Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist) (; KEN (ml)) was a communist organization in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
founded in 1964.
History
The organization started as a pro-
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
leftist faction within the
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands (, , CPN) was a communist party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social Democratic Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the ...
in 1964. At that time, it called itself Marxist-Leninist Centre (''Marxistisch-Leninistisch Centrum'') and transpired by the Communist Party section 33 in Blijdorp,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
. Leading figures (in an organization of only a handful of members) were
Nico Schrevel and
Daan Monjé. MLC ( Marxist-Leninist Centre ) started publishing the magazine, ''Spartacus''. Before the 21st CPN party congress, MLC issued the appeal 'For the Unity of the Communist Movement'. At the end of 1964, the CPN leadership expelled Schrevel and Monjé.
At this time, MLC was one of two pro-Chinese factions expelled from the CPN. The other was assembled around the periodical
''Rode Vlag''. Plans for a merger stalled, as the ''Rode Vlag''-group maintained that it was still possible to convert CPN into a revolutionary party.
In March 1965, MLC changed its name to Marxist-Leninist Centre of the Netherlands (''Marxistisch Leninistisch Centrum Nederland''). The name of ''Spartacus'' changed to ''Rode Tribune'', possibly since the name Spartacus seen to have
Trotskyist
Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
connotations
A connotation is a commonly understood culture, cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or Literal and figurative language, literal meaning (philosophy of language), meaning, which is it ...
. By this time, the group had attracted a few more members. One of the recruits was Pieter Boevé, a General Intelligence and Security Service (
BVD
BVD is a brand of men's underwear, which are commonly referred to as "BVDs". The brand was founded in 1876 and named after the three founders of the New York City firm: (Joseph W.) Bradley, (Luther C.) Voorhees, and (Lyman H.) Day (thus "B.V.D." ...
)-agent. Boevé became the international secretary of MLCN. However, his double-play discovered, and he got expelled. Later the BVD set up its own
Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands with Boevé as its leader.
In 1966, MLCN launched a youth wing, the Young Communist League, that did not last long.
In January 1970, the name of MLCN was changed to KEN (ml). By this time, the organization had grown and started attracting radical students. Membership estimates vary from 200 to 300. KEN (ml) formed a youth wing, Marxist-Leninist Youth, and a student wing, Marxist-Leninist Students League. Nico Schrevel was the national political secretary of KEN (ml).
Other KEN (ml) fronts were the
League of Tenants and House-seekers (''Bond van Huurders en Woningzoekenden'', BHW) and
Workers Power (''Arbeidersmacht''). KEN (ml) played a leading role during the 1970 Rotterdam port strike-through Arbeidersmacht, even though the KEN (ml) membership only had very few workers.
In the summer of 1971, the
Red Youth branches of
Nijmegen
Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...
and
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
crossed over to KEN (ml).
During the fall of 1971, KEN (ml) riddled by internal strife. An issue dividing the organization was the role of
intellectuals
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...
in the
class struggle
In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...
. The majority led by Monjé supported the line that the working class had to be the supreme force in the revolutionary struggle. They raised the slogan ''"Where do the correct ideas come from? From practice or the study chamber?"''. In October a majority of around 60% left to form the
Communist Party of the Netherlands (Marxist-Leninist) (KPN (ml)) with Monjé as their leader. KPN (ml) took with them BHW and Arbeidersmacht but lost their influence at the universities. KPN (ml) was mainly active in the southern provinces of the Netherlands. The minority continued as KEN (ml), had its original centre at the ''Economische Hogeschool'' in
Tilburg
Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...
. The 'new' KEN (ml) became primarily active in Rotterdam ports, the shipbuilding industry and dockers- and metalworkers unions. KEN (ml) organized its own
National Vietnam Committee
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
(''Landelijk Vietnam Komitee'') and founded the Communist Student League KSB.
Tilburg students moved to Rotterdam to reconstruct the organization. The dominance of the Tilburg students provoked a section of Rotterdam members to leave KEN (ml) in March 1972 and form the
Marxist-Leninist Rotterdam Group. Similarly, a group of KEN (ml) members from the
Brabant town of Breda, who refused to move to the Rotterdam area, broke away in August. They formed the
Communist Circle of Breda (Marxist-Leninist)
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, distrib ...
. Some Rotterdam veterans of the organization, among them Nico Schrevel, also left the movement. In the following years, KEN (ml) and KPN (ml) remained the only Marxist-Leninist groups with national organizations.
In 1974, Tilburg-student Kees de Boer became the leader op KEN (ml). After 1976, under his leadership, the KEN (ml) took an obscure turn. The cadres directed to live in communes. They were all aspects of daily life under the control of the organization. Many members were expelled, accused of bourgeois deviations. In 1977 different groups of expellees regrouped in the
Group of Marxist-Leninists/Red Dawn
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
.
In 1977, KEN (ml) registered itself for the parliamentary elections. One of the issues raised by KEN (ml) in the electoral campaign was a discourse in support of the unity of independent Western European countries against the imperialism of the two Superpowers. In the end, KEN (ml) got 2722 votes. On the same line of opposing the hegemony of two superpowers, KEN (ml) had organized a front organization called 'Movement for Freedom and Independence' (''Beweging voor Vrijheid en Onafhankelijkheid''), which saw
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
as a necessary instrument to defend Western Europe. This BVO lasted less than a year. KEN (ml) disbanded around 1985.
Sources
* Wouter P. Beeker
"Mao in de polder: Een historisch-sociologische benadering van het Nederlandse maoïsme 1964-1978" (18 January 2005). Retrieved 5 September 2012.
Archief Kommunistische Eenheidsbeweging Nederland (marxistisch-leninistisch)NRC Handelsblad (20-02-1999). Retrieved 5 September 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist-Leninist)
Defunct communist parties in the Netherlands
Anti-revisionist organizations
Maoist organizations in Europe
Political parties established in 1964
1964 establishments in the Netherlands
Political parties disestablished in 1985
1985 disestablishments in the Netherlands