Joining the International War Against Anarchism: The Dutch Police and its Push Towards Transnational Cooperation, 1880-1914

Abstract

This chapter discusses Dutch reactions to anarchist terrorism in the last decade of the nineteenth century. It primarily focuses on the efforts of police officials to counter this transnational threat. Although the Netherlands was not hit by a large-scale attack at the time, fear of anarchists was disseminated through newspapers which extensively reported on bloody incidents that occurred in other countries. Addressing public anxieties, public prosecutors and local police commissioners in the Netherlands succeeded in putting the struggle against anarchism high on the national security agenda which enabled them to instigate large-scale police reforms in terms of bureaucratization, standardization and centralization. In this process they focussed on importing new technologies and practices from abroad which put them in touch with colleagues from other countries. Through this network several Dutch police officials attended international anti-anarchist conferences in 1897 and 1898, where they successfully lobbied for harsh measures. By doing so these actors, who did not belong to the Dutch diplomatic corps, managed to leave their mark on Dutch international relations at the turn of the twentieth century.