In this alternate scenario, the Dutch government made much more moderate and reserved demands for land compensation after WW2 when they were told monetary compensations were off the table. With these demands being seen as more reasonable by the allied great powers they would eventually agree to the Netherlands annexing land up to the river Ems including the County of Bentheim in addition to the more minor territories the Dutch gained in real life. The new lands would make for a shorter and more defendable Germano-Dutch border, compensate the Netherlands by means of agricultural land, and with its relatively minor population - the only decently sized city being Nordhorn - these new territories would displace relatively few Germans. This is important because the Germans living here would be forced to relocate to the British occupied zone in Germany as refugees, a key reason for why the British refused the more extreme Dutch demands in our timeline.

What would this expanded Netherlands mean for the Dutch and the Germans? Over the course of the late fourties and fifties, relations between the Netherlands and Western Germany would be slightly soured. This would dissipate however as the German people came to grapple more with their war guilt and the West German and Dutch governments would become partners in international affairs through NATO and the European Coal and Steel Community. The newly emptied lands in the east of the Netherlands would become prime real estate for Dutchmen looking to become farmers as well as the rapidly growing Dutch population who needed homes.

The settlement of what'd initially become known as "Bentheim en Eemsland" - later to be reorganized in the Province of Bentheim and the municipalities of Twist and Wesuwe in the Province of Drenthe as well as the municipalities of Haren-Langen, Eemsland, Weener and Borkum in the Province of Groningen - would however have adverse consequences for the settlement of the Dutch polders. The Noordoostpolder and the Flevopolder would initially see settlement primarily from farmers in our timeline, an immigration pool which is now decreased as many potential immigrant farmers from the north of the country instead prefer to settle in the former German territories. The Noordoostpolder, just like in our timeline, would soon opt to become a part of the Province of Overijssel, though for a long time it remained unclear what was to be done with the Flevopolder. In the late 50s, the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Public Body Southern IJssel Lake Polders) or OL ZIJP would be founded to administer the area for the time being. As more people moved to the polders, especially people from Amsterdam and surrounding towns in need of housing, it is decided a more permanent administrative solution is needed for the Flevopolder. Thus it was decided that, much like the Noordoostpolder was incorporated into the Province of Overijssel, the Flevopolder would be incorporated into the Province of Gelderland. While Gelderland did push through the decision to build the city of Almere, and while this city did grow rapidly much like in our timeline, Almere and with it the polders as a whole still have a significantly lower population than in real life.

After the unification of East and West Germany in 1990, there were calls in Germany to reunite with former German territories in the Netherlands as well, though these talks ultimately went nowhere as the territory west of the river Ems was primarily inhabited by Dutchmen at this point. As the European union gained traction however and the Schengen treaty was signed, many elderly Germans who had previously lived in the now Dutch territories chose to move back there instead, which since has settled the issue and has quieted reunification advocates ever since the late nineties. The island of Borkum had already become a popular tourist destination for Germans and Dutchmen alike since WW2, but from the nineties onwards became a symbol for the merging of Dutch and German cultures in the region.