General Dutch Fascist League

The General Dutch Fascist League (in Dutch Algemeene Nederlandsche Fascisten Bond, ANFB) was a Dutch fascist party. It was founded on 29 June 1932 and dissolved in 1934. The leader of ANFB was Jan Baars, a merchant from Amsterdam.

History

ANFB won 17,157 votes in the general elections of 1933, 0.46% of the total. This was insufficient for a seat in parliament.

ANFB then entered into a 'corporative concentration' with the followers of Alfred Haighton and the National Union. Jan Baars did not get on with Carel Gerretson (the leader of National Union), therefore Baars quit ANFB. Consequently, ANFB floundered without its leader and disappeared.^[1]

Ideology

The party sought to create a volksfascisme, although they failed to fully define this aim; despite their rhetoric, the party was considered closer to Benito Mussolini than Adolf Hitler.

Branches

• Amsterdam: Albert Levy Themans led the Amsterdam branch of the General Dutch Fascist League. Levy Themans was criticized by Jewish supporters of the Social Democratic Workers' Party for his limited political knowledge.^[2][3] As Levy Themans pointed out, the General Dutch Fascist League was not antisemitic.^[2] Jan Baars later joined the resistance against the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

References

1. Rees, Philip (1990). Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 18. ISBN 0-13-089301-3.
2. "Fascisme en Jodendom" [Fascism and Judaism]. Het Volk. 18 November 1933. p. 3. Retrieved 13 April 2021 – via Delpher.
3. "Kameraad Levy Themans als reisleider" [Comrad Levy Themans as tour guide]. Het Volk. 21 November 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 13 April 2021 – via Delpher.

Further reading

Payne, Stanley G. (2001). A History of Fascism 1914-1945. London: Routledge. p. 302.