Characters / MTNO Netherlands

Main Character Index Superpowers: Großgermanisches Reich | United States of America Major Powers: Republic of China (GBASAR) | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Minor Powers: Empire of Japan (Chōsen/Korea) | United Kingdom | Kingdom of Italy | French State | United States of Brazil | Argentine Republic | Union of South Africa | Republic of Indonesia | Commonwealth of Australia Other Nations (Europe): Spain | Ireland | Netherlands | Portugal Other Nations (The Americas): Mexico | Colombia | Venezuela Other Nations (Asia): Malaya | Singapore | Philippines | Vietnam | Afghanistan | Syria Other Nations (Africa): Egypt | Congo | Katanga Misc: Miscellaneous

Dietsland

Official Name: Volksstaat Dietsland^note People's State of Dutchland

Ruling Party: Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging - Nationalistisch Centrum^note National Socialist Movement - Nationalist Center

Ideology: Fascism

While generations have passed since the Second World War, the people of the Netherlands have never fully bowed to Nazism. The Musserite regime is no exception - while the Germans may have been removed from the country long ago, the Volksstaat is seen as a continuation of the Nazi occupation, a stain on the history and pride of the Dutch nation that chugs along, unaware of the inevitable fate that awaits it.

---

General Tropes

• Conspicuously Public Assassination: The first major event for the Netherlands sees Wim Beaux, former head of the Land Guard and a top government official, be assassinated by the Vrijheidsorganisatie Z in broad daylight.
• Cult of Personality: Anton Mussert, the founder of the National Socialist Movement, is praised by the regime as a hero who saved the Netherlands from Judeo-Bolshevism.
• Dystopia Is Hard: Fascism is incredibly unpopular in the Netherlands and the Musserite regime has struggled for decades to quash political dissent, relying on German support to keep themselves alive.
• Fascist, but Inefficient: The Netherlands is a Musserite-Fascist dictatorship that practices 'Dutch National Socialism' and is aligned with the Germans. However, the Musserite regime has failed in quashing underground resistance and controlling the population. Its methods are brutish and careless, while the regime's security forces are divided.
• Interservice Rivalry: The Department of Social Stability, the Dutch Land Guard and the Armed Forces are at odds with each other. The Department finds them untrustworthy and thinks the Land Guard is out of control, the Land Guard is afraid it'll lose its importance to either of the two, while the Army loathes the control both groups have over them and wants to act separately. This makes coordinating any actual anti-resistance operations incredibly difficult, given the three groups will be more concerned with outclassing the other than getting the job done.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Upon seeing that Germany is crumbling from inside out, the Dutch people will take it as their cue that the Musserite regime will follow soon after, and take it to the streets to face the dictatorship head-on.
• Loss of Identity: The Netherlands doesn't know if it is still a monarchy or a republic, given that the royal family has sided with the government-in-exile and proclaiming a republic be deeply unpopular, leaving them with little choice but to stay in the limbo.
• Patriotic Fervor: The Netherlands claims Flanders as part of their territory, and the NSB often invokes nationalist sentiment to try and galvanize the population.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The assassination of Wim Beaux is what kickstarts the chain of events for the Dutch prologue; as the government is tossed into a state of paranoia and begin a long investigation to uncover the mystery surrounding Vrijheidsorganisatie Z and its commanders.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Under the leadership of Joop Glimmerveen, the Netherlands liberalized its economy; abandoning Corporatism for State Capitalism and strengthening its ties to the European Customs Union. Having witnessed the successes of Speerism, the regime sought to improve its economic conditions in hopes of gaining the approval of the population.
• La Résistance: The Vrijheidsorganisatie Z^note Freedom Organization Z or Zwijgers are a highly secretive resistance group trained, organized and funded by the Free Dutch BBO^note Office of Special Assignments and the Central Intelligence Agency. They are possibly the most well-organized resistance cell in all of Europe, to the point where even the RNS considers them to be a high-level threat.
• Secret Police: The Afdeling Sociale Stabiliteit^note Department of Social Stability, or ASS is the NSB's secret police, having been consolidated in 1986 to improve the regime's security forces and create an organized body to counter the BBO.
• State Sec: The Nederlandse Landwacht^note Dutch Land Guard grew into a feared paramilitary organization consisting of the most ardent supporters of the Musserite regime. It played an important role in crushing episodes of unrest such as the Koninginnedag Revolution and the regime continues to use the Land Guard's feared image to dissuade citizens from trying to take up arms.
• Velvet Revolution: In the German failstate path, the Musserite regime is overthrown in a mostly peaceful revolution as the soldiers turns against their generals and march into Amsterdam with the protesters, reinstating the Dutch government-in-exile. The 5.10 Revolution ends up becoming the spark that triggers the Autumn of Nations across Europe.
• You Cannot Kill An Idea: The 1982 Koninginnedag^note Queen's Day Revolution paralyzed the entire country and almost toppled the Musserite regime before it was crushed, and was the last instance of spontaneous mass resistance against the regime. However, the people of the Netherlands haven't forgotten the uprisings or the ideals they stood for - and continue to be inspired to stand up against the regime or combat it through other means.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The Vrijheidsorganisatie Z are considered a terrorist group by the NSB government, but are hailed as freedom fighters by the people of the Netherlands and the free word.

Leider

Willem Vreeswijk

Role: Leider van het Nederlandsche Volk^note Leader of the Dutch People

Party: Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging - Nationalistisch Centrum^note National Socialist Movement - Nationalist Center

Ideology: Fascism

The Leider of the Netherlands, Willem "Wim" Vreeswijk's rise to power happened all too fast. Being plucked out from his colleagues by Leider Joop Glimmerveen and groomed to succeed him, Willem has been in power for almost ten years and is still riding high on his luck. But the burdens of ruling have yet to set in, and perhaps Wim will start to wish that he had never gotten to be Leider in the first place.

---

• Corrupt Politician: Corruption in the NSB increased dramatically since his rise to power, with Vreeswijk himself taking several kickbacks and cutting his close colleagues into his schemes.
• Cult of Personality: There is a state-enforced cult of personality around Vreeswijk, just as with any other Leider that preceded him.
• Hated by All: No one in the Netherlands - be it the average citizen, the soldier, the party member or the businessmen like Vreeswijk. Fanatics see him as far too weak and effeminate for his position whereas opponents of the regime see him as a symbol of their suffering.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His purges will rid the Department of Social Security of some of its best members, while emptying the upper ranks of the armed forces and leaving its members deeply unsatisfied with the regime. This ends up contributing to delays into the investigation of the Vrijheidsorganisatie Z and helps to slowly turn individual soldiers against him.
• Passing the Torch: He was chosen by Glimmerveen to become Leider after his retirement, taking power in the early 2000s.
• Properly Paranoid: He is shaken by the assassination of Wim Beaux and is terrified of leaving his office or appearing in public, fearing that the resistance is ready to kill him whenever they get their first chance. This leads him down a paranoid spiral that only gets worse and worse.
• The Purge:
  • His first act as Leider was removing anyone whose loyalty he considered dubious and replacing them with his yes-men.
  • He will purge the security forces upon wrongly suspecting that several of its members are sympathetic to anti-fascist groups or agents from the government-in-exile.
• Unexpected Successor: Vreeswijk was only a nondescript party member without much importance until he gained Glimmerveen's attention, and many were surprised when Vreeswijk succeeded Joop.