Dutch Literature - The Twentieth Century

The Twentieth Century

In common with the rest of Europe, the Netherlands of the nineteenth century effectively remained unchanged until World War I (1914–1918). Belgium was invaded by the German Empire; the Netherlands faced severe economic difficulties owing to its policy of neutrality and consequent political isolation, wedged as it was between the two warring sides.

Both the Belgian and Dutch societies emerged from the war pillarised, meaning that each of the main religious and ideological movements (Protestant, Catholic, Socialist and Liberal) stood independent of the rest, each operating its own newspapers, magazines, schools, broadcasting organizations and so on in a form of self-imposed, non-racial segregation. This in turn affected literary movements, as writers gathered around the literary magazines of each of the four "pillars" (limited to three in Belgium, as Protestantism never took root there).

One of the most important historical writers of the 20th century was Johan Huizinga, who is known abroad and translated in different languages and included in several great books lists. His written works were influenced by the literairy figures of the early 20th century.

• Hendrik Marsman
• Adriaan Roland Holst
• J. van Oudshoorn
• Arthur van Schendel
• Hendrik de Vries
• Jacobus van Looy