Sailing in Uncharted Waters: Four Dutch Steamship Companies during the First World War, 1914–1918

Abstract

During the First World War, steamship companies based in neutral Holland were confronted by a number of very costly, war-related challenges. The conflict also brought unexpected windfalls: neutrality put these shipping firms in a unique position to profit from the worldwide disruption to global trade. In this article, I reconstruct the wartime balance sheets of four Dutch steamship companies, and relate my findings to an analysis of their wartime policies. My main conclusion is that these companies shared a remarkably similar fear of the post-War future which guided their wartime financial policies. By saving, expanding their fleet and improving their facilities, they desperately tried to guard themselves against the prospect of renewed foreign competition after the War.