Fascism, includingNational Socialism, has been present in movements andpolitical parties inthe Netherlands since 1923, as part offascism in Europe.
The first fascist political party, theUnion of Actualists (Dutch:Verbond van Actualisten, VvA), was founded in 1923. Over sixty other fascist political parties were founded between 1923 and 1940, mostly as a result of infighting in and between the parties. TheNational Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (Dutch:Nationaal Socialistische Beweging, NSB) led byAnton Mussert became the most important around 1933. The general ideology of the fascists parties had been based onItalian fascism, but after 1935 the NSB and other fascists parties radicalised to national socialism. In 1941, all political parties were banned by theNazi German occupation, except for the NSB.
After theSecond World War, the NSB was outlawed. Smallneo-fascist parties have been founded since, such as theDutch People's Union (Dutch:Nederlandse Volks-Unie, NVU) and theCentre Party '86, but without national electoral success.
Hegelian philosopherGerard Bolland (1854–1922) is seen as inspiration for fascists in the Netherlands. His followers includedEmile Verviers [nl],Erich Wichmann [nl] andHugo Sinclair de Rochemont. In his 1921 academic speech "The signs of the times" (Dutch:De teekenen des tijds), he complained about democracy, communism and theInternational Jewry.[1] In his speech he referred to theRapaille Partij, founded by artist and future fascist Wichmann. This party was founded in response to the introduction ofuniversal manhood suffrage andcompulsory voting after thePacification of 1917. By putting forward – and getting elected – candidates such as vagabondNelis de Gelder [nl], it sought to ridicule democracy. The party itself was not fascist, but served as inspiration for future fascists parties.[2]
In January 1923, inspired byBenito Mussolini'sMarch on Rome, the first fascist party was founded in the Netherlands: theUnion of Actualists (Dutch:Verbond van Actualisten, VvA). The party was founded by, amongst others, Sinclair andAlfred Haighton.[3] Other parties emerged in the 1920s, whose ideology was somewhere betweenright-wing authoritarianism and fascism: theNational Union (Dutch:Nationale Unie, NU), theFatherland League (Dutch:Vaderlandsch Verbond, VV) and WichmansGroep Rebelsche Patriotten. NU's membership included future prominent fascists such as formerARPparliamentary leaderCoenraad van der Voort van Zijp [nl],Carel Gerritson [nl],Rob Groeninx van Zoelen [nl],Wouter Lutkie andAnton Mussert.[4] VV and VvA participated in the1925 general election, but received only 0.4% and 0.07% of the votes respectively.[5] Both VV and VvA declined due to internal struggles and faded out in the next years.[6]
In its place, fascists parties such as theNational People's Party (Dutch:Nationale Volkspartij), theDutch Orange Nationalists (Dutch:Nederlandsche Oranje Nationalisten) and theFirst Dutch Fascist Organization (Dutch:Eerste Nederlandsche Fascisten Organisatie) were founded, with little success.[7]
TheUnion of Nationalists [nl] (Dutch:Verbond van Nationalisten) was founded in 1928, drawing its early members from theAusterity Party [nl] (Dutch:Bezuinigingspartij) and a group of former VvA members led byC.J.M. van Eijsden. It participated in the1929 general election with aconservative-liberal manifesto, but failed to get a seat. After the election, the party radicalised to fascism and became the most important fascist party around 1930. Its ideologist becameHenri Peter Blok [nl] in 1930, but he and his supporters left the party after a quarrel in 1931. The party failed again to get a seat in the1933 general election and was dissolved in 1934.[8]
Its prominence was taken over byThe Broom [nl] (Dutch:Vereeniging 'De Bezem'), founded in 1928 by Sinclaire and Haighton.Jan Baars, who was able to rally the working class, rose to prominence. He got into conflict with Sinclaire and Haighton, who both left the association. Subsequently, Baars renamed it into theGeneral Dutch Fascist Union (Dutch:Algemeene Nederlandsche Fascisten Bond, ANFB). In September 1933, the party had around 3,000 members, but received only 17,157 votes in the 1933 general election, not enough for a seat.[9]
Another fascist participant in the election was theAlliance for National Reconstruction (Dutch:Verbond voor Nationaal Herstel, VNH), founded in 1933 byHorace van Gybland Oosterhoff [nl]. VNH had been in talks with NU and ANFB to form a single list, but negotiations collapsed over Baars' candidacy. The party managed to win a seat, which was taken byWilliam Westerman [nl], making him the first fascist MP in the Netherlands.[10]
Other fascist parties were unsuccessful, including theNationaal Verbond Plicht, Orde, Recht,Dutch Fascist Union (Dutch:Nederlandsche Fascisten Unie) andOrange Fascists (Dutch:Oranjefascisten).[10] The NU had considered participating, but instead supported ARP lead candidateHendrikus Colijn, who they considered to beauthoritarian.
Meanwhile, theNational Socialist Movement (Dutch:Nationaal Socialistische Beweging, NSB) had decided not to participate in the election. It was founded by engineerAnton Mussert in 1931, after Mussert had gotten some fame in his opposition against theBelgian-Netherlands treaty of 3 April 1925 [nl] and had been a member of the NU. Despite its name, it focused early on on Italian fascism instead of German national socialism. Unlike in Germany,antisemitism was largely absent from its program, although some members were antisemitic. Among its early members wereCornelis van Geelkerken, Van der Voort van Zijp,Hermannus Reydon andGeorge Kettmann.[11]
The NSB became the largest of the fascist parties. In the1935 provincial elections it received 7.94% of the votes, the highest a new party had received since 1918. After the elections, the party radicalised to national-socialism, embracingNazi racial theories. Many members left the party, while this was compensated by radical members joining the party. The1937 general election ended up being a disappointing, receiving only 4,21% of the votes. The party radicalised further, and became politically isolated, but with a steady membership of 30,000.[12]
In May 1940, theGermans invaded the Netherlands, which Mussert supported in a speech on 22 June 1940.[12] The Germans largely took over the fascist movement, ending Dutch fascism as a separate movement. Political activity was limited by the occupation and over time all political parties except the NSB were forbidden. The remaining fascist and national socialist parties were forced to merge with the NSB.[13]
After theGerman surrender in May 1945, the NSB was outlawed. Many NSB members were arrested, with Mussert being sentenced to death.
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In 1971, theDutch People's Union (Dutch:Nederlandse Volks-Unie, NVU) was founded with the goal to rehabilitate convictedwar criminals. UnderJoop Glimmerveen's leadership, it became increasinglyneo-Nazi. It participated in Dutch general elections between 1977 and 1982, but failed to win a seat. Although it was banned in 1978, it had been able to continue its activities because the party was not dissolved. Nevertheless, its activities stopped in the mid-1980s.[14]
In 1980, a group of moderate members split off from the NVU to form the far-rightCentre Party, which was succeeded by theCentre Party '86 in 1986. This party radicalised in the mid-1990s to neo-Nazism. The party was banned in 1997 and dissolved in 1998.[15]
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