Visions of Empire in the Nazi-Occupied Netherlands

Visions of Empire in the Nazi-Occupied Netherlands is a study of empire, occupation and decolonization, and uncovers Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

Jennifer L. Foray (Author)

9781107015807, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 November 2011

352 pages
24.1 x 16.5 x 3 cm, 0.66 kg

'… delivers an interesting contribution to the history of occupation as well as to the study of decolonization.' Johannes Koll, European History Quarterly

This book explores how the experiences of World War II shaped and transformed Dutch perceptions of their centuries-old empire. Focusing on the work of leading anti-Nazi resisters, Jennifer L. Foray examines how the war forced a rethinking of colonial practices and relationships. As Dutch resisters planned for a postwar world bearing little resemblance to that of 1940, they envisioned a wide range of possibilities for their empire and its territories, anticipating a newly harmonious relationship between the Netherlands and its most prized colony in the East Indies. Though most of the underground writers and thinkers discussed in this book ultimately supported the idea of a Dutch commonwealth, this structure wouldn't come to pass in the postwar period. The Netherlands instead embarked on a violent decolonization process brought about by wartime conditions in the Netherlands and the East Indies.

1. War comes to the kingdom
2. The landscape of resistance and the clandestine press
3. 'Look to the East!' collaboration, colonialism, and compensatory schemes
4. 'Indies lost, disaster born': the trauma of early 1942
5. Mutuality, equality, and a Dutch commonwealth: the Queen's speech of December 7, 1942
6. Countering the commonwealth: the center and right enter the fray
7. 'After our liberation, that of Indonesia': preparing for battle
8. Wartime consensus and post-war pressures
Conclusion: the end of an era.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]