Propaganda that Dare not Speak its Name

Abstract

During the first half of the twentieth century, colonial rule in the Indonesian archipelago was an important marker of international prestige for the Netherlands, which was merely a small power on the European continent, carefully guarding its neutral status against the Great Powers. After World War I, there was growing concern amongst several groups in Dutch society about criticism of the colonial regime in the foreign press. This article considers three organizations that aimed to set up an international information service about the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s. Although private individuals ran these organizations, they had close links with the authorities in The Hague and Batavia, indicating the emergence of a controlled media environment. Moreover, despite the fact that people involved preferred to use neutral terms to describe their activities, they aimed to provide the international public with propaganda supporting the Dutch colonial regime.

KEYWORDS:

• Colonial propaganda
• Dutch East Indies
• Dutch media history
• Indonesian nationalism
• telegraph lines
• transnational networks

Notes

1. See Boogman, ‘Achtergronden’; Voorhoeve, Peace.

2. M. Kuitenbrouwer, Nederland, 120–1 and 206–7; Van Dijk, The Netherlands Indies, 1–18; Moeyes, ‘Neutral.’

3. Hemels, Een journalistiek, 23.

4. Hemels, Van perschef; De Graaff, Kalm, 287–8.

5. Van Vree, De Nederlandse, 42.

6. Maters, Van zachte; Termorshuizen, Realisten.

7. Potter, ‘Webs,’ 622.

8. J. J. V. Kuitenbrouwer, War.

9. Tames, Oorlog; Hemels, Een journalistiek; cf. Wijfjes, Journalistiek, 130–1.

10. De Groot and Dibbets, ‘Welke Slag,’ 510–2.

11. Wijfjes, Journalistiek, 133–7; Tames, Oorlog, 83–4.

12. Hemels, Van perschef, 10–1; Wijfjes, Journalistiek, 125–6.

13. Hemels, Een journalistiek, 39–40.

14. Bossenbroek, Holland, 201; Van Dijk, The Netherlands Indies, 13–4.

15. Termorshuizen, Realisten, 175–7; Van den Doel, Zo ver de wereld, 280–1.

16. Stutje, ‘Indonesian.’

17. Mazower, Governing, 166.

18. The papers concerning this appointment can be found in the Dutch National Archives (NL-HaNA), Koloniën/Dossierarchief, 2.10.54, inv.nr. 725.

19. Drion, ‘Nederland,’ 256.

20. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr. 322. V. 02-01-1929 B m.r. 2426/28. Letter F. Beelaerts van Blokland to minister of Colonies, 5 November 1928. All quotes from Dutch primary sources in this article were translated by Vincent Kuitenbrouwer.

21. Plemp van Duiveland, Journalistiek, 125; De Graaff, Kalm, 577.

22. Colijn, Koloniale vraagstukken, 38.

23. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr. 322. V. 02-01-1929 B m.r. 2426/28. Memo department of Colonies, not dated [Summer 1928]; Letter E. van der Vlugt to Minister of Colonies, 1 October 1928.

24. Hemels, Van perschef, 14–5.

25. De Graaff, Kalm, 584–5.

26. Hemels, Van perschef, 10.

27. Termorshuizen, Realisten, 747–8.

28. Termorshuizen, ‘Berrety.’

29. Termorshuizen, Realisten, 100–2.

30. De Graaff, Kalm, 577.

31. Hemels, Van perschef, 32; De Graaff, Kalm, 588.

32. De Graaff, Kalm, 578.

33. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr.365. V 02-10-1931-V17. H. Salomonson to P. Blumberger, 29 September 1931. The director of the Dutch bureau of Aneta, Salomonson, had worked for the NBDN in the early 1920s.

34. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr. 322. V. 02-01-1929 B m.r. 2426/28. Folder of Le Nouveau Monde.

35. De Graaff, Kalm, 586.

36. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 31. W.F.A. Roëll to F.J.W. Drion, 28 March 1931.

37. See for example: NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 47. Press report 280 (1926) p.1. Multatuli was the pen-name of Eduard Douwes Dekker.

38. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 30. F.J.W. Drion to W.F.A. Roëll, 27 March 1927.

39. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 47. Press report 277 (1926) p. 5.

40. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 22. P. Geyl to F. J. W. Drion, 16 and 24 November 1926.

41. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 47. Press report 277 (1926) p. 5.

42. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 49. Press report 14 (1927) pp. 5–6.

43. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 49. Press report [unreadable] (1927).

44. Drion, ‘Nederland’; Salomonson, ‘Nederland.’

45. Het Algemeen Handelsblad, 7 May 1927; Het Vaderland, 10 May 1927; De Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, 11 May 1927.

46. Hemels, Van perschef, 20.

47. De Graaff, Kalm, 584.

48. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr. 322. V. 02–01-1929 B m.r. 2426/28. Van Asbeck-report, 28 July 1928.

49. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 22. P. Geyl to F. J. W. Drion, 9 November 1926.

50. Lievegoed, ‘The Recent.’

51. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 49. Press report 264 (1927).

52. NL-HaNA, Nationaal Bureau Documentatie, 2.19.026, inv.nr. 49. Press report 270 (1927).

53. Blumberger, De communistische; Blumberger, Le communisme.

54. NL-HaNA, Koloniën/Geheim archief, 2.10.36.51, inv.nr. 322. V. 02-01-1929 B m.r. 2426/28. Folder of Le Nouveau Monde.

55. Blumberger, De communistische beweging, foreword.