The Lowland countries are not too bad. I've won with them on highest difficulty. The trick is to take Scandinavia FAST. Usually I build a transport in Amsterdam first turn and rush build a Belgian infantry in Brussels. Then send the whole navy north to bombard Scandinavian coastal cities. Meanwhile both colonial cavalry are getting shipped to Europe immediately from South America. With careful play and a bit of luck I have been able to take all of Scandinavia (except Copenhagen) very quickly. This really increases your industrial base. Oslo in particular is a good city once it's all mined out. Leave Copenhagen because the Germans tend to get into war with what's left of Scandinavia, and when you go after them their beefy navy will bombard the nearest target (Copenhagen) instead of your cities!
In the east, Holland has the best colonial base in the Pacific islands. Batavia is a great colonial city and so is the most southern one on Sumatra (forget the name). A good human player should have no trouble expanding there. In Africa, I always start out defensively. Once you get Ind. II then you should recruit as many allies in Africa as you can if you want expand - i.e. if you are planning to hit England then pay Italy, Turkey, Abyssinia, Boers, Germany, etc. to all attack them at the same time!
All in all, they are a solid mid-level country. I have managed to stay ahead of the curve with them scientifically too. Use that window when you have Great War and nobody else does! You'll have a temporary troop advantage, so upgrade all your infantry and hit Europe hard! Also, the Roofdier is your friend. You can use its good bombard to cripple enemy fleets of much better ships, weaken coastal cities for your armies to take, etc. It's nice that you can build them very fast in Java and Sumatra too.
Definitely not the hardest country to win with by an means. It helps that they are industrious, scientific, and commercial too. All good traits. The economy is nice too (thanks to Indonesia!).
p.s. And, yes, the Dutch had a very good navy historically. In fact, it was a strong contender for best in the world. But that was in the 1600s. ;-)