Could Germany and the Netherlands unite?

i agree with pompejus that a netherlands becoming part of germany is rather unlikely. But a netherlands/ united provinces that gains a greater foothold in germany is very possible. a case where germany as otl doesn't form, or maybe even gets carved up between a dutch sphere of influence and a austrian sphere.
but still unlikely.

in the 13th century the netherlands were still part of the HRR, the house of holland even supplied the king of the HRR in 1248.
this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_Holland

but after that the netherlands and the german lands slowly drifted apart

as others wrote, lotharinga would be a good chance.
and essentially after the formation of the United Provinces, and especially after its gaining of a lot of power, it simply becomes unlikely that the netherlands joins germany.
So in my opinion it would only happen if they thought that they would get a major gain from it, in other words the would join as major player .
Or maybe parts of germany joining the netherlands

the scenario in DoD is interesting where the netherlands join germany under a triple emperor deal (willem becoming emperor too), and is indeed such a strong scenario where germany has a dutch area of influence, a prussian one and a austrian one.

a scenario where the netherlands annexes parts of germany in Napoleonic times would only work if Louis-Napoleon decides to change sides, and they succeed together in bringing down his brother. But it would still be a greater netherlands, not a netherlands being part of germany.
 
I agree with the general sentiment that a 19th century POD is too late for that. Even 1648 is a bit late. IMHO it's starts to become more difficult by the time the house of Valois-Burgundy was uniting the Low Countries, when the region ended up with the Spanish branch of the house of Habsburg and later the northern part revolted and formed the Dutch Republic, there basically wasn't a real chance left.

So IMHO at the latest the Habsburg Burgundian Netherlands, followed by the region staying with the Imperial (Austrian) Branch of the house of Habsburg.

However a medieval POD might IMHO be better.
 
essentially the complicating part is the rise of the United Provinces to a status of great power in the 16/17th century. because of this joining as a minor partner is not going to happen, they may have lost that status later, but it tends to stick to the psychology. So it would be either joining as a major player (and thus it more becoming a expansion of the netherlands) or just keep to themselves.
 
essentially the complicating part is the rise of the United Provinces to a status of great power in the 16/17th century. because of this joining as a minor partner is not going to happen, they may have lost that status later, but it tends to stick to the psychology. So it would be either joining as a major player (and thus it more becoming a expansion of the netherlands) or just keep to themselves.

Don't forget the effect the Burgundian unification had on the psychology of the Low Countries. IMHO that's the point, where the Low Countries start to really drift away (though there were differences before that).
This increased over time with the Spanish Habsburg influence, the Dutch Republic etc.
 
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I agree with the posters that say the drifting apart started (to become major) with the Burgundian unification, but IMO the borders were still fluid enough not to be an issue. Lingen, Emden and Kleve (as well as more-integrated Geldern) switched from 'basically Dutch' to 'basically German' without major issues - which to me implies Dutch, at the time, was not a much stronger identity than, say, Bavarian.

However, after Westfalen the issues rapidly escalate. The Dutch got into serious trade issues, while all serious German naval powers were beaten, so there was a distinction between the dynastic/HRE Germans and the republican/independent Dutch (there were plenty of republics in Germany, of course, but they didn't matter much).

The best I can think of (for a scenario where there IS a 'Dutch' which is part of 'German') is the 30yw becoming a major Dutch success, where the Republic gathers up regions like Cologne and Bremen officially. This will on the one hand shatter the HRE most likely (so HRE=German is less obvious), and on the other hand force the Dutch republic to care more about Germany. It'll also force the republic to reform into something that can be governed by more provinces (rather than the 7 original, you'd have at least 9 and probably more if you include Flanders/Brabant), so if it can expand into Germany it can also use that.

In said scenario, I see a theoretical possibility of the age of nationalism resulting in a Dutch-dominated Germany (at least including low-German and Rhenish Germany, but possibly extending through Franconia and Swabia).
 
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