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7 holland beyond the borders: emigration and the dutch state, 1850–1940 Corrie van Eijl and Leo Lucassen Emigration is largely considered a definitive departure of people to another state, especially to transatlantic immigration countries like the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Australia. Although we know that in reality many people only stayed temporarily,1 the implicit assumption is that emigrants left “far away and forever” the sphere of influence of their former fatherland and would, in time, lose their original nationality. From this perspective it is hardly surprising that the relation between sending states and their emigrants has not received much attention.2 Instead, migration historians have focused on the reception of emigrants, and thus on the immigration policy in the countries of destination. The few studies that deal with the relations between the state and its emigrants concentrate on state policies aimed at either obstructing or stimulating emigration, and studies that focus on political discourse.3 This leaves us with little knowledge about the actual relations between sending states and their emigrants, and with the notion that, apart from political or cultural matters, states were not interested in their subjects once they had crossed the border. As we will argue here, the involvement of the Dutch state with its subjects abroad was not so much framed in terms of political discourse, but it did have important social and economic dimensions . Moreover, emigration created some interesting dilemmas for states and their citizens abroad, especially when emigrants did not wish to give up their citizenship or when descendants of former citizens claimed the membership of the country of their forefathers. In many of these cases the issue turned on which state was financially responsible for poor migrants. These points are made clearer by looking at Dutch migrants in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia. Although many Dutch stayed permanently in Germany , the majority of the migrants returned after a number of years. Con- sequently, this emigration to bordering countries was not seen as a final move. In this sense, these migrants differed from transatlantic emigrants, who were assumed to have left once and for all and were no longer considered real subjects; they also differed from migrants who went to the colonies overseas but never left the empire or the sphere of influence of the national state. Emigrants in neighboring countries were on the edge of the nation state: they lived abroad but remained to some extent within the reach of their home country. They were neither proper citizens nor real aliens, which raises interesting questions about the relationship between states and their subjects and about the content of citizenship. Why and to what extent did the Dutch state remain connected to these (former) citizens in neighboring countries? How does an analysis of social and economic relations between nations and subjects abroad contribute to our understanding of the meaning of nationality and citizenship? Before we follow the Dutch into Germany and Switzerland, a short overview of emigration and emigration policies from the Netherlands from 1840 onward is in order. dutch emigration and emigration policy, 1840–1940 When, in the course of the eighteenth century, the economic power of the republic gradually diminished and the Netherlands stopped being a major magnet for immigrants, emigration of Dutch citizens gradually increased, especially from the 1840s onward. Nevertheless, the number of emigrants hardly ever rose to more than 5 percent of the population and was very small in number compared with the mass emigration from Germany or Ireland. As in most countries, the attention of historians has been drawn to this transatlantic Dutch emigration, especially to North America, but until the 1920s most people emigrated to European destinations. Emigration from the Netherlands to countries outside of Europe only became predominant after World War II (table 7.1).4 Although estimates of the total number of Dutch emigrants vary, it is clear that many migrated to Germany and Belgium; the number of Dutch migrants in other European countries has always been limited. Initially, Belgium was the most important target country, but after 1870 the booming German Ruhr area heavily influenced Dutch migration.5 At the outbreak of World War I, an estimated 140,000 Dutch citizens lived in Germany, far more than in any other country. During the war and the following economic depression, this migration to Germany decreased significantly. Through 1960, the number of Dutch citizens abroad exceeded the numholland beyond the borders 157 [3.15.202.214] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 08:17 GMT...

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