Due to events related to the war in 1870–1871, Monet left France. Together with his wife, he went to London, before travelling on to the Netherlands, where they stayed at a hotel in Zaandam – a small town just north of Amsterdam. During their stay, which lasted from May to October, 1871, Monet made some 25 paintings, including several views of the Zaan river delta. This is one of these paintings. In autumn 1871, when the Paris Commune had been defeated and the political situation stabilized, Monet returned to France.