55 BC		Region conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar.
1st C. AD		Local Batavi and Frisian tribes become allies of Rome.
5th C. AD		Frankish tribes move into the southern Netherlands.
c.800 AD		Pagan Frisians converted to Christianity under the Frankish king Charlemagne.
9th C. AD		Start of major Viking raids on coastal areas.
10th C. AD		City states develop to counter Viking raids.
1384		Duke of Burgundy gains control of the region.
May 1477		Control of the region passes by marriage to the Hapsburg family, who rule the Holy Roman Empire from Austria.
1555		Hapsburg king passes control of the region to his son, the King of Spain.
1550s		Calvinist faith becomes popular in the Netherlands region.
1568		Revolt against Spanish Catholic rule breaks out in the Netherlands.
1574		Spanish forces driven out of the Low Countries.
1578		Spain begins recapture of southern provinces and re-establishes Catholicism.
1579		Union of Utrecht creates confederation of the northern provinces - 'United Provinces', while southern provinces become the Spanish Netherlands.
26 July 1581		United Provinces declare independence from Spain.
1594		Last Spanish garrisons driven out.
1595		First Dutch voyages to the Fare East.
1602		Dutch East India Company formed to exploit Netherlands East Indies (NEI).
1626		Nieuw Amsterdam (New York) founded.
1652		Settlement established on Cape of Good Hope (South Africa).
1648		Treaty of Westphalia - Spain formally recognises Dutch independence but retains southern provinces (modern Belgium).
1688		Dutch head of state, William III of Orange, becomes king of England.
April 1713		Treaty of Utrecht - Spanish Netherlands ceded to Austria.
1795		Revolutionary France invades and occupies Netherlands - Batavian Republic established.
1806		Kingdom of Holland established by Emperor Napoleon.
1810		Netherlands annexed by French Empire.
1813		Dutch forces expel the French occupiers.
1815		Congress of Vienna creates 'United Kingdom of the Netherlands' as buffer state against France.
1830		Catholic southern provinces of United Kingdom of the Netherlands secede to become Belgium.
1839		Luxembourg becomes independent from United Kingdom of the Netherlands - leaving just the Dutch provinces.
1848		New constitution with parliamentary accountability.
1914		Netherlands neutral in First World War.
September 1939		Netherlands declares neutrality in Second World War.
10 May 1940		Germany invades and occupies the Netherlands.
January 1942		Japan invades and occupies the NEI.
September 1944		First area of Netherlands liberated.
1944-1945		Bitter fighting blocks food supplies - Winter of Starvation.
8 May 1945		German occupying force formally surrenders.
1945		Founder member of United Nations.
July 1947		US aid under Marshall Plan begins to fund national reconstruction.
1948		Benelux Customs Union established with Belgium and Luxembourg.
1949		Most of NEI becomes independent Republic of Indonesia.
1949		Netherlands becomes founder member of NATO.
1957		Founder member of EEC.
1963		Dutch (western) New Guinea handed over to Indonesia.
25 November 1975		Suriname becomes fully independent.
1991		Dutch forces participate in the First Gulf War.
July 1995		Dutch peacekeepers in Bosnia fail to prevent Srebrenica Massacre.
March 1999		Dutch air units participate in Kosovo War.
January 2002		Netherlands introduces the euro as it's currency.
October 2001		Netherlands supports NATO forces in the invasion of Afghanistan.
August 2006		Further Dutch forces arrive in Afghanistan to support ISAF mission.