Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (born August 21, 1801 in Voorburg , † May 10, 1876 in The Hague ) was a Dutch statesman, historian and publicist. Strict Protestant tendencies in Dutch politics still refer to him today, especially the Christian Union .
He attended high school in The Hague and studied law in Leiden . Since then, he has been primarily concerned with historical and political studies, and the first product he wrote was Verspreide (The Hague 1826, Part 1). In 1829 he was appointed cabinet secretary to the king, but in 1833 he was dismissed from this position at his request in order to be able to devote himself to extensive historical work in complete leisure. The archives, ou correspondance inédite de la maison d'Orange-Nassau, appeared (Leiden 1835–1864, 1st series: 10 volumes, 2nd series: 5 volumes). He also wrote a comprehensive handbook of the geschiedenis van het vaderland (Amsterdam 1874, 4 volumes).
The ecclesiastical and political questions of the day occupied his interest in no less degree than the past of his fatherland. Even then, Groen van Prinsterer professed his support for the “ anti-revolutionary party ”, which wanted to see the principles of strict Christianity implemented in politics and everywhere adhered to the historical foundations of the existing. In 1840 he wrote in this sense Bijdrage tot herziening der grondwet in nederlandschen zin . In the same year Groen was elected MP. The work Ongeloof en revolutie (The Hague 1847) appeared as a kind of political creed . By “party” Groen van Prinsterer still meant a political direction and at most a cooperation of parliamentarians; the actual anti-revolutionary party was not founded until 1879.
In the constitutional struggles of 1848 and 1849 and in the ongoing transformation of public life, Groen intervened decisively with pamphlets such as Verscheidenheden van staatsregt en politiek and Grondwetsherziening en eensgezindheid . From 1849 to April 1865, when he voluntarily resigned, he was almost continuously a member of the Second Chamber and the main campaigner of his party. For wider circles he gave his ideas an expression in the newspaper De Nederlander , whose management from 1850 to 1855 was almost entirely in his hands. In addition, he laid down his views in numerous pamphlets, some of which, like the one under the title: Vrijheid van christelijk national onderwijs, published in verband met Scheiding van kerk en sta (Amsterdam 1864), are of considerable size. He has also published a long series of Parlementaire studiën en schetsen (Amsterdam 1865–1867, 3 volumes).
Groen saw like-minded people in Friedrich Julius Stahl and his followers, such as Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach : internally, like them, he fought liberalism; externally, he wanted the agreements of the Congress of Vienna to be maintained as the only protection of the independence of small states. He was touched all the more painfully when the Bismarck government of Prussia, which emerged from this direction, defeated Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866 and completely changed the existing situation. In his writings, La Prusse et les Pays-Bas , he gave to this pain and anxiety about the future . À mes amis de Berlin and L'empire prussien et l'apocalypse. À mes amis de Berlin (Amsterdam 1867) expression. He also fought against the Dutch School Act, which had banned religious education completely from elementary schools. His last historical work was Maurice et Barnevelt. Étude historique (Utrecht 1875) about Moritz von Oranien and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt .
Web links
- Guillaume Groen Van Prinsterer , entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Groen van Prinsterer, Guillaume |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch statesman, historian and publicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 21, 1801 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Voorburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 1876 |
| Place of death | The hague |