Remember May 10th

* Prelude 1938*

September 20th 1938

"Good morning, ladies and gentleman, this is Hilversum Algemeen Programma. It is 8 O'Clock here is the news by ANP. Proclamation by Prime Minister Colijn: My fellow countrymen. With war looming over Europe we must be prepared for the worst. The worst is war and invasion might be imminent coming from Germany or from Britain. The Dutch seek to be neutral, we do not play in this new concert of Europe. Therefor the government backed by the SDAP (Social democrats) opposition will seek the support of parliament for mobilization. I am aware that this will fall hard on many Dutch families for they will miss their fathers, sons and husbands. They will miss their incomes. That sounds harsh and reality is harsh but harsher still is the tyranny this possible war will bring. May God protect the Netherlands."

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The streets of the Hague were buzzing with rumours. Mobilization, are we closer to war then the press and radio are telling? In offices,shops and factories all over the country this was the talk of the town. The threat of war alone could destabilize the country. With the last provincial elections the national-socialist NSB won 10% of the vote. In Amsterdam and Rotterdam the communist CPH won thousands of votes. Riots between communists and national-socialists were not uncommon. And altough the majority of the Dutch believed in democracy the general fear for a national-socialist or communist revolution was ever present. The day for the proposal of mobilization was extra akward as today is "Prinsjesdag" - The day the Queen will open parliament, the last thing the police needed was panic and tension. Of course in parliament the NSB would try to start a riot. They succeeded last year when Meinoud Rost van Tonningen punched the leader of the Liberal Party in the face. The following suspension and arrest of Van Tonningen was enough for some rioting. Rumours did not help a bit.

So the press did censor itself and since the start of the Sudetencrisis foreign newspapers were very hard to come by. But it would be all in vain. The truth would come to haunt the wary Dutch and it came sooner than they thought.
 
That's very different from the "I therefore ask listeners, when they later visit their cupboardbed, to go to sleep as quietly as they do on other nights." from two years before.
 
September 20th 1938 - Noordeinde Palace The Hague

"No Mr.Colijn no!! I will do no such thing. I will open parliament as usual. Not doing so will create panic and unrest." Queen Wilhelmina was not a lady for turning. As stubborn as the three kings who preceeded her and as dominant as needed in crisis, she told Colijn what she intended to do. "I will go to the Binnenhof and I will take the golden state carriage". Colijn could just stammer. "Weak as water, that is what your lot are... Mr.Hitler will laugh in your face and pinch your cheek. Mr Chamberlain will probably not even recognize you."

The Catshuis - The Hague

"That wretched old hag of a queen we have. If only we listened to Abraham (Abraham Kuyper, leader of the ARP and a republican) back in 1898. The pigheaded stubborness will cost me my life and health. We most focus on the possible war! Not on pomp and circumstance." But all tantrums were useless. Wilhelmina did open parliament with all the trimmings befitting a queen.
 
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September 20th 1938 - Hilversum. 8:00 PM

"This is Hilversum I and II Nationaal Programma. Here is the news from ANP. From Münich we have reached word that the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has threatened to leave Munich without a deal. The Führer of Germany Adolf Hitler has declared that he will take the Sudetenland by force. In The Hague, Queen Wilhelmina has opened parliament in the grimmest of times. After the Queen's speech. Prime Minister Colijn addressed both chamber and senate on the necessity of mobilization. As expected only the NSB and the CPH voted against. Please stay tuned for incoming news....

Proclamation of Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina: "In these serious times we have been forced to take exceptional measures. It is my wish to address you personally. Today my government has ordered the full mobilization of our armed forces. That means the situation is very grave. Not in the sense that peace is impossible but unfortunately we must prepare for war. We will seek neutrality and that neutrality must be preserved at all costs. Tonight as we are at the eve of mobilization I think of all our soldiers and navy sailors but I also think of all who will have to miss their husband, father, sons or brother and all the material consequences a mobilization will bring. I call upon Dutch to have faith in the Lord God and do their daily tasks cheerfully and without fear. We all must stand aside. May God bless the Netherlands. I have spoken"

Now will follow a proclamation by Prime Minister Colijn. "My fellow countrymen. A general mobilization has been declared. Tomorrow Wednesday September 21st all Reserves from the classes of 1923 to 1938 will be ordered to report at the town hall for their marching orders. This has to be done immediatley and without any hesitation. All listeners are encouraged to spread this message around and this proclamation is deemed to be heard and understood by all. Failing to follow this orders will be prosecuted. The border regions with Belgium and the German Reich are placed in a state of emergency. Tomorrow I will seek resignation of my government to make place for a government of national unity."

"This is Hilversum, we will now wait for the listeners of Phillips Omroep Holland Indië to join us. Then we will once repeat the proclamations of the Queen and the Prime Minister. Then until 2:00 am we will bring news."

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Amsterdam, September 20th 1938 9:00 pm

In the Jordaan tensions rise high tonight. The mobilization will only worsen the plight of the poor and the unemployed. They live off "Steun" (Welfare) and their steun is being decreased by Prime Minister Colijn. They get enough money to survive. If they have to miss just anyone in their family their welfare will decrease even more. So the people of the Jordaan are very much opposed against mobilization. A perfect breeding ground for the CPH to agitate. And that is just what they are doing.

"Colijn kept us too long in the Gold Standard so he and his croonies could get rich! Colijn impoverished all of us here so the manufacturers get a higher profit. Now he wants our fathers, husbands, sons and brothers for a war which is not ours only to appease the arms industry. A cheer went up the café at the Lindengracht. Albrecht Petersen, leader of the local CPH wasn't ready: "We will resist mobilization and refuse to go." More cheers and the crowd left the café down to the city centre shouting:" No against the mobilization. Save the poor, no more war!" The crowd grew larger and larger as the got closer to the city centre but at the Prins Hendrikkade near the Central Station things went horrible wrong. The police came in full force to stop the communist mob from entering the city center. One of the protestors was beaten too hard by the police and died instantly. A riot would spread through the Jordaan and other neighbourhoods in Amsterdam. The mobilizationriots of 1938 or the second Jordaanriot began. Now it was up to Colijn to react.....
 
Chapter I - Mourir pour Prague? The beginning of the Second Great War
To understand the following events we must shift our attention to Munich. Hitler, very confident after the succesful annexation of Austria, turned his attention to the Sudetenland in the Czechoslovak Republic. With support of Hitler and Goebbels Heinlein started a series of riots in the Sudetenland. On July 27th 1938 the first "refugees" from the Sudetenland arrived in Germany. Of course the propaganda-machine of Joseph Goebbels went to the the extremes. On August 31st 1938 Hitler Addressed the Reichstag to give an Ultimatum to Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak government reacted with the mobilization of their army. Which was only partially a succes as the German speaking people of the Sudetenland did not show up. Nor were the Slovakians keen on fighting. The German threats to Czechoslovakia also made Poland weary and they too started to mobilize their Army. In order to prevent a chain reaction Neville Chamberlain suggested a conference in Munich. With Eduard Daladier, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, Chamberlain tried to find a compromise. It was at the 20th of September that was proven futile to discuss a peaceful resolution of the Sudetencrisis.

The conference of Munich ended on September 21st with no succes. Mobilization now spread all over Northern and Western Europe. In the Netherlands and Belgium mobilization was a chaotic process. In France, Germany and Britain mobilization went more smoothly. Many Western Europeans were against a war to protect Czechoslovakia, mourir pour Prague? (To die for Prague?) most would say no to that. On November 11th, as an insult to France and Britain, the Nazis invaded the Sudetenland. On November 13th Chamberlain had enough. An ultimatum given the day before was not answered. At 3:00pm British Standard Time Chamberlain spoke to the British People:

"This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a
final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were
prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Czechoslovakia, a state of war would
exist between us.

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that
consequently this country is at war with Germany.

You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win
peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything
different that I could have done and that would have been more successful.

Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful
and honourable settlement between Germany and Czechoslovakia, but Hitler would not have it.
He had evidently made up his mind to attack Czechoslovakia whatever happened, and
although He now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by
the Czechs, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the
Czechs, nor to us, and, although they were announced in a German broadcast on
Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them, but ordered his
troops to cross the Czechoslovakian frontier. His action shows convincingly that there is
no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force
to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force.

We and France are today, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of
Czechoslovakia, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack on her
people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to
establish peace. The situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be
trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe has become intolerable.
And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part
with calmness and courage.

At such a moment as this the assurances of support that we have received from the
Empire are a source of profound encouragement to us.

The Government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on the
work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead. But these
plans need your help. You may be taking your part in the fighting services or as
a volunteer in one of the branches of Civil Defence. If so you will report for
duty in accordance with the instructions you have received. You may be engaged in
work essential to the prosecution of war for the maintenance of the life of the
people - in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns, or in the supply
of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that you should
carry on with your jobs.

Now may God bless you all. May He defend the right. It is the evil things that we
shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and
persecution - and against them I am certain that the right will prevail."

(c) BBC National Programme November 13th 1938
 
I'm waiting for the bulletin from Berlin that begins:

Der Führer Adolf Hitler ist tot.

Eine gewissenlose Clique frontfremder Parteiführer hat es unter Ausnutzung dieser Lage versucht, der schwerringenden Front in den Rücken zu fallen und die Macht zu eigennützigen Zwecken an sich zu reissen.
 
I'm waiting for the bulletin from Berlin that begins:

Der Führer Adolf Hitler ist tot.

Eine gewissenlose Clique frontfremder Parteiführer hat es unter Ausnutzung dieser Lage versucht, der schwerringenden Front in den Rücken zu fallen und die Macht zu eigennützigen Zwecken an sich zu reissen.

May I include that in the story? You have given me an idea...
 
Chapter II Mourir pour Prague - The French reaction
Paris November 13th 1938
That faithful November 13th an eerie quiet hung over Paris. The cold fog did not help a bit and when heard the speech made by Chamberlain. Most French feared what would follow and at 6:00 pm Daladier announced to the French population that France was at war with Germany. Just as the communists did in the Netherlands, the French communist party PCF ralleyed a peace meeting on the Place de Concorde on November 14th but the ralley did not stay peaceful. The police drove the crowds away with great force and just as in Amsterdam these riots spread around Paris. Daladier made the move to ban the PCF and it's newspapers. The war in France was a sitting war. A few attacks on the Saarland and an air raid on Ludwigshafen. That was all. The Germans did not attack directly on the newly built Maginot-line. The first winter of the war would be know as the phony war.


Oldenzaal, The Netherlands, November 14th 1938

From the Twentsche Courant Enschede

"Dramatic scenes today at the station in Oldenzaal when the D-train 170 from Berlin arrived. Of course there were lots of emotional Dutchmen rejoicing the fact they escaped the war. The travellers told us that the German people were not willing to go to war. Slogans as "We do not wish war" were seen in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. In Königsberg there was a small demonstration of students which was brutally ended by the Gestapo. In Berlin it self the streets were dark and gloomy at night. The cabarets and nightclubs known and loved in Berlin were closed. A scare occurred when in the early evening the airraid sirenes sounded by accident. It seems the Germans are not ready nor willing to go to war."

Berlin, Haus des Rundfunks, November 14th

"Here is the Reichssender Berlin calling all German Stations" The melody of the Wacht am Rhein was played. "Here now a proclamation of the Führer:

...If I call the Wehrmacht, if I now demand the German people to sacrifice, and if necessary, I demand to sacrifice everything, I have the right to do so. Because I am ready today, as I did in the past, to bring any personal sacrifice, I do not demand of any German man to do anything I was not prepared to do myself for four years. There should be no deprivation in Germany that I will not share. My entire life belongs from this moment on to my people. I want nothing else now than to be the first soldier of the German Reich. I have now put on the same uniform that was once my dearest and holiest. I will only take it off after the victory, or else I will not live to see that end. Should something happen to me in this battle, my first successor will be party member Goering. Should something happen to party member Goering, the next in line will be party member Hess. You would then be bound by blind loyalty to them as Fuehrers , as you were to me. Should something happen to party member Hess, I will enact a law that the senate will then elect the worthiest, i.e. the bravest from their midst. As National Socialist and as a German soldier I am going into this battle with a brave heart. My whole life was nothing but one continuous battle for my people, for its renewal, for Germany. This battle was always backed by the faith in this people. There is one word I have never known. It is surrender. If anybody thinks we may be heading towards difficult times, I want to ask him to remember that once a Prussian king with a minuscule state faced a big coalition and won after three battles, because he had a strong heart and faith. This is what we need today. And I want to tell the whole world: never again will there be a November 1918 in German history! Just as I am ready to sacrifice my life at any moment for my people and Germany, I demand the same from everyone. Anyone who believes he can evade this national command – whether directly or indirectly – will fall. Traitors can only expect death.
 
I'm waiting for the bulletin from Berlin that begins:

Der Führer Adolf Hitler ist tot.

Eine gewissenlose Clique frontfremder Parteiführer hat es unter Ausnutzung dieser Lage versucht, der schwerringenden Front in den Rücken zu fallen und die Macht zu eigennützigen Zwecken an sich zu reissen.

May I include that in the story? You have given me an idea...

It's from history.

(I also use a version of it in one of my books. Buy Buy Buy)
 

Buy @Major Major 's books

What you saw was Loekie the Lion. He appeared during the commercials on Dutch public TV from 1970 until 2007. (Also a bit of history there..)
 
They remember what last time was like.

On Tuesday morning, August 4, the German Army crossed the Belgian frontier. The British Cabinet met at eleven o’clock to hold what Asquith dryly described as an “interesting” session: “We got the news that the Germans had entered Belgium and had announced … that if necessary they would push their way through by force of arms. This simplifies matters, so we sent the Germans an ultimatum to expire at midnight.” At two o’clock, Asquith walked to the House to announce the sending of the ultimatum. Again, Whitehall was filled with excited crowds wildly cheering every person going in or out of 10 Downing Street. The Commons took the news of the ultimatum “very calmly and with a good deal of dignity,” Asquith reported. This dispassionate style belied the emotions churning beneath. “This whole thing fills me with sadness,” he confessed to Venetia Stanley. “We are on the eve of horrible things.” Margot saw her husband immediately after his speech when she went to visit him in the Prime Minister’s room at the House of Commons:

“‘So it is all up,’ I [Margot] said.

“He answered without looking at me:

“‘Yes, it’s all up.’

“I sat down beside him with a feeling of numbness in my limbs.… Henry sat at his writing table leaning back.… What was he thinking of?… His sons?… would they all have to fight?… I got up and leaned my head against his; we could not speak for tears.”

Asquith went for an hour’s drive by himself. He returned to Downing Street to wait for the expiration of the British ultimatum. The hours passed. Margot looked in on her sleeping children, then joined her husband, who was sitting around the green table in the Cabinet Room with Grey, Haldane, and others, smoking cigarettes. At nine o’clock Lloyd George arrived. No one spoke. Eyes wandered back and forth from the clock to the telephone which linked the Cabinet Room to the Foreign Office. Through the windows, open to the warm night air, came the sound of an immense crowd singing “God Save the King.” Against the anthem, the chimes of Big Ben intruded, signalling the approach of the hour. Then— “Boom!” — the first stroke sounded. Every face in the Cabinet Room was white. “Boom! Boom! Boom!” — eleven times the clapper fell against the great bell. When the last stroke fell, Great Britain was at war with Germany.

Massie, Robert K.. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War
 
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