At the start of the twentieth century, the Netherlands was a trading nation with extensive overseas territories. Its interests were served by a quick connection to the colonies, especially the Dutch East Indies. Direct communication took place by way of electric telegrams, which required cable connections. Prior to this, the Netherlands was dependent on England and Germany. When the First World War broke out the disadvantages of this dependence increased. In 1918, the government decided to realise their own international communication network, independent of the neighbouring countries. After much political debate it was decided to build a long wave transmission station enabling permanent contact with the Dutch East Indies using radio telegraphs. https://hierradiokootwijk.nl/english-version/
