Dutch Peoples-Union
Encyclopedia
The Dutch Peoples-Union is a Dutch
political party
. Because of its many calls for the rehabilitation of convicted World War II
war criminals and SS costumes worn at demonstrations, it is counted among the most extreme right of Dutch politics. The party strives for a fusion of the Netherlands with Flanders
and a Europe of the Fatherlands.
, of the Belgian Vlaams Blok
, becomes vice-president (reflecting the desire of both parties to unite the Netherlands and Flanders) and later that year Joop Glimmerveen
took over the position of president. During the 1970s, the party became increasingly militant as younger neo-Nazis joined its ranks.
When Glimmerveen revealed his sympathy for Adolf Hitler
and Anton Mussert
and the NVU became more and more a National Socialist party, support for the party collapsed and in the end it was forbidden. Due to a mistake in the law, the NVU managed to continue after it was forbidden. Some members formed the Centrumpartij
(CP), which later split into the Centrum Demokraten (CD)
and CP'86. In the mid-eighties, the NVU collapsed completely.
In 1996, a few young neo-Nazis asked Joop Glimmerveen, then 68 years of age, to start the NVU again and he did. In 1998, they tried to enter the city council elections in Den Haag and Arnhem, but did not succeed. At this moment, the NVU is the most active party on the extreme right in the Netherlands and gets support from the Aktiefront Nationale Socialisten (ANS), a small organization of activists who claim solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians and other groups which they consider to be anti-imperialist. The number of members of the NVU is unknown.
is Joop Glimmerveen, the face and leader of the NVU since the beginning of the 1970s and party ideologist until the end of the 1990s. In 1996 after almost 11 years of inactivity, Glimmerveen handed the NVU over to Kusters and Eite Homan.
Glimmerveen gave up NVU membership in 1994 but kept control of the editorial rights of the party magazine Wij Nederland. Kusters writes and edits the party newspaper Wij Europa but Glimmerveen cannot stand either its ideological course or its 'shoddy production'.
In 2003, Glimmerveen published a special edition of Wij Nederland full of letters to Kusters, the latter's answers, and his own vision of the NVU. Among other things, Glimmerveen has charged Kusters with misuse of NVU funds for his own benefit and threatened him with court action.
elections in Gelderland
in 2003 and 2007, but here too did not get enough votes for a seat in the Council. In 1977, 1981 and 1982 the party participated in elections for the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), but did not get a seat in the house.
* Party was listed as Lijst Glimmerveen
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...
political party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
. Because of its many calls for the rehabilitation of convicted World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
war criminals and SS costumes worn at demonstrations, it is counted among the most extreme right of Dutch politics. The party strives for a fusion of the Netherlands with Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and a Europe of the Fatherlands.
History
The party was founded as a political party in 1971 by Guus Looy, with as key purpose to rehabilitate convicted WW-II war criminals. In 1973 Roeland RaesRoeland Raes
Roeland Raes is a Belgian politician, a former senator for and vice president of the political party 'Vlaams Blok'. Raes took a dr. iur. at Ghent University....
, of the Belgian Vlaams Blok
Vlaams Blok
The Vlaams Blok was a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. From its creation in 1978, it was the most notable militant right wing of the Flemish movement. Vlaams...
, becomes vice-president (reflecting the desire of both parties to unite the Netherlands and Flanders) and later that year Joop Glimmerveen
Joop Glimmerveen
Johann Georg Glimmerveen is a Dutch far right politician.-Dutch Peoples Union:Glimmerveen first came to prominence as a member of the hardline Noordbond, a neo-Nazi group with links to the likes of Colin Jordan in the United Kingdom. From there he joined the Dutch Peoples-Union in 1971 not long...
took over the position of president. During the 1970s, the party became increasingly militant as younger neo-Nazis joined its ranks.
When Glimmerveen revealed his sympathy for Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Anton Mussert
Anton Mussert
Anton Adriaan Mussert was one of the founders of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands and its de jure leader. As such, he was the most prominent national socialist in the Netherlands before and during the Second World War...
and the NVU became more and more a National Socialist party, support for the party collapsed and in the end it was forbidden. Due to a mistake in the law, the NVU managed to continue after it was forbidden. Some members formed the Centrumpartij
Centre Party (Netherlands)
The Centre Party was a Dutch nationalist extreme right-wing political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. The party was founded by Henry Brookman in 1980, and was represented by Hans Janmaat in the Dutch House of Representatives from 1982, until he was expelled from the party in 1984 and...
(CP), which later split into the Centrum Demokraten (CD)
Centre Democrats (Netherlands)
The Centre Democrats was a political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 1984 by members who split out from the Centre Party , the Centre Democrats was joined one month later by the only CP Member of Parliament—Hans Janmaat. Janmaat went on to become the leader of the party, which...
and CP'86. In the mid-eighties, the NVU collapsed completely.
In 1996, a few young neo-Nazis asked Joop Glimmerveen, then 68 years of age, to start the NVU again and he did. In 1998, they tried to enter the city council elections in Den Haag and Arnhem, but did not succeed. At this moment, the NVU is the most active party on the extreme right in the Netherlands and gets support from the Aktiefront Nationale Socialisten (ANS), a small organization of activists who claim solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians and other groups which they consider to be anti-imperialist. The number of members of the NVU is unknown.
Criticism
One of the biggest critics of current NVU's leader Constant KustersConstant Kusters
Constant Kusters is a Dutch politician. He is chairman of the Dutch Peoples-Union. This party has been mainly known for its Neo-Nazi conceptions.-External links:* *...
is Joop Glimmerveen, the face and leader of the NVU since the beginning of the 1970s and party ideologist until the end of the 1990s. In 1996 after almost 11 years of inactivity, Glimmerveen handed the NVU over to Kusters and Eite Homan.
Glimmerveen gave up NVU membership in 1994 but kept control of the editorial rights of the party magazine Wij Nederland. Kusters writes and edits the party newspaper Wij Europa but Glimmerveen cannot stand either its ideological course or its 'shoddy production'.
In 2003, Glimmerveen published a special edition of Wij Nederland full of letters to Kusters, the latter's answers, and his own vision of the NVU. Among other things, Glimmerveen has charged Kusters with misuse of NVU funds for his own benefit and threatened him with court action.
Election results
The Dutch Peoples-Union participated in city council elections in several cities in 1974, 1986, 2002, 2006 and 2010. In none of these elections they gained enough votes for a seat in the council. They also participated in the States-ProvincialStates-Provincial
The States'-Provincial is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the Provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance...
elections in Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
in 2003 and 2007, but here too did not get enough votes for a seat in the Council. In 1977, 1981 and 1982 the party participated in elections for the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), but did not get a seat in the house.
| City Council | 1974 | 1982 | 1986 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apeldoorn Apeldoorn Apeldoorn is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland, about 60 miles south east of Amsterdam, in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a regional centre and has 155,000 . The municipality of Apeldoorn, including villages like Beekbergen, Loenen and Hoenderloo, has over 155,000... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.0% | n/a |
| Arnhem Arnhem Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.0%* | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam... |
1.8% | 1.1%* | 0.2% | 0.0%* | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Heerlen Heerlen Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.6% |
| Kerkrade Kerkrade Kerkrade is a town and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.It is the western half of the divided region and de facto city, taken together with the eastern half, the German town of Herzogenrath... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.8% | n/a | n/a |
| Landgraaf Landgraaf Landgraaf is a municipality in southeastern Limburg.- Special information :A pop music festival called Pinkpop is held annually on the Pentecost weekend in the vicinity of Landgraaf.... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.75% | n/a | n/a |
| Nijmegen | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Oss Oss Oss is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands, in the province of Noord Brabant.- Population centres :-Transportation:* Railway stations: Oss, Oss West, Ravenstein- The city of Oss :... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.0% | n/a |
| 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... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.1% | n/a | n/a |
| Venray Venray Venray is a municipality and a town in Limburg, Netherlands, 115 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. Venray has about 43,000 inhabitants.- Population centres :... |
n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.4% | n/a |
| States-Provincial | 2003 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Gelderland | 0.15% | 0.27% |
| House of Representatives | 1977 | 1981 | 1982 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVU | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% |