As civil war broke out in Spain the entire world watched. The deeply ideological nature of the conflict ensured it spurred public interest worldwide. In the Netherlands too the public took sides, a...Show moreAs civil war broke out in Spain the entire world watched. The deeply ideological nature of the conflict ensured it spurred public interest worldwide. In the Netherlands too the public took sides, a process regulated by the existing pillarisation. Most Dutch catholics supported Franco, though the pillar also knew some dissidents. This paper looks at the argumentation used by Dutch catholics for their position in the civil war, using newspapers and books as sources. Through this research it tries to add to the existing views on the interwar Netherlands and to the corpus of research on how the civil war was perceived outside of Spain.Show less
Why should the term 'foreign fighter' be applicable to women serving non-violently in transnational insurgencies both past and present? Using case studies of women migrating from western countries...Show moreWhy should the term 'foreign fighter' be applicable to women serving non-violently in transnational insurgencies both past and present? Using case studies of women migrating from western countries to serve in Spain during the Spanish Civil War as well as studying the more recent migration of western women to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria, this thesis explores how female volunteers fit into existing frameworks of the foreign fighter despite often being unrecognised as such.Show less
The focus of this thesis is on the role of the Dutch national identity in the perceptions and experiences of a wide array of Dutch Spainfighters, who volunteered to fight on the Republican side in...Show moreThe focus of this thesis is on the role of the Dutch national identity in the perceptions and experiences of a wide array of Dutch Spainfighters, who volunteered to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. It aims to understand how the volunteers dealt with the potential for clashes between the imagined communities of the Dutch nation-state and the border transcending, transnational appeal of their left-wing ideology. This thesis demonstrates that they felt loyalty both to the transnational community of left-wing and communist sympathizers, and the national Dutch community. It argues that the motivation of the Spainfighters is closely linked to their national identity, which they tried to construct in symbiosis with their transnational thoughts via the message of anti-fascism. As such, the thesis adds to the understanding of the phenomenon of foreign fighters. Next to the conscious building of national identity, national sentiments and practical culture played a considerable role in the daily reality of the Spainfighters, which is especially relevant if the rather mythical image of the International Brigades as a classic example of a transnational army is taken into account. As the case of the Dutch Spainfighters illustrates, the International Brigades provided space and even recognition for national identity as an organizing entity and as such functioned more as an ideologically motivated international army. For this reason, this thesis suggests that the fundaments of the supposedly transnational movement of support to the Spanish Republic may partly be built on national tensions and the resulting compromises. While studying transnational movements in the twentieth century, it therefore may be worth the effort to analyze the role of national identity, of national political culture.Show less
This thesis examines how contemporary Spanish “Recovery of Historical Memory” have acted as “pressure groups” in their quest to gain recognition for approximately 30.000 Republicans that died of...Show moreThis thesis examines how contemporary Spanish “Recovery of Historical Memory” have acted as “pressure groups” in their quest to gain recognition for approximately 30.000 Republicans that died of Francoist violence and who are buried in hundreds of mass graves throughout Spain until today. In order to do so, this work performs a case study analysis of two Spanish “Recovery of Historical Memory” organizations, ARMH and Foro, and examines what activities these associations have carried out between their emergence in 2000 and 2007, when Spain implemented a Historical Memory law. The information in this thesis is based on secondary literature, primary sources, Spanish blogposts by members of both ARMH and Foro on their official websites respectively and interviews that the author has conducted with association members from ARMH in Spanish. The main argument that will be put forth, is that there have been four ways through which the associations have acted as “pressure groups” and have tried to gain public recognition for the Republican dead: (1) via the use of media campaigns, (2) by organizing protests, (3) by means of popular participation in national politics and (4) via collaboration with international organizations. In addition to this, this thesis argues that ARMH has been the most successful in influencing the Spanish government, by pressuring Madrid through their collaboration with international organizations. Moreover, this thesis contributes to two main bodies of scholarly literature: “pressure groups” and “Recovery of Historical Memory” literature since it provides new insights in how “Recovery of Historical Memory” organizations act as “pressure groups”, and it diversifies the existing scholarship that deals with these “Recovery of Historical Memory” organizations by considering both ARMH and Foro.Show less
This thesis is a study of the development of the commemoration of the British volunteers of the International Brigades. It analyzes the accounts written by these volunteers and establishes which...Show moreThis thesis is a study of the development of the commemoration of the British volunteers of the International Brigades. It analyzes the accounts written by these volunteers and establishes which historical events influenced this in the period between the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the present day.Show less
Bachelorscriptie over transitional justice in Spanje en de breuk met het 'pacto del olvido' door middel van een analyse van de polemiek die ontstond rond de zoektocht naar het graf van de Spaanse...Show moreBachelorscriptie over transitional justice in Spanje en de breuk met het 'pacto del olvido' door middel van een analyse van de polemiek die ontstond rond de zoektocht naar het graf van de Spaanse dichter Federico García Lorca.Show less
This thesis is focused on the perception of foreign newspapers about the Barcelona May Days. Its central theme is the elimination of the POUMist faction and how this was reported in six different...Show moreThis thesis is focused on the perception of foreign newspapers about the Barcelona May Days. Its central theme is the elimination of the POUMist faction and how this was reported in six different Anglo-Saxon newspapersShow less
