View source for Dutch Fascist Union

{{Short description|Dutch political party (1932–1933)}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[General Dutch Fascist League]]}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Dutch Fascist Union
| native_name      = Nederlandse Fascistische Unie
| native_name_lang = nl
| colorcode        = black
| abbreviation     = NFU
| founded          = {{start date|1932}}
| registered       = 26 February 1933
| dissolved        = {{circa|{{end date|1933}}}}
| newspaper        = ''De Aanval''
| youth_wing       = Fascist Youth Union
| wing1_title      = Paramilitary wing
| wing1            = Fascist Storm Troopers
| ideology         = [[Fascism]]
| religion         = [[Catholicism]]
| position         = [[Far-right politics|Far-right]]
| country          = Netherlands
}}

The '''Dutch Fascist Union''',{{efn|{{langx|nl|Nederlandse Fascistische Unie}}, [[abbr.]] NFU}} officially the '''General Dutch Fascist Union''',{{efn|{{langx|nl|Algemene Nederlandse Fascistische Unie}}}} was a [[fascist]], pro-[[Catholic]] political party in the [[Netherlands]]. It was formed in 1932 and registered as a political party in 1933. It contested the [[1933 Dutch general election|1933 parliamentary election]], garnering only 0.19% of the popular vote and winning no seats. It faded from written records shortly afterwards. The NFU had a paramilitary wing, a youth wing, and a publication titled ''De Aanval'' ({{literally|The Attack}}).

== History ==
During the [[interwar period]], Dutch fascists were split into three groups: followers of [[Italian fascism]] (or classical fascism), fascists who supported the Catholic Church in particular, and secular fascists who identified with [[Nazism]] and [[antisemitism]].<ref name="Griffin 2013">{{cite book |last=Griffin |first=Roger |title=The Nature of Fascism |date=11 October 2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-136-14588-9 |page=132 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Nature_of_Fascism/aQFUAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&pg=PA132&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The Dutch Fascist Union (NFU) was founded in 1932 as an attempt to unite the Catholic fascists.<ref name="Griffin 2013"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Blamires |first=Cyprian |title=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |date=18 September 2006 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-57607-941-6 |page=53 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/World_Fascism/sETPEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&pg=PA53&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Many members had split from the larger [[General Dutch Fascist League]]. It was registered as a political party in the Netherlands on 26 February 1933.<ref name="Huygens">{{cite web |title=Dutch Fascist Union |url=https://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/repertoriumkleinepolitiekepartijen/PartijDetail?Id=118 |website=Repertoire of small political parties 1918–1967 |publisher=[[Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands]] |access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref>

The NFU contested the [[1933 Dutch general election|1933 parliamentary election]], receiving 1,771 votes (0.05%) and no seats. In [[The Hague]] the party won 0.19% of the popular vote, in [[Amsterdam]] 0.03%, in [[Haarlem]] 0.09%, in [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] 0.18%, and in [[Zwolle]] 0.28%. The NFU disappeared from written records soon thereafter.<ref name="Huygens"/>

== Ideology ==
During the interwar period, some fascist parties in the Netherlands{{snd}}such as the [[National Socialist Dutch Workers Party]]{{snd}}were criticised by other fascist parties for their perceived moderateness and focus on [[corporatism]]. The criticised groups were labelled "right-wing fascists" as opposed to "far-right fascists" who closely followed Italian fascism or Nazism.<ref name="Payne 1996">{{cite book |last=Payne |first=Stanley G. |title=A History of Fascism, 1914–1945 |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-14873-7 |page=302 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Fascism_1914_1945/x_MeR06xqXAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&pg=PA302&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The NFU advocated its own loosely defined ideology called {{lang|nl|volks-fascisme}} ({{literally|people-fascism}}).<ref name="Payne 1996"/>

== Leadership ==
Leading figures of the party included Karel Eduard van Charante and Tony W. Hooykaas.<ref name="Huygens"/>

== Membership ==
The NFU membership reportedly never exceeded 1,000 followers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Littlejohn |first=David |title=The Patriotic Traitors: A History of Collaboration in German-occupied Europe, 1940–45 |date=1972 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=978-0-434-42725-3 |page=85 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Patriotic_Traitors/78whAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&dq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

== Non-party wings ==
The NFU had an armed wing{{snd}}a militia known as the Fascist Storm Troopers whose members dressed in [[Blackshirts|black uniforms]]. It also had a youth wing named the Fascist Youth Union.<ref>{{cite book |last=Littlejohn |first=David |title=Foreign Legions of the Third Reich |date=1979 |publisher=Ripol Classic |isbn=978-0-912138-22-0 |page=138 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Foreign_Legions_of_the_Third_Reich/zc7tAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Dutch+Fascist+Union%22&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover |access-date=26 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

== Publications ==
The NFU published ''De Aanval'' ({{literally|The Attack}}).<ref name="Huygens"/>

== See also ==
* [[Black Front (Netherlands)]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Defunct political parties in the Netherlands}}
{{Dutch fascism}}

[[Category:Fascist parties in the Netherlands]]