Most Western European nations are now preparing for war with Russia, and that includes The Netherlands. Our Dutch correspondent H. Numan has the report.
What do they know?
by H. Numan
Not really world-shaking news, but something you might be interested to hear anyway. Our crown princess Amalia is in training to be an army officer. She was just promoted to lance corporal (PFC would be the US equivalent). A few days later the news, with lots and lots of photos: her dear old mum, queen Maxima, announced she also has joined army training, and wants to be a reserve officer as well. She is now a recruit private. Of course, they are royalty. Amalia climbing the ranks as fast as possible I expected, but the news that upon finishing her basic training the queen will be promoted to lieutenant-colonel surprised me a bit. I said ‘dear old mum’ because, militarily speaking, she is really old. Maxima is 54 right now; military retirement age starts at 55. But hey, if you screw the boss…
Sort of the same news comes from Belgium. The PM there announced military age will be lowered and raised. Anyone now from 16 up to even 65 years can join. Theo Franken, the PM, said it was to raise interest and awareness in the army.
Nothing to worry about folks, just move along. I agree, it is long in the past that (the Republic of) The Netherlands was a superpower. But still. Consider this: After 1900 The Netherlands as well as Belgium always had a policy of strict neutrality. Belgium was actually founded on that principle. Queen Beatrix was known to be a red queen. Officially the monarch has no political preference, but we are all human beings. Queen Beatrix was — and is — left-leaning, as far as possible without breaking constitutional rules.
King William-Alexander follows that policy. Officially above all parties, in reality not so much. The military is, for him, his personal Lego set. Something he enjoys himself with, nothing serious. That’s his biggest problem. He is not serious in anything. Except enjoying himself.
And all of a sudden royals who are neither required nor expected show a sudden interest in things military? That’s suspicious. Nobody even cares whether a male royal serves in the army or not. Nobody expected the crown princess to volunteer. Nice that she does, but there is no obligation. Much less so for her mother. The queen is 54 years of age. The time required for her to pass the assault course can be measured with a calendar, not a stopwatch, at her age!
There is a reason for this sudden interest in things military: Russia. Let’s be honest, Russia is currently losing the war in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean to say Putin will give up. If he does, he’s dead. Russia is not big on accountability, but having 1.5 million men killed in a five years’ long three-day ‘special military operation’ requires accountability. Even for Putin. In the unlikely case a temporary peace agreement can be reached favoring Russia — any other agreement is not going to happen — Ukraine is just a stepping stone, about half way. It is no coincidence Finland and Sweden have joined NATO.
So, what the Dutch royals and Belgian PM are doing is beating the drum of nationalism. Hoping it stirs up some patriotic feelings. And here they are dead wrong. Couldn’t be more wrong if they tried!
Times have changed, drastically. When I was a young boy, I loved boys’ adventure stories. The books we had at home were from the ’50s and early ’60s. The adventures of our boy heroes all played in The Netherlands, somewhere in the countryside. We do have that, you know. Not one of them had our boys going abroad. Borders or foreign countries weren’t even mentioned. It was something nobody thought of. All adventures, heroes and antagonists were Dutch. Or, if the stories were about WW2, the antagonists were Germans and quislings. Those books were not written as chauvinistic or patriotic books, they were simply exciting books for Dutch teenage boys.
But those adventures are now impossible to imagine. Liberals have changed… everything completely. An exciting boys’ story must include a number of colored people, who must be heroes; nothing about the country, unless negative. That sort of thing. Adventures happen now worldwide; The Netherlands is barely mentioned, if at all. The idea that an exciting adventure book a couple of hundred pages long can play in your own country is today preposterous, old-fashioned and out of date.
Nationalism when I grew up was expected. Everybody in primary school (third grade) learned the Dutch anthem by heart. The Queen was well-loved and popular. That was Queen Juliana back then. Never mind some serious hiccups, such as the Greet Hofmans affair and the Lockheed Scandal. Queen Juliana retired and Beatrix ascended the throne. She was far more regal, a stickler for protocol and a very able politician. She was able to turn violently anti-monarchist left-wing activists into her biggest supporters.
Now, the royal family is simply the apex of the elite. What the elites want or don’t want they represent, with some royal input of course. Our elites consider themselves ‘world-citizens’. I always have to snigger when I hear an important Dutchman saying that in heavily accented English. Being Dutch is no longer something to be proud of. Anyone who does so is a either a yokel or extreme right-wing. Our royal family has a tradition of marrying rather questionably. Juliana married an ex-Reiter SS officer. Beatrix married a member of the Hitler Jugend, and the current king married the daughter of the Argentinean Junta, Máxima Zorreguita. That lady openly said that Dutch culture does not exist. She hadn’t seen it anywhere.
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