The Fatherland League (, VV) was a Dutch

conservative liberal Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

founded in 1924, which became (pseudo-)

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

The Fatherland League (, HVV) in 1926. It had no electoral success and merged with the New Union of Nationalists () in 1932.

History

The party was founded on 15 November 1924, initiated by R.A. Fockema and J.A.A.H. de Beaufort. Among the founding members were members of other liberal parties, including the

League of Free Liberals The League of Free Liberals () was a Politics of the Netherlands, Dutch classical liberalism, classical liberal political party and a predecessor of the Liberal State Party which is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and Democ ...

, the Liberal Union, Economic League, and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

(including Samuel van Houten). The party opposed the introduction of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

and

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, as well as the rise of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and socialist parties. Instead, it favored an electoral system focused on persons. Former member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

Maarten Iman Willem Jacob Bijleveld Maarten (IPA: �maːrtə(n) is a Dutch language male given name. It is a cognate to and the standardized Dutch form of Martin, as in for example Sint Maarten (named after Martin of Tours). People bearing the name include: * Maarten Altena (born ...

for the Liberal Union was

lead candidate In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Neth ...

in the 1925 Dutch election. With only 12,597 votes (0.4%), the party failed to acquire a seat. The disappointing results led to an exodus of members. The League started negotiations with the fascist

Union of Actualists The Union of Actualists (, VvA) was an actualist and the first fascist political party in the Netherlands. It was founded in January 1923. The party was soon plagued by internal struggles. It failed to get a seat in the 1925 general election, re ...

(VvA) to explore a merge. This led to more members leaving the party, including Van Houten. On 12 June 1926, the party would be reinstituted as The Fatherland League, when the last remaining members of the Fatherland League merged with a faction of VvA around K.H.E. De Jong. The new party turned against democracy altogether, the party favored limiting the legislative competency of parliaments, the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

, the

right of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...

and the

right of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to fre ...

. The new party was led by De Jong, Simon Maas and J.G. Schürmann. Soon after, the party collapsed because of internal conflicts. In 1927, the party barely had any members. De Jong continued leading the party, without any significant activities. In 1932, the remainder of the party merged with the New Union of Nationalists ().

Sources

References

{{Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Liberal parties in the Netherlands Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Fascist parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1924 1924 establishments in the Netherlands