Hendrikus Colijn

Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 4 August 1925 until 8 March 1926 and from 26 May 1933 until 10 August 1939.

His Excellency Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus Colijn in 1925
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 26 May 1933 – 10 August 1939
Monarch	Wilhelmina
Preceded by	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Succeeded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
In office 4 August 1925 – 8 March 1926
Monarch	Wilhelmina
Preceded by	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Succeeded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 24 June 1937 – 1 October 1937 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff
Succeeded by	Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn
Minister of Defence
In office 2 September 1935 – 24 June 1937
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Laurentius Nicolaas Deckers
Succeeded by	Jannes van Dijk
Minister of Water Management
In office 13 January 1935 – 15 March 1935 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Jacob Kalff
Succeeded by	Otto van Lidth de Jeude
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office 25 July 1939 – 10 August 1939
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Max Steenberghe
Succeeded by	Max Steenberghe
In office 17 April 1934 – 25 June 1934 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Timotheus Verschuur
Succeeded by	Max Steenberghe
Minister of Colonial Affairs
In office 26 May 1933 – 24 June 1937
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Simon de Graaff
Succeeded by	Charles Welter
In office 4 August 1925 – 1 October 1925 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Simon de Graaff
Succeeded by	Charles Welter
Minister of Finance
In office 19 May 1939 – 25 July 1939 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Jacob Adriaan de Wilde
Succeeded by	Christiaan Bodenhausen
In office 11 August 1923 – 8 March 1926
Prime Minister	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck (1923–1925) Hendrikus Colijn (1925–1926)
Preceded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
Succeeded by	Dirk Jan de Geer
Leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party
In office 31 March 1920 – 18 September 1944
Preceded by	Abraham Kuyper
Succeeded by	Jan Schouten
Chairman of the Anti-Revolutionary Party
In office 6 September 1939 – 18 September 1944
Leader	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Jan Schouten
Succeeded by	Jan Schouten (1945)
In office 31 March 1920 – 26 May 1933
Leader	Hendrikus Colijn
Preceded by	Abraham Kuyper
Succeeded by	Jan Schouten
Minister of the Navy
In office 14 May 1912 – 29 August 1913
Prime Minister	Theo Heemskerk
Preceded by	Jan Wentholt
Succeeded by	Jean Jacques Rambonnet
Minister of War
In office 4 January 1911 – 29 August 1913
Prime Minister	Theo Heemskerk
Preceded by	Wouter Cool
Succeeded by	Nicolaas Bosboom
Parliament Parliamentary leader in the Senate In office 23 September 1926 – 17 September 1929 Preceded by Anne Anema Succeeded by Anne Anema Parliamentary group Anti-Revolutionary Party Member of the Senate In office 31 October 1939 – 18 September 1944 In office 23 September 1926 – 21 August 1929 In office 15 September 1914 – 10 November 1920 Parliamentary group Anti-Revolutionary Party Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives In office 17 September 1929 – 23 May 1933 Preceded by Theo Heemskerk Succeeded by Jan Schouten In office 11 July 1922 – 11 August 1923 Preceded by Victor Henri Rutgers Succeeded by Victor Henri Rutgers Parliamentary group Anti-Revolutionary Party Member of the House of Representatives In office 8 June 1937 – 25 June 1937 In office 17 September 1929 – 26 May 1933 In office 25 July 1922 – 15 August 1923 In office 9 November 1909 – 4 January 1911 Parliamentary group Anti-Revolutionary Party
Personal details
Born	Hendrikus Colijn (1869-06-22)22 June 1869 Burgerveen, Netherlands
Died	18 September 1944(1944-09-18) (aged 75) Ilmenau, Nazi Germany
Cause of death	Heart failure
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Anti-Revolutionary Party
Spouse(s)	Helena Groenenberg ​ ( m. 1893; his death 1944)
Relations	Arie Colijn (brother)
Children	Anton Colijn (1894–1945) Hendrikus Colijn Jr. (1897–1945) Pieter Colijn (1903–1943)
Alma mater	Royal Military Academy
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Military officer · Teacher · Editor-in-chief · Businessman · Corporate director
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
Years of service	1886–1909
Rank	Major

Early life

He was born on 22 June 1869 in the Haarlemmermeer to Antonie Colijn and Anna Verkuijl, who had migrated to the newly created Haarlemmermeer polder from the Land of Heusden and Altena for religious reasons. He was the first of six children, all born in Haarlemmermeer. Colijn grew up in the Land of Altena.

Military service

At the age of 16, he went to a military academy in Kampen for officer training, where he graduated as a 2nd lieutenant in 1892. On 18 September 1893, he married Helena Groenenberg (23 September 1867 – 14 February 1947).[1] and was sent to the Dutch East Indies. During his 16 years in the Dutch East Indies, he spent ten years in the Colonial Army, serving in the Aceh War as the lieutenant of J. B. van Heutsz, and six further years in the Colonial administration, having the same role towards van Heutsz when the latter became Governor General in 1904.

Colijn's letters to his wife from his period on Lombok reveal his participation in acts of brutality which by modern standards would be considered severe war crimes:

I have seen a mother carrying a child of about 6 months old on her left arm, with a long lance in her right hand, who was running in our direction. One of our bullets killed the mother as well as the child. From now on we couldn't give any mercy, it was over. I did give orders to gather a group of 9 women and 3 children who asked for mercy and they were shot all together. It was not a pleasant job, but something else was impossible. Our soldiers tacked them with pleasure with their bayonets. It was horrible. I will stop reporting now.[2]

Political life

After his return to the Netherlands in 1909, he was elected as an Anti-Revolutionary Party Member of Parliament for the district Sneek (Before 1918, the Dutch voting system was the same as the British).

In 1911, he was appointed Minister of War[3] and revised the Dutch Selective Service System. In May 1918 he acted as an intermediary between the British and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to arrange an armistice, resulting in the Kaiser getting refuge in The Netherlands.

Business life

In 1910 the Holland Dakota Landbouw Compagnie is established[4] with Hendrikus Colijn and his brother nl:Arie Colijn as the primary share holders.[5]

From 1914 to 1922 he served as CEO for the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij (BPM). In 1925, he also became CEO of Royal Dutch Shell.

Prime minister

In 1922 he accepted the political leadership of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (Calvinist) from Dr. Abraham Kuyper. Already one year later he succeeded resigning minister Dirk Jan de Geer as Minister of Finance.[3] In 1925 Colijn also became prime minister,[3] but a year later Colijn had to step down when the House of Representatives accepted a resolution by Gerrit Hendrik Kersten of the Protestant Reformed Political Party which called for diplomatic ties with the Vatican to be broken. This was unacceptable to the Roman Catholic State Party then in government.[6] Colijn then returned to the Senate, and from 1927 to 1929, he served as head of the Dutch delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva. At the election of 1929 he was elected for the House of Representatives, and immediately became Parliamentary leader of his party. This proved to be a success: at the election of 1933 the ARP gained two seats, and Colijn became Prime Minister again.[3] From 1933–1939 he served four more times as prime minister. During the 1930s his government faced the effects of the Great Depression, which took a heavy toll on the Netherlands. Colijn's government responded to the economic crisis with a very strict fiscal policy, which may have further weakened the Dutch economy (no evidence is presented for this theory that more government spending would have helped, rather than hurt, the economy of the Netherlands). Colijn's decision to adhere to the Gold Standard until 1937, long after most of the trading partners of the Netherlands had dropped it, also played a role in lengthening the economic crisis. In 1939, his latest cabinet, with Protestant and liberal ministers but without Catholic ministers, lasted only three days before a government crisis.

World War II and death

After the Dutch defeat in the Battle of the Netherlands in 1940, he published an essay entitled "On the Border of Two Worlds",[7] in which he called for accepting German leadership in Europe, immediately after the Royal House had fled to England, leaving him behind. His view was influenced by the tremendous show of force the German blitzkrieg had shown and the relative weakness of the Allied forces. Soon thereafter, he tried to organize political resistance but was arrested in June 1941 and taken to Berlin for interrogation. The Germans tried to have him confess that he had conspired with the British to invade the Netherlands to serve as an excuse for the German invasion.

Late in the war after the tide had turned against the Germans, according to a grandson, Himmler wanted to keep Colijn available as a possible intermediary with the British, as he had done earlier for Wilhelm II. The very fact that the Gestapo allowed the visit suggests that Himmler was already making contingency plans in case of a German loss. In March 1943 Colijn was put under house arrest in a remote mountain hotel in Ilmenau, where he died on 18 September 1944.[8][9]

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight 3rd Class of the Military Order of William	Netherlands	1 August 1895	Style of Excellency
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	12 March 1926	Elevated from Grand Officer (5 September 1913)
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	31 August 1929	Elevated from Commander (11 August 1923)
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Minister of State	Netherlands	31 August 1929	Style of Excellency

References

1. Cardinaal, C.N. "Helena Groenenberg (1867-1947) » Stamboom De Kanter » Genealogie Online". Genealogie Online.
2. Engelfriet, Aad. "Introduction to the History of the Dutch East Indies Aad 'Arcengel' Engelfriet". home.iae.nl.
3. "Defense in two spheres - Holland's New Cabinet". The Age. 25 May 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 13 May 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Middelburgsche Courant - 6 juni 1910 - pagina 7". Krantenbank Zeeland.
5. Smits, Mari. "'Anthonie Colijn (1870-1932). Boer, boerenvoorman, burgemeester' in: P.E. Werkman en R.E. van der Woude (red.), Wie in de politiek gaat, is weg? Protestantse politici en de christelijk-sociale beweging (Hilversum: Verloren 2009), pp. 151-176". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
6. (in Dutch) Vaticaan moet plaats kennen; by Lousewies van der Laan, Elly Plooij-van Gorsel and Joke Swiebel, Trouw, 18 November 2000
7. DE GRENS V A N TWEE WERELDEN
8. "Dr. H. (Hendrik) Colijn". www.parlement.com.
9. Oral History Hendrik "Henk" Colijn Archived 2016-06-30 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Dr. H. (Hendrik) Colijn Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Dr. H. Colijn (ARP) Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal
• Newspaper clippings about Hendrikus Colijn in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

House of Representatives of the Netherlands
Preceded by Hendrik Pollema	Member for Sneek 1909–1911	Succeeded by Jan Gerrit Scheurer
Party political offices
Preceded by Abraham Kuyper	Leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party 1920–1944	Succeeded by Jan Schouten
	Chairman of the Anti-Revolutionary Party 1920–1933 1939–1944
Preceded by Jan Schouten
Preceded by Victor Henri Rutgers	Parliamentary leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in the House of Representatives 1922–1923 1929–1933	Succeeded by Victor Henri Rutgers
Preceded by Theo Heemskerk		Succeeded by Jan Schouten
Preceded by Anne Anema	Parliamentary leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in the Senate 1926–1929	Succeeded by Anne Anema
Political offices
Preceded by Wouter Cool	Minister of War 1911–1913	Succeeded by Nicolaas Bosboom
Preceded by Jan Wentholt	Minister of the Navy 1912–1913	Succeeded by Jean Jacques Rambonnet
Preceded by Dirk Jan de Geer	Minister of Finance 1923–1926 1939 Ad interim	Succeeded by Dirk Jan de Geer
Preceded by Jacob Adriaan de Wilde		Succeeded by Christiaan Bodenhausen
Preceded by Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck	Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1925–1926 1933–1939	Succeeded by Dirk Jan de Geer
Preceded by Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck		Succeeded by Dirk Jan de Geer
Preceded by Simon de Graaff	Minister of Colonial Affairs 1925 Ad interim 1933–1937	Succeeded by Charles Welter
Preceded by Simon de Graaff		Succeeded by Charles Welter
Preceded by Timotheus Verschuur	Minister of Economic Affairs 1934 Ad interim 1939	Succeeded by Max Steenberghe
Preceded by Max Steenberghe		Succeeded by Max Steenberghe
Preceded by Jacob Kalff	Minister of Water Management 1935 Ad interim	Succeeded by Otto van Lidth de Jeude
Preceded by Laurentius Nicolaas Deckers	Minister of Defence 1935–1937	Succeeded by Jannes van Dijk
Preceded by Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1937 Ad interim	Succeeded by Jacob Adriaan Nicolaas Patijn