MUSSERT, ANTON ADRIAAN

(1894–1946)

Engineer and politi cian who politically evolved from being a liberal to an authoritarian nationalist and finally to a fascist. Mussert felt confirmed in his po litical and organizational capacities as a member of the national com mittee that successfully contested the draft treaty with Belgium, which many considered as conflicting with Dutch economic inter ests. The treaty was rejected by Parliament. In 1931, Mussert be came the leader of a new right-wing party, the Nationaal Socialistis che Beweging (NSB, National Socialist Movement), which differed from its German Nazi model in omitting racist and anti-Semitic slo gans. During the years of economic crisis and the Depression, the NSB met with some success, obtaining 8 percent of the votes during the elections of the provincial States in 1935. Radicalization of the NSB’s political ideas, however, caused a decrease in its membership. After the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, during World War II, Mussert tried to convince Hitler of the necessity to win Dutch sympathy by creating a federation of Germanic peoples. However, the Nazis preferred annexation, so the political role of the NSB was only marginal. After the war, Mussert was found guilty of high treason and executed.