Joris Van Severen | |
|---|---|
 Joris Van Severen | |
| Born | Georges Edmond Eduard Van Severen (1894-07-19)19 July 1894 |
| Died | 20 May 1940(1940-05-20) (aged 45) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Education | Law degree |
| Alma mater | University of Ghent |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Political party | Frontpartij Verdinaso |
Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of theFlemish Movement as well as aPan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-World War IIFlemish nationalism, he co-founded the extreme-right groupVerdinaso.
Van Severen was born in theFlemish town ofWakken asGeorges Edmond Eduard Van Severen.[1] His family was Flemish but, in keeping with a number of leading Flemings, spoke theFrench language and as such were given the derogatory nicknameFransquillon byDutch speakers.[1] Van Severen's father was a prominent lawyer who also served as mayor of Wakken.[1] Van Severen was educated byJesuits in theSint-Barbaracollege, who taught in French, before studying law at theUniversity of Ghent.[1]
Following the outbreak of theFirst World War Van Severen was called up to theBelgian Army. Initially a sergeant, he was promoted to second lieutenant in January 1917.[1] While in the army Van Severen became part of theFront Beweging, a secret Flemish nationalist group active within the Belgian Army, and also wrote an open letter toKing Albert calling for greater autonomy for Flanders.[1] The letter, which was the work of Van Severen and other intellectual soldiers such as Corporal Adiel de Beuckelaere, included calls for internal self-government and a separate Flemish Army.[2] When this was discovered Van Severen was interrogated by Military Police about his Flemish nationalist activities and after informing them that he supported the terms of the letter he was sentenced to eight days of house arrest.[3] His ultimate punishment was to be demoted back into the ranks in June 1918.[1]
Already involved in the Flemish Movement, Van Severen began to develop his own widerideology and world view. Towards the end of the war he became a convincedRussophile and reacted positively towards theRussian Revolution.[1] He combined this with a strongGermanophobia, dismissingGermany as "a gang of bandits with no soul".[1] Alongside this he had a strong faith in theRoman Catholic Church, and in particular admired the Catholic authorsLéon Bloy andAlbrecht Rodenbach, who was also an important figure of inspiration for the Flemish Movement.[4] His ideas began to take shape in the journalOns Vaterland, which Van Severen and other like-minded soldiers produced from the front.[5]
Demobilised after the war, Van Severen returned to his studies at Ghent University, where he was chosen as president of the General Flemish Student Union.[5] In 1921 he became editor of the journalTer Waarheid and in this role his ideological outlook developed further as he shifted to the right. Although he had always been a nationalist Van Severen had held some respect for internationalsocialism but by the early 1920s had abandoned this position in favour of a harder-edged nationalistJacobinism.[5]
The only major political outlet for Flemish nationalism after the First World War was theFrontpartij and Van Severen duly joined this group. A candidate for theRoeselare-Tielt seat in the1921 general election he was successful in gaining election to theBelgian Chamber of Representatives that year.[5] As a member of the Chamber he supported a policy of "flemicization", encouraging the appointment of Flemings to leading roles in the judiciary, government, armed forces and other public institutions.[5] As a parliamentarian he gained a reputation as a fiery and committed polemicist although he would lose interest and simply read passages fromCharles Péguy in the Chamber instead of making speeches.[5] His shift to the right continued apace as his most admired political philosophers becameMaurice Barrès andCharles Maurras.[5]
Van Severen lost his seat in the1929 general election by a technicality despite gaining more votes than his opponent, by then publicly expressing admiration forBenito Mussolini andItalian fascism, he established his own journal,Jong Dietschland. In this he argued for the establishment of an independent 'Greater Netherlands' in whichDutch people, Flemings,Frisians andLuxembourgers would unite in a new "Dietsch" state.[6] Although his plan proved popular amongst the students at Ghent, with whom he still held strong influence, the bulk of theFrontpartij membership, who were mainly war veterans, did not embrace the plan and the party's official newspaperDe Schelde decriedfascism.[6]
With his plans having been rejected by theFrontpartij in October 1931, he broke away from that group to establish his party,Verdinaso.[5] Containing only 169 members on its foundation, the party was committed to a form ofcorporatism that Van Severen callednational-solidarism as well as tointegral nationalism.[5] At its foundation, it supported Flemish separatism, but before long, the group, which wasfar right, supported theDietsch option.[7] Van Severen advocated the use of force to take over the existing Belgium and then to establish theGreater Belgian state that he supported.[5] He also advocatedanti-parliamentarism, something that had been strengthened by his defeat in 1929, during which he felt moderates in theFrontpartij had deliberately sabotaged his re-election.[5] His vision would eventually expand to that of theDietsche Rijk which, rather than splitting Flanders off from Belgium to form the new state, advocated the practical union of theBenelux countries into a single entity.[8] The change was brought about in part by Van Severen "discovering" in 1934 that theWalloons, like the Flemings, were descended from theFranks.[9]
To get his ideas off the ground, Van Severen attempted to come to agreements with other far-right movements, notablyRex and theFlemish National Union. Still, he was not successful in these endeavours.[5] His movement adopted many of the trappings of other European fascist movements, such as thepolitical uniform,Roman salute,Führerprinzip and stormtroopers (initially calledDinaso Militie before a 1934 name change toDinaso Militanten Order),[9] although Van Severen was unenthusiastic about the development of fascism, preferring to look back to the more conservative far-right ideology ofAction Française.[5] He was particular unimpressed byNazism, withBertrand de Jouvenel quoting Van Severen as saying "I detest theHitlerians".[5]
Following the outbreak of theSecond World War, Van Severen issued an order proscribing the production of any pro-Nazi literature by members of Verdinaso.[5] Nevertheless, on 9 May 1940, immediately prior toFall Gelb, Van Severen was one of a number of far right andfar left activists arrested.[5] The arrested men were put under the care of theFrench Army and stationed nearAbbeville. On 20 May, when the advancing German Army cut off the area, a group of French soldiers carried outa massacre and killed a number of members of Verdinaso, Rex and theBelgian Communist Party, among them Van Severen.[5] Twenty one suspects of varying political stripe were selected and executed without trial.[9]
With Van Severen dead, Verdinaso fell apart, with some activists falling intocollaboration with the German occupation forces and others following his non-Nazi example by joining the resistance.[10]
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