Sources

The East and the War

Open letters from the Egyptian revolutionary Dr Rifat to the German Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg published and commented on by an anonymous anti-colonial journalist in the Dutch-Indonesian weekly…

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-British, anti-colonialism, Dutch, Dutch East Indies, Egypt, German Revolutionary Program, internationalism, Netherlands, newspapers, pro-German, Propaganda

'Is India loyal?'

The Dutch translation of the pamphlet 'Is India loyal?' was originally written in English and published by the German sponsored Indian National Party in 1915. To read fragments of the original source…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Neutrality; Language; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-colonialism, Dutch, English, German Revolutionary Program, Great-Britain, India, Language, nationalism, Neutrality, orientalists, pamphlet, Propaganda, revolution, The Netherlands

The Film World

A Dutch film magazine, established by Belgian refugees but taken over and financed by the German embassy in the summer of 1918.

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Themes: Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Film
Tags: film propaganda, German, Neutrality, The Netherlands

'To the Netherlands'

Poem written on a postcard, in which 'a Belgian refugee' thanks the Netherlands for its hospitality.

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Themes: Poem; Neutrality; Captivity
Tags: Belgium, Camp, Neutrality, Poem, Refugees, The Netherlands

'Causeries from Java'. Review of the British propaganda film The Battle of the Somme in the Dutch East Indies

Film review by the Dutch playwright and journalist Henri van Wermeskerken published in De Sumatra Post on 21 April 1917.

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Imperial Strategy; Film
Tags: Dutch East Indies, film propaganda, German Revolutionary Program, Neutrality, newspapers, The Netherlands

Song of the Greater Netherlands

In this poem, René de Clercq, one of the most popular Flemish poets of the era, celebrates his allegiance to the 'Great Netherlands'. During the war he took part in the German propaganda policy to…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Poem; Neutrality; Language; Imperial Strategy
Tags: Belgium, Flamenpolitik, Flemish, Flemish activism, Great Netherlands, Poem, South Africa, The Netherlands

'Who still talks about decadent France?'
Cartoon 'The Battle of Verdun'

Cartoon on the Battle of Verdun by Johan Braakensiek, published in the Dutch weekly De Amsterdammer, 5 March 1916. The cartoon shows France imagined as a powerful 'antique' woman, who stops an…

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Intellectual Exchange; Gender
Tags: anti-German, cartoon, France, Gender, nationalism, Neutrality, pro-French, Propaganda, Race, The Netherlands

German prisoners in Algiers

A postcard picturing German prisoners in Algiers. On the reverse are words printed in poor Dutch: 'One can see from the look of them that they have not suffered from their treatment' ('Men kan hat hem…

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Themes: Propaganda; Postcard; Neutrality; Language; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: Algeria, Camp, France, Germany, postcard, POWs, Propaganda, Soldiers

Maciste alpino

Italian propaganda film starring Bartolomeo Pagano announced in Dutch press adverts (https://vimeo.com/119842926).

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Film
Tags: Anti-German propaganda, film propaganda, Netherlands, Neutrality

To the American People

Dutch manifesto of the Holland section of the League of Neutral States directed at American citizens in December 1916.

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Neutrality; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-German, Neutrality, Pacifism, Propaganda, South Africa, The Netherlands, United States

Great War Publicity: Particular Countries - the 'Moslem World'

In this report of 20 December 1916, the British Foreign Office outlines its propaganda activities in the Muslim world. The list demonstrates the global scope of British-led ‘Muslim propaganda’…

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-German, Arabic, cartoon, Dutch East Indies, Great-Britain, Imperial identity, imperial strategy, Java, Language, Muslims, newspapers, pamphlet, pan-Islamism, Propaganda, Race, The Netherlands, Wellington House

The Execution of Josef Fourie

In this poem, the Dutch poet Albert Verwey criticises the execution of Boer rebel Josef Fourie by the pro-British government of South Africa. Verwey defends the rights of the Dutch-speaking Afrikaners…

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Themes: Race; Poem; Neutrality; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-British, Boer war, Dutch, Great Netherlands, Poem, poet, Race, South Africa, The Netherlands

Second plan of work for Bangkok by Ernest Douwes Dekker

In this report addressed to the German Foreign Office, the anti-colonial Indonesian writer and politician Ernest Douwes Dekker (image 1) describes his secret mission to travel from Rotterdam to…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Neutrality; Mobility; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy; Captivity
Tags: anti-British, anti-colonialism, Berlin Indian Independence Committee, colonial intellectual, Dutch East Indies, Ernest Douwes Dekker, German Revolutionary Program, Germany, Imperial identity, imperial strategy, India, Java, nationalism, Neutrality, The Netherlands

I accuse! (J'accuse!) By a German, with a preface by Frederik van Eeden, 1915

Dutch translation of the famous German, anti-war manifesto J'accuse by a German, written anonymously but most likely by the German pacifist Richard Grelling. To read the original introduction in Dutch…

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-German, Dutch, Van Eeden, writer

1830

This June 1916 cover of the German sponsored Dutch magazine De Toorts (The Torch) shows how a French woman tears Flanders away from the Dutch king Willem I in 1830, the year in which Belgium became…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Language; Imperial Strategy

Royal Stearine Candle Factory in Gouda (1918)

Documentary film showing production processes in the Royal Candle Factory in Gouda in the Netherlands…

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Film
Tags: film propaganda, nationalism, Neutrality, The Netherlands

War News

Newspaper advert for a cinema screening in Amsterdam in 1915. The film programme usually consisted of three different features, ideally each from a different country (preferably neutral). An essential…

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Film
Tags: film propaganda, Netherlands, Neutrality

East and West in the War

Newspaper article by the Dutch writer Henri Borel on the entry of British and French colonial troops in the war. The article 'East and West in the War' was published in the colonial newspaper…

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Neutrality; Mobility; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-colonialism, Colonial Troops, Dutch, France, Great-Britain, imperial strategy, India, internationalism, Race, The Netherlands, writer

Exploitation of Films in Holland and Dutch Colonies

Front page of consular correspondence on the distribution of British film propaganda in the Netherlands and its colonies.

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Neutrality; Imperial Strategy; Film
Tags: colonies, film propaganda, Netherlands, pro-British

Report of Richard von Kühlmann, German envoy in the Netherlands, to the German chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg, 5 October 1915

In this October 1915 report, the German envoy in the Netherlands, Richard von Kühlmann, discussed German ambitions in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Flanders. To read the original report, please click…

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Themes: Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: Belgium, cultural propaganda, Flamenpolitik, Flemish, Flemish activism, German Revolutionary Program, Germany, imperial strategy, Language, Neutrality, official documents, Race, The Netherlands

For my Fatherland

This second part of the poem 'For my Fatherland' is written by the poet Raden Mas Noto Soeroto, a Javanese prince. He was the first Indonesian poet to write Dutch. During the war, he was introduced to…

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Themes: Race; Poem; Neutrality; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-colonialism, colonial intellectual, Dutch, Dutch East Indies, Imperial identity, Java, nationalism, poet, Tagore

German propaganda in Islamic countries, March 1917

In this report of 18 March 1917, the French envoy Henri Allizé to The Hague listed all pan-Islamic propaganda printed by German officials in the Netherlands and circulated to the British and French…

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Themes: Religion; Race; Propaganda; Newspapers & Magazines; Neutrality; Language; Intellectual Exchange; Imperial Strategy
Tags: anti-colonialism, Dutch, Dutch East Indies, France, German Revolutionary Program, Malay, Muslims, official documents, pamphlet, pan-Islamism, Propaganda, revolution, The Netherlands

Neutral Holland. The Army and Navy film

Dutch official propaganda film, showing the readiness of the Dutch army and navy to defend their country's neutrality.https://www.eyefilm.nl/en/collection/film-history/film/leger-en-vlootfilm

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Film
Tags: film propaganda, Netherlands, Neutrality

If only you would've had me!

Propaganda postcard promoting Dutch neutrality by the Dutch painter Theo Molkenboer.

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Themes: Propaganda; Postcard; Neutrality
Tags: Dutch, Neutrality, postcard, Propaganda, The Netherlands

The Legend of Saint Barbara

An Italian propaganda film depicting the Germans as vandals trying to destroy ancient Roman civilisation and whose women were ready to fight for freedom to the bitter…

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Themes: Propaganda; Neutrality; Imperial Strategy; Gender; Film
Tags: anti-German, film propaganda, Neutrality