Dirk Jan de Geer (14 December 1870 – 28 November 1960) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...

(CHU) now merged into the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(CDA). He served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

from 8 March 1926 until 10 August 1929 and from 10 August 1939 until 3 September 1940.

Biography

Born in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

, he was a descendant of the

De Geer The De Geer family (also: De Geer van Jutphaas and De Geer van Oudegein) is a prominent industrial family of Walloon origin that belongs to the Swedish and Dutch nobility. History The name derives from the town of Geer near Liège (in presen ...

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

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

(1901–1907). He served from 1907 as a Christian Historical member of Parliament. De Geer was a stable and respected politician before World War II. From 1920 to 1921 de Geer served as mayor of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

. Between 1921 and 1923 he served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. 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. He was Prime Minister from 8 March 1926 to 10 August 1929. He also served as Minister of Finances from 1926 to 1933. After the end of the fifth cabinet of Colijn he was again asked to form a government in August 1939, concurrently holding the offices of Minister of Finance and of General Affairs. However, he was not suited for the role of prime minister of a nation at war, as he knew himself. When

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 betwee ...

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. He was finally removed from office on the instigation of

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

, and replaced by Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, officially on account of ill-health. Later on, he was sent with a diplomatic package to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

, now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. He never arrived there: on a stopover in Portugal, 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. This greatly angered Queen 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 ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the Ger ...

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 ''Reichskommissariat Niederlande'' 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 (german: Reichskom ...

, De Geer went through with the publication. After the war, he was found guilty of high treason in time of war, and 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 Roman E ...

and deprivation of the title "Minister of State". He died some 15 years later in Soest.

Personal

On 11 August 1904, De Geer married Maria Voorhoeve (1 May 1883 – 6 April 1955). His grandson is ex-footballer

Boudewijn de Geer Boudewijn Ernst de Geer (born 24 June 1955) is a Dutch retired professional football player and coach who played for ADO Den Haag, HFC Haarlem, Molde, Lillestrøm, Hércules CF, De Graafschap and Brisbane Lions. He is the grandson of Dirk Jan d ...

, and his great-grandson is current footballer

Mike de Geer Mike de Geer (born 28 December 1989 in The Hague) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for HBS Craeyenhout in the Dutch Topklasse. He formerly played for ADO Den Haag. His father is former football player Boudewijn de Geer, and his grea ...

Death

De Geer died on 28 November 1960 at Soest,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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

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

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 (Netherlands) People from Arnhem 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