Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist)
Encyclopedia
Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist) (in DutchDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Kommunistiese Eenheidsbeweging Nederland (marxisties-leninisties)) was a communist organization in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
The organization started as a pro-China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
leftist fraction within the Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist political party. The CPN is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft.- Foundation :...
in 1964. It that time it called itself Marxist-Leninist Centre (Marxistisch-Leninistisch Centrum), and it was based in the Section 33 in Blijdorp, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
. Leading figures (in an organization of only a handful of members) were Nico Schrevel and Daan Monjé. MLC started publishing the magazine Spartacus. Before the 21st CPN party congress MLC published the appeal 'For the Unity of the Communist Movement'. In the end of 1964 the CPN leadership expelled Schrevel and Monjé.
At this time MLC was one of two pro-Chinese factions expelled from the CPN. The other was assembled around the periodical Rode Vlag
League of Dutch Marxist-Leninists
League of Dutch Marxist-Leninists was a communist organisation in the Netherlands.By the time of the 21st party congress of the Communist Party of the Netherlands in 1964 two pro-China fractions existed inside the party. One was the Marxist-Leninist Centre in Rotterdam...
. Plans of a merger were however stalled, as the Rode Vlag-group maintained that it was still possible to convert CPN into a revolutionary party.
In March 1965 MLC changed its name to the Marxist-Leninist Centre of the Netherlands (Marxistisch Leninistisch Centrum Nederland). The name of Spartacus was changed to Rode Tribune, possibly since the name Spartacus was seen to have Trotskyist connotations. By this time the group had attracted a few more members, including some individuals from northern Holland. One of the new recruits was Pieter Boevé, an BVD
General Intelligence and Security Service
Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst , formerly known as the BVD is the General Intelligence and Security Service or The Secret service of the Netherlands. The office is in Zoetermeer...
agent. Boevé became the international secretary of MLCN. His double play was however discovered, and he was expelled. Later he set up his own League of Marxist-Leninists in the Netherlands
Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands
The Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands was a fake pro-China communist party in the Netherlands set up by the Dutch secret service BVD to develop contacts with the Chinese government for espionage purposes. It existed from 1968 to the early 1990s...
.
In 1966 MLCN launched a youth wing, the Young Communist League
Young Communist League (Netherlands)
Young Communist League was a youth organization founded in 1966. It was the youth wing of the Marxist-Leninist Centre of the Netherlands . KJL was a short-lived formation. Later KEN, the successor of MLCN, would launch the Marxist-Leninist Youth and the Marxist-Leninist Students League....
. It didn't last however.
In January 1970 the name of MLCN was changed to KEN(ml). By this time the organization had grown, and started attracting radical students. Many of the people who joined KEN(ml) came from the Pacifist Socialist Party
Pacifist Socialist Party
The Pacifist Socialist Party was a Dutch left-socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is a predecessor of the GreenLeft.-Before 1957:...
and its youth wing
Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups
Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups was the youth wing of the Pacifist Socialist Party in the Netherlands....
. Membership estimates vary from 200 to 300. KEN(ml) formed a youth wing, Marxist-Leninist Youth
Marxist-Leninist Youth
Marxist-Leninist Youth was the youth wing of the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands . MLJ was founded in 1970....
, and a students wing, Marxist-Leninist Students League
Marxist-Leninist Students League
Marxist-Leninist Students League was the students wing of the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands . MLS was founded in 1970....
. Nico Schrevel was the national political secretary of KEN(ml).
KEN(ml) also organized its own National Vietnam Committee (Landelijk Vietnam Komitee). Other KEN(ml) fronts were the League of Tenants and House-seekers (Bond van Huurders en Woningzoekenden, BHW) and Workers Power (Arbeidersmacht). KEN(ml) played a somewhat important role during the 1970 Rotterdam port strike through Arbeidersmacht, even though the KEN(ml) membership only had very few workers.
In the summer of 1971, the Red Youth
Red Youth (Netherlands)
Red Youth was a revolutionary organization in the Netherlands. It originated in the group around the periodical Rode Jeugd, which had been started by the pro-China Rode Vlag-grouping in 1966...
branches of Nijmegen and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
crossed over to KEN(ml).
During the fall of 1971 KEN(ml) was riddled by internal strife. An issue dividing the organization was the role of intellectuals in the class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
. The majority led by Monjé supported the line that the working class had to be the supreme force in the revolutionary struggle. They raised the slogan "From where will the correct ideas come? From practice or the study chamber?". The other group was centered around students at the Ekonomische Hogeschool in Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
. Their leader was Kees de Boer. In October the majority of the membership left to form the Communist Party of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist)
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
(KPN(ml)) with Monjé as their leader. KPN(ml) took with them BHW and Arbeidersmacht.
Tilburg students now moved to Rotterdam to reconstruct the organization. This would bring yet more dissent. The dominance of the Tilburg students provoked a section to leave KEN(ml) in March 1972 and form the Marxist-Leninist Rotterdam Group. Similarly, a group of KEN(ml) cadres from Brabant
North Brabant
North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
who refused to move to the Rotterdam area on the orders of the KEN(ml) leadership broke away in August. They formed the Communist Circle of Breda (marxist-leninist)
Communist Circle of Breda (marxist-leninist)
Communist Circle of Breda was a communist group in Breda, the Netherlands...
. Veterans of the organization based in Rotterdam, Nico Schrevel and Gerrit Sterkman, also left the movement. By this time De Boer was the leader of KEN(ml).
After these events the remnants of KEN(ml) took a yet more sectarian turn. The cadres were directed to live in communes, were all aspects of daily life was under the control of the organization. Many members were expelled, accused of bourgeois deviations. In 1977 the different groups of expellees regrouped as the Group of Marxist-Leninists/Red Dawn
Group of Marxist-Leninists/Red Dawn
Group of Marxist–Leninists/Red Dawn is a maoist group in the Netherlands. GML/Rode Morgen was founded in 1977, as a merger of different groups of individuals expelled from the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands , namely the so-called 'Group of Three', 'Group of Five' and 'Group of Six'...
.
In 1977 KEN(ml) registered itself for the parliamentary elections. One of the issues raised by KEN(ml) in the electoral campaign was a discourse in support of unity of independent Western European countries against the imperialism of the two Superpowers. In the end KEN(ml) got 2722 votes.
One the same line of opposing the hegemony of two superpowers, KEN(ml) had organized a front organization called 'Movement for Freedom and Independence' (Beweging voor Vrijheid en Onafhankelijkheid), which saw NATO as a necessary instrument to defend Western Europe.
KEN(ml) disbanded around 1985.