WI: A collaborationist regime in Nazi-occupied Netherlands?

[Hendryk]

In OTL, the Netherlands came close to having their own analog of the Vichy regime. After the Dutch government had evacuated to Britain along with the royal family in 1940, the prime minister, Dirk Jan de Geer, wanted to return to German-occupied Netherlands, but he was preempted by Queen Wilhelmina:

When in London, De Geer advocated negotiating a separate peace between the Netherlands and the Third Reich. He damaged the Dutch government and the Dutch morale by openly stating that the war could never be won. He was finally removed from office on the instigation of the iron-willed Queen Wilhelmina, and replaced by Gerbrandy.

Later on, he was sent with a diplomatic package to the Dutch East Indies, present day Indonesia. He never arrived there: on a stop-over in Portugal he left, and returned to his family in the Netherlands with the permission of the Germans. 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 cooperate with the Germans.

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What if in TTL Wilhelmina dies of whatever causes before the beginning of WW2? A less iron-willed monarch (and one more scrupulous about respecting constitutional procedures) would probably have failed to stop the government returning to The Hague.

One possibility:

Civil unrest gripped the Netherlands after the war, spurred by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Socialist leader Pieter Jelles Troelstra wanted to abolish the existing government and the monarchy. Instead of a violent revolution, he hoped to do this by winning control of Parliament in an election, supported by the working class. However, the popularity of the young Queen helped restore confidence in the government. Wilhelmina brought about a mass show of support by riding with her daughter through the crowds in an open carriage.

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A monarch riding through a city gripped by civil unrest in an open carriage--there are precedents of such an idea ending in grief.

I'm assuming she would be succeeded by her daughter Juliana, unless she's killed in the same incident, in which case it seems the legitimate heir would be Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst, who on top of being German was also a sadist. But since he died in 1923, there would probably be a succession crisis, and I'm not familiar enough with dynastic rules to figure it out.

Further, is it likely that a "Free Dutch" faction pulls a De Gaulle and sets up its own government-in-exile?

 

[Aznavour]

Wilhemina can always die of Acute Plane Crash Syndrome during the actual war, but in that case, who'd want to lead a collaborationist government under the people who killed the queen? There's lots of possible medical things that could kill her, if one were to look, from pneumonia to horse accident.

After German dude there two other Germans: an old lady and her son, a Reuss with ties with the German establishment. In either case, ample cause for a Constitutional Crisis that diminishes the power and prestige of the monarchy, meaning they can't do much to stop or encourage collaboration. Might even go the Italian way and get rid off the monarchy post war.

Not sure how a collaborationist government would afect the East Indies, Japan or the USA, although I think that might have been previously discussed.

 

[Hendryk]

Wilhemina can always die of Acute Plane Crash Syndrome during the actual war, but in that case, who'd want to lead a collaborationist government under the people who killed the queen? There's lots of possible medical things that could kill her, if one were to look, from pneumonia to horse accident.

Indeed, for simplicity's sake one could have her die of some mundane cause in the 1930s and be succeeded by her daughter. The idea is to have someone on the throne with less charisma, and less determination to challenge de Geer's pro-German leanings.

Not sure how a collaborationist government would afect the East Indies, Japan or the USA, although I think that might have been previously discussed.

It does raise questions about the Dutch East Indies, and I'd like to see what folks here think would happen with them.

 

[Aznavour]

Well, we could have Wilhemina die in 1917, Queen Juliana has a regent until she's 18 (1927) just like her mother before her, and come the time Jan der Geer either ignores her or she's just not as strong-willed as her mother.

If we go with Wilhelm Ernst, we don't know whether he died of pneumonia or suicide, so either way, he'd probably be the one dealing with Hitler if he were to take the throne after Wilhemina.

If we go with a different chain of events, and it's not Wilhemina, Juliana or Wilhelm Ernst, throne goes to a German princess who died at the age of 73 in 1922, and then to Heinrich XXXII Reiss, a German Prince with ties with the German Establishment. He was wildly unpopular with the Dutch, and his only marriage was a short, unhappy one that left no issue. He married once at the age of 41, and died in 1935. Not sure if you'd like to butterly away either his death at 57 or his son-less marriage if you'd like to make use of him. Maybe the mentally-unstable sadist would make for a better choice, storywise.

Either way, let's assume strong-willed Germans take the throne to the indignation of the public, and acombination of gaffes, blunders, praise for Hitler and an inadequate response to the Great Depression pits monarchy and political establishment at odds, monarchy is discredited, Jan det Geer is free to do as he pleases and once the war is over, the German princes join the Savoys,

 

[Alex Richards]

Looking over this thread, I can't help but think he German Princes on the throne and so forth is a bit of a tangential distraction.

The simplest thing- and far more in the spirit of the original question- is just having Wilhemina suffer a tragic accident in about 1937 or so. Juliana ascends the throne much earlier, has less experience, the civilian government gets its own way and de Geer gets his way.

I think there's two very interesting possibilities there:

1. De Geer completely gets his way- separate peace with the Third Reich (probably involving a spell of occupation, loss of the DEI etc.). The monarchy is around in the Netherlands but perhaps does a Danish-style soft resistance thing. This world probably sees an immediate independence for the Dutch East Indies after the war, but possibly not as a unified state, and Suriname might also be 'liberated' by the Americans and never returned.

2. A somewhat more chaotic evacuation of the government- the monarchy is in exile, de Geer goes to Berlin and offers himself as a collaborationist figure a la Petain. I'd expect Suriname and the Antilles to see an immediate declaration of 'Free Netherlands' after the homeland is 'restored' to civilian control (especially considering the Germans probably remain in occupation of the Rhine) and post-war politics in the short term probably gets dominated by similar debates to France as to which groups were collaborationist, and the clash between the Government-in-Exile and any homegrown resistance.

 

[lordroel]

In OTL, the Netherlands came close to having their own analog of the Vichy regime. After the Dutch government had evacuated to Britain along with the royal family in 1940, the prime minister, Dirk Jan de Geer, wanted to return to German-occupied Netherlands, but he was preempted by Queen Wilhelmina:

​

What if in TTL Wilhelmina dies of whatever causes before the beginning of WW2? A less iron-willed monarch (and one more scrupulous about respecting constitutional procedures) would probably have failed to stop the government returning to The Hague.

One possibility:

​

A monarch riding through a city gripped by civil unrest in an open carriage--there are precedents of such an idea ending in grief.

I'm assuming she would be succeeded by her daughter Juliana, unless she's killed in the same incident, in which case it seems the legitimate heir would be Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst, who on top of being German was also a sadist. But since he died in 1923, there would probably be a succession crisis, and I'm not familiar enough with dynastic rules to figure it out.

Further, is it likely that a "Free Dutch" faction pulls a De Gaulle and sets up its own government-in-exile?

Somewhat related to this in early 1940, a high ranking member of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (Dutch: Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland) called Meinoud Rost van Tonningen and few of his supporters wanted to launch a coup in the Netherlands, most likely to prevent a German invasion of the Netherlands, van Tonningen even tried to confine NSB leader Anton Mussert, but Mussert did not support van Tonningen idea as he wanted the NSB to come into power in the Netherlands in a much safer way (van Tonningen did not know that Mussert was already in secret contact with the Germans, Mussert hoped and believed that when the Germans did invade the Netherlands they would install him as leader of a new Netherlands government).

 

[Max Sinister]

Hm. From the top of my head, I know next to nothing about the Quisling regime in Norway - except that he was executed after the war, that his name made it into the dictionary, that some other prominent Norwegians supported his regime (like Knut Hamsun), that they tried rising a native SS division, but not much more.

So what would change inside the Netherlands because of this? I can't tell. Being the occupiers, the nazis could pretty much do what they liked anyway.