Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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Illustration 14: Snijders' antidote for anti-militarism
This cartoon from the Niellwe Amsterdammer identifies Snijders as holding the cure for socialist and anti-military
newspapers and propaganda (the medicine that has made the Dutch lion ill).
(Source: ARA, "Papieren van jhr!TIl' B. C. de longe" enllY no. 2.21.095, inventOlY no. 49)
Concern about radical "mobilisation clubs" spread quickly among commanders
early in 1915. By April, High Command had received reports of such organisations
throughout the country: Leiden, Tilburg, Aalsmeer, Beverwijk, Den Helder, Roosendaal,
Zaandijk, Utrecht, Zaltbommel, Bergen op Zoom, Naarden, Durgerdam, The Hague, Breda,
Abconde, Eindhoven, Delft, Schiedam, Amsterdam and Woerden. 106 Although a far from
negligible presence, most of the clubs were very small: their core membership rarely
exceeded 20 members (both civilian and soldiers), although one club in Tilburg boasted 60
106 "Verslag van de Commissie van onderzoek, benoemd door den Garnizoenscommandant op 17 Maart 1915, naar
aanleiding van een anti militairistische beweging onder gemobiliseerden te Leiden" [Report of the commission of
enquiry appointed by the Garrison Commander on 17 March 1915 to look into the anti-military movement among
mobilised troops in Leiden] 25 March 1915; First Lieutenant J. Varnier to Garrison Commander in Leiden, 7 April
1915; Garrison Commander Rotterdam to Commander-in-Chief, 24 April 1915, all in ARA, "Archieven van de
Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 2; Commander-in-Chiefto Commander Cavalry Brigade, 31 March
1915, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 310; Commander Division I to
Commander of the Field Army, 28 April 1915, in ARA, "Archief van het Hoofdkwartier Veldleger" entry no.
2.13.16, inventory no. 280; Decision of the High Military Court, 1 October 1915, in Militair-Rechtelijke Tijdschrift.
11, 1915/1916, pp. 412 - 470.