Provo movement

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First public notice of the Provo Group in Amsterdam, May 8, 1966

Provo was a Dutch anarchist protest movement in the 1960s whose aim was to provoke violent reactions from authorities and other authorities through non-violent actions.

history

founding

The group was founded on May 25, 1965 by the anarchist philosopher Roel van Duijn , the non-smoking activist Robert Jasper Grootveld , the printer Rob Stolk , the inventor Luud Schimmelpennink and Peter Bronkhorst . The Dutch monarchy and royalty , symbols of the establishment, were preferred targets of Provo's satirical attacks. The group distributed a fake statement from Queen Juliana of Orange-Nassau , in which she announced that she had become an anarchist and was negotiating a transfer of power to Provo.

Active phase

Provo gained worldwide attention and fame with her action at the royal wedding of Princess Beatrix of Orange-Nassau with Claus von Amsberg , who was controversial because of his earlier membership in the Hitler Youth , on March 10, 1966. The group succeeded on the way of Procession to set off several smoke bombs , the enormous smoke development and the violent overreaction of the police, which also affected foreign journalists, were broadcast on television worldwide. In the week after the wedding, a photo exhibition about police violence opened, police officers broke in and beat visitors to the exhibition. These brutalities raised awareness among the Dutch public, and many intellectuals and writers called for independent investigations into the behavior of the police.

In June 1966, when a worker was killed during a strike, the conservative newspaper De Telegraaf claimed that the man was murdered by another worker, not the police. As a result, there were violent protests against the newspaper with the participation of Provo activists and the editorial building was stormed. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of people were arrested at happenings and demonstrations, and a demonstration ban only brought more people to the streets. In August 1966 a parliamentary committee was supposed to investigate the causes of the crisis, the results of which led to the dismissal of the police chief in charge. In May 1967 the mayor of Amsterdam was finally dismissed “honorably” from office after the committee of inquiry had condemned his policy. A week later, Provo surprisingly announced his breakup.

Harry Mulisch wrote a novel, De Rattenkoning , about the riots of summer 1966 that followed the murder of the worker and the storming of the De Telegraaf editorial office.

resolution

The reasons for the dissolution of Provo in 1967 and the Provo magazine were the growing public sympathy, especially from moderate liberals, and the equally growing unrest within the movement: the latter was a consequence of the institutionalization through the (local) political activities of Provo . Provo won a mandate in the last Amsterdam municipal council election and launched the so-called White Plans : The most famous of these was the White Bicycle Plan , through which white bicycles were set up for free use all over Amsterdam . When representatives of the political wing toured the country, gave lectures and gave interviews, there was serious resentment with the Provo founders Stolk and Grootveld. The positions of the “reformist” and the “revolutionary” part of the movement finally became irreconcilable. Stolk, Grootveld and van Duijn decided on May 13, 1967 to dissolve the Provo movement.

The Kabouter movement was founded in 1969 from the Provo area .

literature

Web links

Commons : Provo  - collection of images, videos and audio files