Martin Bossenbroek over Kolonialisme! - De vloek van de geschiedenis

The colonial past and the slavery past of the Netherlands have been in the spotlight lately, in increasingly negative terms. After decades of boasting, the pendulum has swung to penance. Thanks to the country's most famous Leiden historians, King Willem-Alexander and former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Netherlands now even tops the European 'ranking list' of regret and apologies. Is that desirable or should politics stop what many believe to be evidence of a get-rid-of-us mentality?

Bossenbroek leans towards the latter. The official apologies do not have broad support among the population. The largest political party, the PVV, wants to withdraw all apologies and 'reconquer' the country. According to an international poll, the Dutch feel by far the most pride and the least shame about their colonial past of all nationalities surveyed.

Thus, dealing with national history seems to have widened the gap between politics and citizens in Dutch society. And that is serious. How can we prevent that gap from becoming unbridgeable? Can justice be done to the past without burdening the present with further polarization that threatens democracy?

Historian Martin Bossenbroek has, among other things, raised the historiography in the Netherlands to a higher level with De Boerenoorlog. The book sold 80,000 copies and has been translated into French, German, Afrikaans and English. De Boerenoorlog was awarded the Libris History Prize. De wraak van Diponegoro over het begin en einde van de Nederlands-Indië was widely praised and will also be published in Indonesia. With De Zanzibardriehoek he once again demonstrated that he is one of the best historians of the Netherlands. It was also awarded the Libris History Prize.