Greater Netherlands

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The Greater Netherlands (Dutch: Groot-Nederland or Grootneerlandisme) is the political aspiration of some in the Low Countries.

One scenario includes a (re)unification of the Netherlands and Flanders, which can be thought of as a possible unitary state, a federation, or a confederation. Because this scenario would unite the Dutch, the term Dutchland is used to describe the unification. The other scenario (called "Whole-Netherlands", Dutch: Heel-Nederland) involves combining all the Low Countries as a single entity, the "Netherlands". Another name for the Greater Netherlands is Dietsland (Dutchland in English), which uses the word "Diets," an archaic term for "Dutch." Variations of Greater Netherlands include "Whole-Netherlands" (Heel-Nederland) and contemporary Orangism.

1 Greater Netherlands proper
2 Whole Netherlands
3 Contemporary Orangism
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Greater Netherlands proper

Most common view of the Greater Netherlands: A political union between Flanders and the Netherlands.

Narrowly, "Greater Netherlands" refers to the aspiration for the unification of the Netherlands and Flanders. The ideology, otherwise known as the "Dutch reunification", bases itself on the fact that the Dutch and Dutch-speaking Belgians (known as the Flemish) share a common history, culture, and language. It emphasizes that a new state unifying most of the Dutch speakers in Europe would create a more powerful political and economic bloc. Its supporters, especially in multilingual Belgium, also advocate that a monolingual state would prove to be less bureaucratic and more efficient. A union with Flanders has not been a political issue in the Netherlands and it is not on the agenda of any political party, but an August 21, 2007 poll indicates that 2/3 of the population would welcome union with Flanders.^[1] Given the difficulties experienced in forming a government following the 2007 Belgian elections, the likelihood of Flanders seceding from Belgium appears greater than before. The Vlaams Belang and N-VA parties are the primary advocates of secession in Belgian Flanders.

Greater Netherlandism is sometimes associated with the extreme right fascist organizations in both the Netherlands and Belgium, and the movement used part of the ideology and some of its symbols to achieve their own goals during World War II. Various individual politicians have expressed their support for this particular ideology, including Domela Nieuwenhuis and Hugo Schiltz (to name a few).

[edit] Whole Netherlands

Another view of Greater Netherlands: "Whole Netherlands" including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the French region of Nord-Pas de Calais.

The historical Prince's Flag is sometimes used by Whole Netherlands groups

The "Whole Netherlands" (Heel-Nederland), otherwise known as the "Netherlandish reunification" is an ideology which desires the creation of a state comprising all of the historical Low Countries (not merely the Dutch-speaking areas). The main proposal involves uniting Belgium (as a whole), Luxembourg, and the Netherlands (which would be similar to the former United Kingdom of the Netherlands). Other versions include Northern France (preferably Nord-Pas de Calais) and the (originally) Dutch-speaking areas of Germany, even going to the extreme of including South Africa.

This ideology is called "Whole-Netherlandism" (Heelneerlandisme), sometimes known as "Burgundicism" [Bourgondicisme] after the historical Burgundian Circle). Confusingly, the term is used by some groups such as Vlaams Belang to refer to linguistic Greater Netherlands (above) and not the wider uniting of all of the Low Countries.

[edit] Contemporary Orangism

From the 1980s, the term 'Orangism' has been used to refer to Greater or Whole-Netherlands projects with a focus on the restoration of theDutch royal family (House of Orange-Nassau) to the entire region. It should not be confused with the Orangism proper of the 19th century and earlier.

Some Heel-Nederland organisations are: