The Oranges and Their Opponents

Around 1618, for example, an intensive power struggle between Prince Maurice and statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt took the fledgling republic to the brink of civil war. And in the 17th and 18th centuries there were two ‘stadtholderless’ periods during which the Oranges were excluded from power. Then, in 1848, King William II had no choice but to accept the significant restrictions to his power contained in Thorbecke’s new constitution. The monarchy came under pressure again following World War II. In 1980, squatters protested vigorously against the coronation of Queen Beatrix, under the motto ‘No housing, no crowning’ (Geen woning, geen kroning). This protest escalated into a full-scale battle between activists and police on the streets of Amsterdam.