The reconciliation processes in the Netherlands and Japan, shaped by their dual roles as aggressors and victims of war, reveal shared and divergent paths influenced by postcolonial legacies. This...Show moreThe reconciliation processes in the Netherlands and Japan, shaped by their dual roles as aggressors and victims of war, reveal shared and divergent paths influenced by postcolonial legacies. This paper aims to explore these similarities and differences through a comparative analysis supported by existing scholarship. Both nations' reconciliation efforts were challenging, with national trauma narratives focusing on the suffering of the ethnic majority and reinforcing victim and hero myths, often excluding minority communities. The rise of diasporic ethnonationalism among the Moluccan community in the Netherlands and the Zainichi Korean community in Japan reflects responses to historical injustices and the lack of recognition for their suffering. These communities have gained broader societal recognition in the post-Cold War era, indicating some progress in reconciliation. Significant differences include the influence of ultranationalist revisionism on politics. In Japan, groups like Nippon Kaigi, with members in high political offices, significantly hinder reconciliation with neighboring countries such as South Korea and China. In contrast, right-wing populism in the Netherlands, while rising, lacks comparable political influence. Both the Netherlands and Japan have engaged in government-led investigations and issued formal apologies for wartime actions, though Japan's public discourse remains more constrained, particularly regarding the atomic bombings and issues like the comfort women. Unresolved grievances and historical revisionism continue to pose challenges today. The Netherlands' open critique and apologies mark steps towards reconciliation, while Japan's efforts are impeded by internal and external tensions, leaving full reconciliation uncertain. This comparative analysis underscores the complexities of national memory and the ongoing struggle for historical recognition and justice in postcolonial societies.Show less
The year 2020 marked 81 years since the start of the Second World War and Ireland’s declaration to abstain from it. As time continues, we become further and further detached from the events in...Show moreThe year 2020 marked 81 years since the start of the Second World War and Ireland’s declaration to abstain from it. As time continues, we become further and further detached from the events in human past that have so greatly affected the world we live in today, however, the study of history can bring these events closer to the modern human experience. This artificial closeness can be used as a tool to explain how and why historical events occurred as they did and allow us to learn more about not only the world of yesterday but also the world of tomorrow. This thesis will use Ireland’s 1939-1945 policy of neutrality to test neorealism and liberalism to assess what can be learned not only about said theories, but too the history they are applied to. This can hopefully shine more light on how current theories can be applied outside of the modern world.Show less
This thesis aims to analyse how the commemoration of the battle of Berlin (1945) changed in the post-war Soviet Union and later, the Russian Federation. This analysis is made by examining specific...Show moreThis thesis aims to analyse how the commemoration of the battle of Berlin (1945) changed in the post-war Soviet Union and later, the Russian Federation. This analysis is made by examining specific monuments and other sites of commemoration, such as museums and parks. This thesis adds to pre-existing research into memory culture in the Soviet Union and the early years of the Russian Federation.Show less
This research aimed to study the effects of the Second World War on the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. The effects of the cultural politics imposed by the Nazis were considered, including censorship for...Show moreThis research aimed to study the effects of the Second World War on the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. The effects of the cultural politics imposed by the Nazis were considered, including censorship for libraries. In addition, the effects of the threat of air raids were examined, such as the measures the library took to safeguard their collection. Finally, the many effects of the war on the functioning of library services and activities are analysed in this study.Show less
The thesis presents how victimization and revisionism is used in Japan to address the historical memories of the Second World War, by showcasing elements of both in the anime titled Zipang.
The thesis is a selection from the handwritten diaries of Dr. Maria Madi, a non-Jewish doctor who lived in Budapest between 1941 and 1945. In the diaries’ entries Dr. Madi describes everything she...Show moreThe thesis is a selection from the handwritten diaries of Dr. Maria Madi, a non-Jewish doctor who lived in Budapest between 1941 and 1945. In the diaries’ entries Dr. Madi describes everything she experiences: on one hand, she mentions air raids, Nazi Propaganda, and food rationing, on the other she talks about personal subjects, such as missing her daughter, who immigrated to the United States. Moreover, in 1944 she hides in her home for several months two Jewish people, an incredible brave act that will make Madi a “Righteous Among the Nations.”Show less
During the Second World War, around 11 million Slavs have been systematically murdered by Nazi forces in a war of extermination in Eastern Europe. Part of Generalplan Ost, the extermination was...Show moreDuring the Second World War, around 11 million Slavs have been systematically murdered by Nazi forces in a war of extermination in Eastern Europe. Part of Generalplan Ost, the extermination was aimed not just at forcing Slavs into slave labour, but at physically exterminating big parts of the Slavic people. These murders were planned by the Nazi leaders. Although the Second World War and its horrors are a big part of our contemporary society, the genocide on the Slavs has been kept remarkably silent.Show less
There exists a genre of propaganda posters produced by Britian, Germany and Russia during the Second World War that all make use of historical imagery. This thesis discusses and analyses the use of...Show moreThere exists a genre of propaganda posters produced by Britian, Germany and Russia during the Second World War that all make use of historical imagery. This thesis discusses and analyses the use of history in propaganda posters, comparing how these very different countries produced strikingly similar political art.Show less
This thesis does not deal with orthodox questions about Nazism (how they came to power or how Nazis could kill millions of people). These issues have long been addressed. This thesis deals with a...Show moreThis thesis does not deal with orthodox questions about Nazism (how they came to power or how Nazis could kill millions of people). These issues have long been addressed. This thesis deals with a more nuanced question, namely what cultural ideas of Europe Nazis appealed to. This paper demonstrates that the Nazis pretended to promote European culture and save European cinema, while their pan-European appeals solely served to strengthen German influence, increase German impact and widen German dominion. It dissects their meticulously planned strategy to indoctrinate international audiences and subordinate national film industries. This thesis ultimately shows how Europe was deployed as a rhetorical weapon.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
During and shortly after WOII three modern adaptations of Euripides' Alcestis appeared: Le Mystère d'Alceste by Marguerite Yourcenar (1942), Alcesti di Samuele by Alberto Savinio (1949), and The...Show moreDuring and shortly after WOII three modern adaptations of Euripides' Alcestis appeared: Le Mystère d'Alceste by Marguerite Yourcenar (1942), Alcesti di Samuele by Alberto Savinio (1949), and The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot. Alcestis' motivation to sacrifice herself and her reaction on returning to her husband turned out to be blank spots in Euripides' tragedy. The three modern writers gave their main characters three drastically different reasons and reactions. This could partly be explained by their relation to the Second World War.Show less
An analysis of how the politics of Japan during the 1930s and 1940s influenced the admission and treatment of both Jewish European and Chinese refugees in the Chinese city of Shanghai.
The Yugoslav Wars that plagued the 1990s saw horrors that many thought were inconceivable in modern Europe. There are two leading schools of thought as to what caused the conflicts. Though both...Show moreThe Yugoslav Wars that plagued the 1990s saw horrors that many thought were inconceivable in modern Europe. There are two leading schools of thought as to what caused the conflicts. Though both schools of thought are quick to accuse Milošević of playing a large part in the instigation of the conflicts, there has been a lack of literature analysing how Milošević helped to instigate the conflicts.Show less
‘We shall uphold, the centuries-old tradition of the Dutch Navy, that has already been demonstrated in European waters, this now shall be in service of preserving our regions [in the Far East]’...Show more‘We shall uphold, the centuries-old tradition of the Dutch Navy, that has already been demonstrated in European waters, this now shall be in service of preserving our regions [in the Far East]’ Lieutenant-Admiral C.E.L. Helfrich, Commander in Chief of the Netherlands Indies forces, wrote on 9 December 1941 after the Dutch Minister of the Navy and the Commander in Chief of the Navy, J.Th. Furstner had wished him the best of luck in the conduct of war against Japan. In reaction to the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour, Malacca and Singapore on 7 December 1941, the Netherlands government had declared itself at war with Japan because of hostile acts against ‘two powers with which the Netherlands entertains most friendly relations’. As early as 1912 the Dutch government had identified Japan as a potential threat to the Netherlands Indies. Therefore the Dutch had designed a fleet program to match the Japanese strength. During the mid-1930s Japan actively started conquering territories in the Far East in order to realize the New Order of Eastern Asia, a confederation of Pacific territories under Japanese leadership. From this point on, the Japanese conquest in Southeast Asia became a great threat to forces with interest in the region, including the United States and Britain, as well as the Dutch, as colonial rulers of the Indonesian archipelago. On the eve of the Second World War the Dutch defence potential was no match for the Japanese forces. Thus, the Dutch started looking for an alliance to withstand a possible conflict in the Pacific theatre with Japan. However, the Dutch had maintained to uphold a longstanding tradition of political neutrality since the beginning of the nineteenth century, and had even managed to stay out of the First World War because of this. But soon it became evident that the policy of neutrality would not keep the Dutch out of the Second World War. So the Dutch had to re-evaluate their position, in order to survive a future conflict. Whereas the upside of the Dutch policy of neutrality was that it had been able to avoid involvement in previous wars, the downside was that they were not prepared to actively take part in a war should one become inevitable. Eventually, after several official and unofficial conferences and talks with the allied parties in the Pacific, and more specifically after the shock of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, a unified command, called ABDACOM was established on 28 December 1941. ABDACOM (American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) intended to fight the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia and to protect the British and the Dutch colonies in this region, as well as the Philippines and Australia. The efforts of ABDACOM to prevent Japan from taking over the Allied controlled territories in the Pacific failed. On 25 February 1942 ABDACOM was dissolved with disastrous consequences for the Allied presence in the Pacific. Two days later, on 27 February the Battle of the Java Sea resulted in a great loss for the Dutch fleet and the eventual loss of the Netherlands Indies. The efforts of the ‘unquenchable soldiers of the British Commonwealth’, ‘the men of MacArthur’ and the ‘band of “indomitable Dutch”, with their Indonesian comrades in arms’ failed to stop the Japanese aggression.Show less
This thesis deals with the Dutch governmental plans for re-establishment of the Dutch colonial army in the Netherlands East Indies, the Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger (KNIL) after the Second...Show moreThis thesis deals with the Dutch governmental plans for re-establishment of the Dutch colonial army in the Netherlands East Indies, the Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger (KNIL) after the Second World War would have ended. These plans were made between 1942 and 1945, when Japan occupied the Netherlands East Indies. After the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, Dutch preparations turned out to be insufficient, because of the different expectations the Dutch government had about the possibilities of the colonial soldiers than what they were capable of in reality. These colonial soldiers, both Dutch, Indo-Dutch and Indonesian, had been captured and used as forced labourers by the Japanese during the war years. They were unable to fight against Indonesian nationalists and therefore the Dutch government was forced to also call other armed forces from the Netherlands to Asia. Several plans that were made during the Second World War were the establishment of the Mariniersbrigade (Marine Corps), recruitment of war volunteers and from 1946, a call for Dutch conscript soldiers was also made. Especially the period between 15 August 1945 and March 1946, when the British occupational forces allowed Dutch forces to re-enter the colony for the first time, is rarely investigated in historiography. This thesis fills in that gap, both in time and in topic.Show less
This thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out...Show moreThis thesis constitutes the first monograph on British propaganda for Spain during the Second World War, as part of the British war effort to diminish Nazi influence in Spain and to keep Franco out of the war or to defer his entry as long as possible. From his appointment as ‘special’ ambassador to Spain, Sir Samuel Hoare’s personal appeasing initiatives quickly escalated into a systematic and well-organised propaganda organisation with headquarters at the Madrid embassy. With the help of the embassy staff, Hoare managed to establish an important network of contacts that ensured that British propaganda material breached Franco’s restrictions and reached Spaniards from all classes and regions. As this study argues, the embassy’s propaganda successes were mainly due to the fact that the propagandists knew how to adjust British interests to Spanish customs and norms. For instance, this thesis will give detailed account on the functioning of some peculiar methods of propaganda such as the so-called Religious Propaganda and the Embassy Medical Service. Lastly, this study will also analyse the propagandists’ constant exposure to violent aggressions at hands of the police and the members of the Falange, as well as their struggle to keep British opinion as neutral as possible regarding Spain.Show less
