losses of the Dutch contingent amounted to 2 soldiers killed and at least 10 wounded.

Since February 2016, the Netherlands Air Force has been participating in the fight against terrorists in Syria. This mission has been taking place within the framework of the international coalition led by the United States since September 2014. For the implementation of airstrikes used aircraft of the F-16 type, which are based in Jordan. In addition, Dutch specialists are training Iraqi and Kurdish fighters in Baghdad in precision shooting techniques and special forces techniques. ^[five]

The number of personnel of the Armed Forces in January 2011 amounted to 64.6 thousand people. (including 23.7 thousand ground forces, 8.9 thousand air forces, 9.1 thousand navy, and 6.5 thousand military gendarmerie). It has 503 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 121 artillery units, 87 F-16 aircraft, including 43 nuclear carriers, 8 transport aircraft, 85 helicopters of various types, 24 mobile air defense systems (such as the Patriot), 22 combat ships ( 10 frigates, 4 submarines, 10 minesweepers, 2 landing helicopter dock ships).

Later, on May 18, 2011, all Leopard-2 tanks were decommissioned. The Netherlands became the first state in Western Europe to completely abandon heavy armored vehicles.

Conscription to the Armed Forces of the Netherlands ended in 1996, they are transferred to a contract basis. In all military branches, except for the submarine fleet and the marine corps, women can serve. The commando corps ( Dutch: Korps Commandotroepen ) is theoretically available for women, but the physical training requirements there are such that in fact women do not serve there.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defense employs 680 people, led by the Minister of Defense of the Netherlands - Janine Hennis-Plasshart .

Within the federal Kingdom of the Netherlands, there are also small local armies (militias) in Aruba (Arumil) and Curacao (Antmil).

Military service is possible from the age of 17. Defense expenditures in 2010 amounted to 7.9 billion euros, which is about 1.3% of GDP (the average for the European countries is 2%). There is a movement for an increase in military spending ( NATO standard - 2% of GDP), given the presence of the Dutch military as part of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands (nl)