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Joris Van Severen: van katholiek naar fascist; politieke biografie
Over Van Severen zijn boekenkasten volgeschreven. De Franstalige notariszoon en oud-leerling van het Gentse jezuïetencollege werd als soldaat aan de IJzer een fervent Vlaams-nationalist. Na de Eerste Wereldoorlog stichtte hij het Verdinaso, de eerste fascistische beweging in Vlaanderen. Hij was er de absolute en onbetwiste leider van tot aan zijn gewelddadige dood aan het begin van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
Zijn politieke evolutie wordt bijna altijd toegeschreven aan zijn persoonlijkheid of literaire interesses. Ten onrechte, zo blijkt uit dit boek. Zijn Vlaams-nationalisme en verwerping van de democratie vonden hun voornaamste oorzaak in het onverzettelijke katholicisme van Vlaamse geestelijken. Die hadden een afkeer van de moderne waarden en instellingen en streefden naar het herstel van de christelijke maatschappelijke orde.
Van Severen liet zich voor hun kar spannen: hij nam zich voor het Vlaamse volk te verlossen van de op liberale principes gefundeerde Belgische staat en het zelfstandige Vlaanderen als een theocratie in te richten. Maar dat plan was niet haalbaar. Wat er uiteindelijk van zijn droombeelden overbleef, was een ongodsdienstige mix van antiliberalisme, antikapitalisme, antisocialisme, anticommunisme en antisemitisme.
Zijn politieke evolutie wordt bijna altijd toegeschreven aan zijn persoonlijkheid of literaire interesses. Ten onrechte, zo blijkt uit dit boek. Zijn Vlaams-nationalisme en verwerping van de democratie vonden hun voornaamste oorzaak in het onverzettelijke katholicisme van Vlaamse geestelijken. Die hadden een afkeer van de moderne waarden en instellingen en streefden naar het herstel van de christelijke maatschappelijke orde.
Van Severen liet zich voor hun kar spannen: hij nam zich voor het Vlaamse volk te verlossen van de op liberale principes gefundeerde Belgische staat en het zelfstandige Vlaanderen als een theocratie in te richten. Maar dat plan was niet haalbaar. Wat er uiteindelijk van zijn droombeelden overbleef, was een ongodsdienstige mix van antiliberalisme, antikapitalisme, antisocialisme, anticommunisme en antisemitisme.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 2025
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February 10, 2026
What an intriguing person Joris Van Severen was.
Although Van Severen was mentioned in my thesis, my knowledge of him had long remained rather superficial. In historiography, he is most often reduced to a limited set of facts: a fascist leader who aspired to create a Diets Rijk, and who was killed by French soldiers in Abbeville shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.
What I had not fully grasped, however, was the extent of his human and political evolution. Initially rooted in Catholic thought, Van Severen gradually transformed into a Flemish nationalist. During his time as a front soldier in the First World War, he even expressed a certain respect for the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Over time, his authoritarian and anti-democratic convictions became increasingly explicit, as political considerations - particularly Flemish nationalist ideas - came to outweigh religious ones. In a later phase, his ideological outlook shifted once again when he began to advocate the creation of a Diets Rijk, a vision that even incorporated Walloons, whom he romanticized as "Germanic" kin.
By recounting Van Severen’s life, Christian de Borchgrave (who, by the way, used an extensive bibliography) demonstrates how this key interwar figure evolved as a person and a political actor. Van Severen was profoundly shaped by his education at the Sint-Barbaracollege in Ghent, by his experience of an intense Catholic mysticism, by his experiences at the front during the First World War, and by the influence of other Flemish thinkers as well as French authors. These contexts and encounters were decisive in the gradual formation - and transformation - of his worldview.
Without seeking to condone either extreme-left or extreme-right actors - particularly those whose ideologies deny the dignity of certain groups, the "Other" - this book nonetheless reinforces an important insight for me. It clearly shows how individuals, not only as political actors but also as human beings, are shaped by their social environments and lived experiences. Only by acknowledging this process can we begin to understand where people - and their ideas - ultimately come from.
Although Van Severen was mentioned in my thesis, my knowledge of him had long remained rather superficial. In historiography, he is most often reduced to a limited set of facts: a fascist leader who aspired to create a Diets Rijk, and who was killed by French soldiers in Abbeville shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.
What I had not fully grasped, however, was the extent of his human and political evolution. Initially rooted in Catholic thought, Van Severen gradually transformed into a Flemish nationalist. During his time as a front soldier in the First World War, he even expressed a certain respect for the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Over time, his authoritarian and anti-democratic convictions became increasingly explicit, as political considerations - particularly Flemish nationalist ideas - came to outweigh religious ones. In a later phase, his ideological outlook shifted once again when he began to advocate the creation of a Diets Rijk, a vision that even incorporated Walloons, whom he romanticized as "Germanic" kin.
By recounting Van Severen’s life, Christian de Borchgrave (who, by the way, used an extensive bibliography) demonstrates how this key interwar figure evolved as a person and a political actor. Van Severen was profoundly shaped by his education at the Sint-Barbaracollege in Ghent, by his experience of an intense Catholic mysticism, by his experiences at the front during the First World War, and by the influence of other Flemish thinkers as well as French authors. These contexts and encounters were decisive in the gradual formation - and transformation - of his worldview.
Without seeking to condone either extreme-left or extreme-right actors - particularly those whose ideologies deny the dignity of certain groups, the "Other" - this book nonetheless reinforces an important insight for me. It clearly shows how individuals, not only as political actors but also as human beings, are shaped by their social environments and lived experiences. Only by acknowledging this process can we begin to understand where people - and their ideas - ultimately come from.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review