To answer the main question ‘how did Dutch colonial architecture foster the building projects in Paramaribo, as desired by the Sociëteit van Suriname between 1768 and 1785?’ three characteristics...Show moreTo answer the main question ‘how did Dutch colonial architecture foster the building projects in Paramaribo, as desired by the Sociëteit van Suriname between 1768 and 1785?’ three characteristics of Dutch colonial architecture with Paramaribo as a case-study were analysed: 1) the gradual fusion of European architecture with the use of local South American materials, 2) the climatological adaption of buildings to the tropical climate and 3) concerns the uniqueness of the buildings, originated from the diverse cultural context. To dive deeper into Dutch colonial architecture than has ever been done before, I also analysed how climate and environmental aspects affected the architectural products wood and stone in relation to urban development.Show less
This thesis looks at the narratives surrounding Dutch and British expeditions of exploration in New Guinea to study the roles of nationalist and internationalist sentiment within the narratives of...Show moreThis thesis looks at the narratives surrounding Dutch and British expeditions of exploration in New Guinea to study the roles of nationalist and internationalist sentiment within the narratives of these expeditions.Show less
There has never been a specific investigation of the ideology of the Dutch colonial functionaries of the Binnenlandsch Bestuur, or the corps B.B., during the Indonesian Independence War. We do know...Show moreThere has never been a specific investigation of the ideology of the Dutch colonial functionaries of the Binnenlandsch Bestuur, or the corps B.B., during the Indonesian Independence War. We do know that the corps, just before 1942, largely mistrusted the Indonesian independence movement and had no great misgivings about the colonial relationship between Indonesia and Holland. We also know that in 1945 the Dutch policy was revised under the leadership of Governor General Van Mook-favoring the formation of a federal Indonesian state, and de facto acknowledging the Indonesian Republic in 1946 by signing the treaty of Lingaddjati. Given a large poll of B.B. officials’ ideological thinking in 1945, it is clear that a majority of these officials supported Van Mooks’ plans. However, we do not know why this ideological break with the pre-1942 period could have happened in the first place, or whether the B.B. even perceived there was a break at all. In this thesis, the ideological developments within the colonial state and B.B., c. 1900-1942, are first explained. This period was defined by the debates surrounding the Dutch ‘Ethical Policy’ and the formation of an Indonesian national movement. The period would define the thinking of B.B. officials leading into the Japanese Occupation and the subsequent Indonesian Independence War. Then, in the research chapter, I discuss the political opinions of roughly 10 B.B. officials (left in writing), working c. 1945-1949. I use memoirs, letters, memoranda, and (concept-versions of) publicized articles to do so. These B.B. officials largely agreed that explicit colonialism in Indonesia should end. When it came to important aspects of de-colonization, like formulating a policy towards the Indonesian Republic, and figuring out how to achieve rapid political emancipation for the Indonesians, their political opinions became complicated. There was no clear consensus on how to ‘deal’ with the Republic. When it came to emancipation, they continued to, in practice, rely on the Indonesian aristocracy, as they had done in the colonial epoch, while keeping the Republican-leaning intellectuals at arms’ length, a probable result of the desire to build an Indonesian state where the Dutch could feasibly maintain their influence.Show less
‘Disaster threatens world’, read an ominous headline on the frontpage of the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad on Tuesday August 31st, 1971. “If life remains business as usual for everyone, an...Show more‘Disaster threatens world’, read an ominous headline on the frontpage of the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad on Tuesday August 31st, 1971. “If life remains business as usual for everyone, an absolute catastrophe will hit us within mere decennia. It is only a question whether the catastrophe will be caused by hunger, exhaustion of essential resources, or pollution of the earth. Radical measures will be necessary – immediately! – if calamity is to be avoided”, NRC’s science journalist Arie de Kool started one of the opening stories of his paper. De Kool had not personally discovered a major disaster that was about to hit planet earth and its inhabitants, he was quoting directly from a leaked early version of a report compiled by a few experts working at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. Although warnings like this one are common these days, when De Kool first showed his editor his scoop on The Club of Rome and the foreseen dangers of economic growth to the future of mankind in 1971, this was not the case. Back then, computer models were relatively new and although many of the warnings by The Club of Rome had been uttered by politicians and activists for decades already, attempts to create a holistic model for a combination of interconnected risks had not found a very receptive ear in most countries. De Kool, whose career could use a major scoop by 1971 as this thesis shows, found a massive audience with his story on The Club of Rome and its distressing model. Not just the general public, but also politicians from left to right across the many waning political pillars of Dutch society in the 1970s read the Club’s Limits to Growth-report. This thesis - which provides an answer to the question why the report made such a splash in the Netherlands in particular - is grounded on research of the most important Dutch contemporary sources, that is, on a close reading of the most important and widest circulating articles, reports and op-eds concerning the ideas and suggestions of the Limits to Growth-report as it came out in the early 1970s. To this body of sources, in order to explore the political relevance of such an emerging environmentalism, this thesis adds an overview of parliamentary debates and governmental deliberations, which are crucial to further embedding the Club of Rome’s reports into the Dutch evolving socio-political landscape. Finally, a large body of secondary literature helps this thesis to problematize and operationalize the most important terms of the discussion, from environmentalism to modelling, while contextualizing them historically and geographically.Show less
In this research,I focus on two specific instances where the vanquished wrote their version of history to influence how nations should understand their past and their sense of national identity....Show moreIn this research,I focus on two specific instances where the vanquished wrote their version of history to influence how nations should understand their past and their sense of national identity. Specifically, I am proposing a comparative analysis, using Discourse Analysis (DA), of how history can be rewritten by the vanquished, to variant degrees of effectiveness and in very comparable manner, by societies that differs from each other both historically and geographically. I do so by analysing a selected number of works from those authors most relevant for the propagation of the counternarratives that constitute those Lost Cause myths and that in various forms were able to politically endure and even thrive in the post-conflict reality governed by very victors they seemed to despise and distrust.Show less
British- and American forces intervened in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. Due to their conflicting goals and the stark differences between the world views of the commanders on the ground,...Show moreBritish- and American forces intervened in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. Due to their conflicting goals and the stark differences between the world views of the commanders on the ground, any serious cooperation between the two forces was made impossbile.Show less
This thesis shows the reluctant imperialist rhetoric stems from the “exceptionalism trope” underlying contemporaneous debates over Dutch colonialism. Instead it is insisted the activities of the...Show moreThis thesis shows the reluctant imperialist rhetoric stems from the “exceptionalism trope” underlying contemporaneous debates over Dutch colonialism. Instead it is insisted the activities of the Dutch East India Company along Java’s Northeast Coast between 1704 and 1720 can best be understood as a civilising mission. On the one hand, it is shown how the Dutch presence in Asia was imagined as a benign commercial enterprise, aimed at fostering intercultural cooperation and mutual friendship between nations. On the other hand, it is argued that the encounter with the non-European world stimulated the gradual proliferation of orientalist discourses, which eventually signalled the emergence of the Company as a the predecessor of the modern colonial state.Show less
Germany went into the war in the belief that the war would be intense, but that it would be comparatively short and manageable. This way of thinking was not particularly driven by well thought out...Show moreGermany went into the war in the belief that the war would be intense, but that it would be comparatively short and manageable. This way of thinking was not particularly driven by well thought out theories, instead it was a product of necessity. Because there was no substitute for the Schlieffen plan, in combination with the slow descent of the conflict in into a static bloodbath, German politicians and military leaders tried to find another way out of the catastrophe that the war had devolved into. These factors would eventually result in increasing pressure for the conclusion of the war through a peace initiative. This research paper set out to outline three major arguments. Firstly, that the main German peace offers were sincere in trying to conclude a negotiated peace. Secondly, that there was significant support for peace initiatives both in the general populace and in the military and political elite, although it did vary greatly per initiative. And finally, that the war dragged on because the minimum terms of both sides were deemed unacceptable by the governments and populations which put significant pressure on governments. This view directly contradicts the long-held argumentation along the lines of the Fischer-these and its later iterations which state that the peace initiatives were mainly a ruse and that the sole goal of the German government was the domination of Europe through extensive annexations and creating a network of puppet states. Especially the 1916 general peace offer is a strong piece of evidence that there were significant elements surrounding Bethmann-Hollweg and the Kaiser in the German state that were ready to conclude a peace without these extensive demands. Furthermore, the plethora of enthusiastic newspaper articles in combination with the support of mass-parties like the SPD and Zentrum for some of the proposals indicate that at least some of these peace initiatives could count on significant support from the German population.Show less
This thesis examines to what extent Lega turned itself and its creation of the Padanian nation into a political religion between 1989 and 2001. It researches how Lega Nord and the nation it created...Show moreThis thesis examines to what extent Lega turned itself and its creation of the Padanian nation into a political religion between 1989 and 2001. It researches how Lega Nord and the nation it created aimed to involve itself in all aspects of its followers’ lives, and present them with a sense of community and purpose. The story Lega told, the symbols, myths and liturgy it used played an essential part in the development of this political religion. It is this story, these symbols and the liturgy that form the core of this thesis.Show less
