History of the Netherlands The post-war years saw rapid economic recovery (helped by the American Marshall Plan), followed by the introduction of a welfare state during an era of peace and prosperity. The Netherlands formed a new economic alliance with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Benelux, and all three became founding members of the European Union and NATO. In recent decades, the Dutch economy has been closely linked to that of Germany, and is highly prosperous. The four countries adopted the Euro on 1 January 2002, along with eight other EU member states. The prehistory of the area that is now the Netherlands was largely
Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 UK Singles Chart, at the time by far the highest position achieved in the UK by a non-British/Irish Eurovision winner. On the night of the final Leandros performed 17th in the running order, following Belgium and preceding the Netherlands. Prior to the contest most observers had predicted a two-horse race between Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, with the Netherlands as the only other possible challenger. In the event, "Après toi" took the initiative in the first round of voting, and did not relinquish the lead throughout the whole voting procedure. The song won the contest with a score of 128