Dirk Jan de Geer (14 December 1870 – 28 November 1960) was a Dutch politician of the Christian Historical Union. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 8 March 1926 until 10 August 1929, and from 10 August 1939 until 3 September 1940.

Life

Born in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, he was a descendant of the De Geer family. After receiving his J.D. in 1895, De Geer worked as a journalist and acted as a town councillor of

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 ...

(1901–1907). He served from 1907 as a Christian Historical member of Parliament. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a stable and respected politician. From 1920 to 1921, he served as mayor of

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

. Between 1921 and 1923, De Geer served as Minister of Finance. He resigned in 1923 because of his disagreement with the Naval Law of 1924. From 1925 to 1926 he served as Minister of the Interior and Minister of Agriculture, then was Prime Minister from 8 March 1926 to 10 August 1929. He also served as Minister of Finance from 1926 to 1933. After the fall of the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn, De Geer again formed a government in August 1939 and concurrently held the offices of Minister of Finance and of General Affairs. However, as he knew, he was not suited for the role of prime minister of a nation at war. When

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

attacked the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 (beginning of the Western campaign), the situation soon became very serious, and the government fled to Britain. In Britain, De Geer advocated negotiating a separate peace between the Netherlands and Germany and damaged the Dutch government and Dutch morale by openly stating that the war could never be won. At the instigation of Queen Wilhelmina, he was removed from office and replaced by Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy – officially on account of ill-health. Later, he was sent with a diplomatic package to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He never arrived there, for on a stopover in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

he left the flight and went to the Germans, who allowed him to return to his ailing wife and the rest of his family in the Netherlands. That greatly angered Wilhelmina, who called him a traitor and deserter to the Dutch cause. He later wrote a controversial leaflet with "instructions" for the people on how to co-operate with the Germans. "With this pamphlet", the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile (), also known as the London Cabinet (), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the German invasion of the country during World War II on 10 May 19 ...

stated in a broadcast, "the writer has betrayed the Netherlands people, whatever happens to him personally". Wilhelmina warned De Geer that if he published the pamphlet, he would be put on trial after the conclusion of the war. With the permission of the

Reichskommissariat Niederlande The () was the civilian occupation regime set up by Germany in the German-occupied Netherlands during World War II. Its full title was the Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories (). The administration was headed by Arthur Seys ...

, De Geer went through with the publication. After the war, he was found guilty of high treason in time of war and was stripped of all of his honorary titles. The Appeal Court confirmed the sentence of a year's imprisonment with three years' probation, but waived the fine of 20,000

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

and the deprivation of the title "Minister of State".

Personal

On 11 August 1904, De Geer married Maria Voorhoeve (1 May 1883 – 6 April 1955). His grandson is ex-footballer Boudewijn de Geer, and his great-grandson is current footballer Mike de Geer.

Death

De Geer died on 28 November 1960 at Soest,

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 ...

, at the age of 89, 16 days before his 90th birthday, several years after having suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Decorations

References

External links

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Jhr.Mr. D.J. (Dirk) de Geer
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Geer, Dirk Jan de 1870 births 1960 deaths Chairmen of the Christian Historical Union Christian Historical Party politicians Christian Historical Union politicians Dirk Jan de Geer Dutch jurists Dutch magazine editors Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch political writers Dutch people of World War II Jonkheers of the Netherlands Leaders of the Christian Historical Union Mayors of Arnhem Members of the Provincial Council of South Holland Members of the Provincial-Executive of South Holland Municipal councillors of Rotterdam Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of finance of the Netherlands Ministers of the interior of the Netherlands Ministers of state of the Netherlands Politicians from Groningen (city) People from Schiedam People from Soest, Netherlands Prime ministers of the Netherlands Utrecht University alumni World War II political leaders 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians