Joris Van Severen (19 July 1894 – 20 May 1940) was a Belgian politician and ideologue of the
Flemish Movement
The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgium, Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought ...
as well as a
Pan-Netherlander. A leading figure of pre-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Flemish nationalism
The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promo ...
, he co-founded the extreme-right group
Verdinaso
Verdinaso (''Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen'', ), sometimes rendered as Dinaso, was a small authoritarian and fascist political party active in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands between 1931 to 1941.
Verdinaso was foun ...
.
Early years
Van Severen was born in the
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
town of
Wakken
Wakken is a village and ''deelgemeente'' in Dentergem municipality, in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The village is located near the confluence of the rivers Lys and Mandel.
History
Wakken is one of the seven oldest parishes in West ...
as Georges Edmond Eduard Van Severen.
His family was Flemish but, in keeping with a number of leading Flemings, spoke the
French language and as such were given the derogatory nickname ''Fransquillon'' by
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
speakers.
Van Severen's father was a prominent lawyer who also served as mayor of Wakken.
Van Severen was educated by
Jesuits in the
Sint-Barbaracollege
Sint-Barbaracollege in Ghent, Belgium, is a private Jesuit school, founded in 1833. It currently includes primary and secondary education.
History
The school is built on the location of a cloister, the "Sint Barbaraklooster in Jerusalem". The c ...
, who taught in French, before studying law at the
University of Ghent
Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
.
Following the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Van Severen was called up to the
Belgian Army
The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...
. Initially a sergeant, he was promoted to second lieutenant in January 1917.
While in the army Van Severen became part of the ''Front Beweging'', a secret Flemish nationalist group active within the Belgian Army, and also wrote an open letter to
King Albert calling for greater autonomy for Flanders.
Philip Rees
Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right.
Works
*''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...
, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890
The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890.
It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...
'', Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 401 The letter, which was the work of Van Severen and other intellectual soldiers such as Corporal Adiel de Beuckelaere, included calls for internal self-government and a separate Flemish Army. When this was discovered Van Severen was interrogated by Military Police about his Flemish nationalist activities and after informing them that he supported the terms of the letter he was sentenced to eight days of house arrest. His ultimate punishment was to be demoted back into the ranks in June 1918.
Political development
Already involved in the Flemish Movement, Van Severen began to develop his own wider
ideology and world view. Towards the end of the war he became a convinced
Russophile and reacted positively towards the
Russian Revolution.
He combined this with a strong
Germanophobia, dismissing
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as "a gang of bandits with no soul".
Alongside this he had a strong faith in the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and in particular admired the Catholic authors
Léon Bloy
Léon Bloy (; 11 July 1846 – 3 November 1917) was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer (or lampoonist), and satirist, known additionally for his eventual (and passionate) defense of Catholicism and for his influence within French C ...
and
Albrecht Rodenbach
Albertus "Albrecht" Petrus Josephus Mansuetus Ferdinandus Rodenbach (; 27 October 1856 – 23 June 1880) was a Flemish poet, and a leader in the revival of Flemish literature that occurred in the late 19th century. He is more noteworthy as a sy ...
, who was also an important figure of inspiration for the Flemish Movement. His ideas began to take shape in the journal ''Ons Vaterland'', which Van Severen and other like-minded soldiers produced from the front.
[Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 402]
Demobilised after the war, Van Severen returned to his studies at Ghent University, where he was chosen as president of the General Flemish Student Union.
In 1921 he became editor of the journal ''Ter Waarheid'' and in this role his ideological outlook developed further as he shifted to the right. Although he had always been a nationalist Van Severen had held some respect for international
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
but by the early 1920s had abandoned this position in favour of a harder-edged nationalist
Jacobinism
A Jacobin (; ) was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary political movement that was the most famous political club during the French Revolution (1789–1799).
The club got its name from meeting at the Dominican rue Saint-Honoré M ...
.
Frontpartij
The only major political outlet for Flemish nationalism after the First World War was the
Frontpartij
The ''Frontpartij'' (Dutch; "Front Party") was a Belgian political party that campaigned for increasing recognition for the Flemish people and their language. Originating from the earlier ''Frontbeweging'' ("Front Movement"), the ''Frontpartij'' w ...
and Van Severen duly joined this group. A candidate for the
Roeselare
Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke.
Th ...
-
Tielt
Tielt (; french: Thielt) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Tielt proper and the villages of Aarsele, Kanegem, and Schuiferskapelle.
History
Some traces of Gallo-Roman occ ...
seat in the
1921 general election he was successful in gaining election to the
Belgian Chamber of Representatives that year.
As a member of the Chamber he supported a policy of "flemicization", encouraging the appointment of Flemings to leading roles in the judiciary, government, armed forces and other public institutions.
As a parliamentarian he gained a reputation as a fiery and committed polemicist, although equally he was wont to lose interest and simply read passages from
Charles Péguy
Charles Pierre Péguy (; 7 January 1873 – 5 September 1914) was a French poet, essayist, and editor. His two main philosophies were socialism and nationalism. By 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy agnosticism, he had become a believing b ...
in the Chamber instead of making speeches.
His shift to the right continued apace as his most admired political philosophers became
Maurice Barrès and
Charles Maurras
Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-par ...
.
Van Severen lost his seat in the
1929 general election and, by then publicly expressing admiration for
Benito Mussolini and
Italian fascism, he established his own journal, ''Jong Dietschland''. In this he argued for the establishment of an independent '
Greater Netherlands
Greater Netherlands () is an irredentist concept which unites the Netherlands, Flanders, and sometimes including Brussels. Additionally, a Greater Netherlands state may include the annexation of the French Westhoek, Suriname, formerly Dutch-spea ...
' in which
Dutch people
The Dutch ( Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Aru ...
, Flemings,
Frisians and
Luxembourgers
Luxembourgers ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerger ) are a Germanic ethnic group and nation native to their nation state of Luxembourg, where they make up around half of the population. They share the culture of Luxembourg and speak Luxembourgish.
Luxembour ...
would unite in a new "''Dietsch''" state.
Although his plan proved popular amongst the students at Ghent, with whom he still held strong influence, the bulk of the ''Frontpartij'' membership, who were mainly war veterans, did not embrace the plan and the party's official newspaper ''De Schelde'' decried
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
.
[Carsten, ''The Rise of Fascism'', p. 208]
Verdinaso
With his plans having been rejected by the ''Frontpartij'' in October 1931 he broke away from that group to establish his own party,
Verdinaso
Verdinaso (''Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen'', ), sometimes rendered as Dinaso, was a small authoritarian and fascist political party active in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands between 1931 to 1941.
Verdinaso was foun ...
.
Containing only 169 members on its foundation, the party was committed to a form of
corporatism
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
that Van Severen called
national-solidarism as well as to
integral nationalism
Integral nationalism (french: nationalisme intégral) is a type of nationalism that originated in 19th-century France, was theorized by Charles Maurras and mainly expressed in the ultra-royalist circles of ''Action Française''. The doctrine is ...
.
At its foundation it actually supported Flemish separatism but before long the group, which was
far right, supported the ''Dietsch'' option. Van Severen advocated the use of force to take over the existing Belgium and then to establish the
Greater Belgium state that he supported.
He also advocated
anti-parliamentarism
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
, something that had been strengthened by his defeat in 1929, during which he felt moderates in the ''Frontpartij'' had deliberately sabotaged his re-election.
His vision would eventually expand to that of the ''Dietsche Rijk'' which, rather than splitting Flanders off from Belgium in order to form the new state, advocated the effective union of the
Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...
countries into a single entity. The change was brought about in part by Van Severen "discovering" in 1934 that the
Walloons
Walloons (; french: Wallons ; wa, Walons) are a Gallo-Romance ethnic group living native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of France. Walloons primarily speak '' langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Wall ...
, like the Flemings, were descended from the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
.
[Christopher Ailsby, ''SS: Hell on the Eastern Front: The Waffen-SS War in Russia 1941-45'', Zenith Imprint,, 1998, p. 88]
In order to get his ideas off the ground Van Severen attempted to come to agreements with other far right movements, notably
Rex and the
Flemish National Union
The ( Dutch for "Flemish National Union" or "Flemish National League"), widely known by its acronym VNV, was a Flemish nationalist political party active in Belgium between 1933 and 1945. , but he was not successful in these endeavours.
His own movement adopted many of the trappings of other European fascist movements, such as the
political uniform
A number of political movements have involved their members wearing uniforms, typically as a way of showing their identity in marches and demonstrations. The wearing of political uniforms has tended to be associated with radical political belie ...
,
Roman salute
The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...
,
Führerprinzip
The (; German for 'leader principle') prescribed the fundamental basis of political authority in the Government of Nazi Germany. This principle can be most succinctly understood to mean that "the Führer's word is above all written law" and th ...
and storm troopers (initially called ''Dinaso Militie'' before a 1934 name change to ''Dinaso Militanten Order''),
although Van Severen was unenthusiastic about the development of fascism, preferring to look back to the more conservative far right ideology of
Action Française
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
.
He was particular unimpressed by
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
, with
Bertrand de Jouvenel
Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins (31 October 1903 – 1 March 1987) was a French philosopher, political economist, and futurist. He taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Manchester, Yale University ...
quoting Van Severen as saying "I detest the
Hitlerians".
Death
Following the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
Van Severen issued an order proscribing the production of any pro-Nazi literature by members of Verdinaso.
Nevertheless, on 9 May 1940, immediately prior to
Fall Gelb
(Case Yellow), the invasion of France and the Low Countries
, scope = Strategic
, type =
, location = South-west Netherlands, central Belgium, northern France
, coordinates =
, planned = 1940
, planned_by = Erich von ...
, Van Severen was one of a number of far right and
far left activists arrested.
The arrested men were put under the care of the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
and stationed near
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
. On 20 May, when the advancing German Army cut off the area, a group of French soldiers carried out
a massacre and killed a number of members of Verdinaso, Rex and the
Belgian Communist Party
french: Parti Communiste de Belgique
, abbreviation = KPB-PCB
, colorcode =
, leader1_title = Historical leaders
, leader1_name = Joseph JacquemotteJulien LahautLouis Van Geyt
, founder = Julien Lahaut
, founded =
, dissolved =
, merge ...
, among them Van Severen.
Twenty one suspects of varying political stripe were selected and executed without trial.
With Van Severen dead, Verdinaso fell apart, with some activists falling into collaboration with the German occupation forces and others following his non-Nazi example by joining the resistance.
[Rogger & Weber, ''The European Right'', p. 152]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Severen, Joris
1894 births
1940 deaths
Belgian Army personnel of World War I
Flemish politicians
Belgian fascists
Belgian anti-communists
Executed politicians
Ghent University alumni
Belgian Roman Catholics
People from West Flanders
Executed Belgian people
People executed by France by firearm
Belgian Army officers
Belgian civilians killed in World War II