The interwar period saw the rise of the European metropolis as 'hubs' of transnational anti-colonialism. This thesis focuses on the city of Amsterdam as one of these hubs and adds a spatial...Show moreThe interwar period saw the rise of the European metropolis as 'hubs' of transnational anti-colonialism. This thesis focuses on the city of Amsterdam as one of these hubs and adds a spatial approach to the historiography of the European anti-colonial 'hub'. Researching anti-colonial internationalism from a spatial perspective gives new insights into the interconnectedness of internationalism and specific sites. Transnational organizations and actors who formulated and propagated ideas on anti-colonialism were always grounded in spatial contexts. The approach to space and spatiality in this thesis is inspired by the research project ‘Conferencing the International: A Cultural and Historical Geography of the Origins of Internationalism, 1919-39’, which ran between 2015-2020 and was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This project approached internationalism from a geographical perspective, studying how divergent forms of internationalisms manifested themselves in international conferences in the interwar period. Informed by both the research project, the book Placing Internationalism, and the project’s virtual exhibition, this thesis examines the relationship between transnational anti-colonialism and the spaces of anti-colonial activity in Amsterdam.Show less
Building on recent scholarly work on anticolonialism in European metropoles, this thesis looks into the activists and initiatives that advanced an anticolonial agenda in the interwar Dutch...Show moreBuilding on recent scholarly work on anticolonialism in European metropoles, this thesis looks into the activists and initiatives that advanced an anticolonial agenda in the interwar Dutch metropole from 1927 to 1935. This thesis places its focus on three main groups: activists from the Netherlands, the Dutch colonies and other parts of the global South and turns towards initiatives like the World Congress against Imperialist War (1932) in Amsterdam. Devoting special attention to the Dutch branch of the League against Imperialism (the LAI-NL), this thesis seeks to carve out an hitherto understudied part of Dutch, colonial and global history.Show less
Ilminjuŭi is generally known for an ideology that President Syngman Rhee attempted to use in the early years of the First Republic in order to create a single-minded unity. There are many writings...Show moreIlminjuŭi is generally known for an ideology that President Syngman Rhee attempted to use in the early years of the First Republic in order to create a single-minded unity. There are many writings about Syngman Rhee, and he is often portrayed as a nationalist and staunch anti-communist. However, the part where he tried to promote Ilminjuŭi and how this ideology functioned during his rule, often gets overlooked. Ilminjuŭi has been only a minor focus of studies on Syngman Rhee and his long career of fighting for an independent Korea and for what he thought was right. Most of the existing literature explain what Ilminjuŭi is, who created it, and that Rhee tried to use this idea of creating a single-minded unity during the early years First Republic, before the start of the Korean War. This thesis therefore distinguishes from existing literature by looking at primary sources from Korean news articles during the time of the entire First Republic. The news articles are used to give an idea how Ilminjuŭi was reported through media and how this idea was being disseminated. The ideology seems to have died out shortly after the Rhee period. Therefore, I went on an academic journey to analyze how and where this ideology was most influential, and where was the turning point that led to Ilminjuŭi becoming less influential in Korean society. The research questions of my thesis are therefore, “How was Ilminjuŭi spread and reported through media, and spread by the government during the First Republic?” and secondly, “What were possible indicators that led to the vanishment of Ilminjuŭi?”.Show less
A bachelor thesis research about the depiction of several communist interventions in East Europa through the eyes of Dutch communists and their newspaper De Waarheid.
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
Aan de hand van het leven van de sociaaldemocraat en later communist Wijtze Nutters is onderzocht welke positie de wereldhulptaal Esperanto innam in de arbeidersbeweging. Nutters stierf in 1926 en...Show moreAan de hand van het leven van de sociaaldemocraat en later communist Wijtze Nutters is onderzocht welke positie de wereldhulptaal Esperanto innam in de arbeidersbeweging. Nutters stierf in 1926 en zijn bedragen zijn voornamelijk in de jaren tien, nog voordat de internationale organisatie Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda de hoofdrol in de historiografie omtrent het arbeidersesperantisme gaat spelen en voordat de Nederlandse Federacio de Laboristaj Esperantistoj haar hoogtijdagen kent. Alhoewel organisatiegeschiedenis de norm is in de Esperanto-historiografie heeft dit onderzoek juist geprobeerd te ontdekken wat er buiten deze organisaties plaatsvond.Show less
This thesis will use qualitative research methods in order to bridge the gap between the Post-Soviet and the Postcolonial studies. Over the past years Postcolonial literature began dominating...Show moreThis thesis will use qualitative research methods in order to bridge the gap between the Post-Soviet and the Postcolonial studies. Over the past years Postcolonial literature began dominating Universities across the world. The theories presented by Postcolonial scholars are gaining more legitimacy in the international arena, providing an insight into the identity crisis experienced by the global society. This piece will analyse the two main concepts presented by Postcolonial scholars: the Empire and Modernity. The concepts will be examined in the light of Post-Soviet literature. The interrelation of Postcolonial theory with the narrative on Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe will unveil the extent to which U.S.S.R can be considered as a colonial Empire. The Soviet rule did not only have the negative consequences on the material and social infrastructure of Eastern European nations, the colonial power has also contributed to the creation of a stereotype of “Eastern bloc” and the belief in a clear cut divide of Europe, which also is referred as the “Iron Curtain”. Such stereotypes still inhabit the imagination of many across the world. Nevertheless such conception of Eastern Europe is inaccurate as portrayed by the comparison of the historical narratives from Romania and Poland in the later part of the thesis. The article will conclude with the manner in which these stereotypes have been resisted within and outside of the Eastern side of the “Iron Curtain””.Show less
The prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal...Show moreThe prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal-capitalism; the United States. Using American Exceptionalism as a theoretical construct this paper argues that developments in Guatemala were viewed within the State Department and the CIA from a position that restated historical assumptions of American superiority. This paper looks at the CIA coup against Guatemalan President Jacob Arbenz through a unique analytical lens that seeks to move away from a strictly Cold War narrative. Contesting values of rule and governance came to the fore in conceptualising a fictitious communist threat and fostered the belief among policymakers that President Arbenz should be removed from office. This paper will address how these beliefs resonated in policy making through an appropriation of American Exceptionalism to the Guatemalan coup.Show less
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
open access
After WWII the Dutch government wanted to be more involved in informing the public of its doings and in preparing it for the dangers that might present themselves. One of the ways to reach the...Show moreAfter WWII the Dutch government wanted to be more involved in informing the public of its doings and in preparing it for the dangers that might present themselves. One of the ways to reach the public were the newsreels shown in movie theaters, which had a weekly reach of over 1 million. Through the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (Government Informing Service) the government installed an editorial committee which safeguarded the newsreels and determined which items should be shown and which were deemed unfit. This committee had members of the RVD, journalists and Polygoon-Profilti editors. Over the years this committee grew to a standing committee with its own morals and values. When the cold war accellerated with the events of 1948-1950, the government now had a renewed interest in the items shown in the newsreels. Their content could potentially be used in the fight against communism. This paper investigates how newsreels were made, with what convictions they were made and to what extent the government controlled or tried to control this committee. In doing so, the paper also investigates the interplay between the committee and the government in the setting of the early cold war.Show less
