07/04/2026
New PoHis member! 👋
Nick Majchrowicz joins UAntwerp PoHis (Power in History) - Centre for Political History) as a PhD student under the supervision of Marnix Beyen-Van Bragt (UAntwerpen) and Kas Swerts (ADVN/KU Leuven). This PhD results from a collaboration between PoHis and ADVN - archief voor nationale bewegingen, where Nick works. His research focuses on the (anti-)imperial component of the so-called ‘Dietse gedachtegoed’ [Dietse ideology] during the interwar period (1918-1940).
Whilst in the 19th century, the term ‘Diets’ simply referred to the Dutch language, it took on political overtones in Great-Netherlandisch circles following the First World War. Their dream was to establish ‘Dietsland’, a new Dutch-speaking nation mainly comprised of the Netherlands and Flanders – although this could vary – which was, through the transnational ideas of ‘stamverwantschap’ [Kinship], connected with South African Afrikaners. However, these Diets-oriented circles did not stop at nationalistic goals but also eagerly wrote about (their own (anti-)imperialist ambitions.
The primary aim of this research is to raise awareness of this topic by shedding light on the imperialist imaginations of Dietse movements, parties, and individuals, while also highlighting the presence of this imperialism in archival collections such as that of the ADVN. The study focuses on the authors, the sociocultural implications of such imperial ambitions, and the tensions between Dietse organisations and international/imperial influences. The research is predominantly based on documents, newspapers, and publications from Diets-oriented organisations from Flanders/Belgium and the Netherlands.
The pictures below show articles written in Diets-orientated newspapers, such as the right-wing authoritarian Verbond der Dietsche Nationaal Solidaristen (Verdinaso) ‘Hier Dinaso!’. Verdinaso distinguished itself from other Diets-oriented organisations by its pronounced imperialist ambitions, with its imagined Diets Empire possessing a colonial empire/commonwealth (see map). Whilst ‘Dietsche Voorpost’, who were opponents of such a Diets colonial empire, attacked the Verdinaso leader, Joris Van Severen, for such ideas (Sources provided by ADVN).
