Abstract
Even though in the bitterness of his disappointment de Man was inclined to attribute the foundering of his hopes for the realization of socialism to the corruption and weaknesses of individuals not dedicated enough to withstand the contamination of the bourgeois environment, reflection soon convinced him that the basic difficulty lay not with men, but with institutions. The immediate cause of the failure to proceed to structural reform of those governments in which the POB had participated lay in the fact that their tripartite foundation placed the cabinet at the mercy of the reactionary wings of the bourgeois parties. After the formation of the Janson government, the world-wide economic relapse starting in 1937 created a very difficult financial situation which, de Man argued, was exploited by Capital to torpedo the parliamentary majority.1 The succeeding government, headed by Spaak, sacrificed even the achievement of any new social legislation for the sake of the maintenance of the status quo - an unavoidable if regrettable recourse under the circumstances.2 It appeared then that, at least in Belgium, the prospects for vanquishing capitalism through constitutional means were dim indeed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
See “Is het Planisme dood?” [Is Planning Dead?] and “Hervorming van den Staat vooraf!” [On with Reform of the State!] Leiding, I. Jaargang, n. I and 2 (January and February 1939), 1-13, 68-73, respectively. In so arguing, de Man echoed, by the way, earlier charges of the radical faction of the POB; see Robert Piron, “Pour une Politique nouvelle: V: Les institutions,” L’Action Socialiste, 2e année, n. 51 (29 December 1934), 4.
Vandervelde to the contrary notwithstanding: “Aber auf der anderen Seite ist es nicht minder ein Irrtum-den de Man nicht ganz vermieden zu haben scheint-, eine andere Tatsache zu übersehen: wenn der Internationalismus in dem Masse als er in die Breite und Tiefe der Massen dringt, wachsenden Wiederständen begegnet, so dringt er eben doch in diese Masse ein und gewinnt durch diese Tatsache an wirklicher Kraft, was er an der äusseren Erscheinung verliert.” Emile Vandervelde, “Der Kongress in Wien,” Der Kampf, Jahrgang 24, N. 7/8 (July-August 1931), 283.
Herman Vos, “Regeering en Parlement,” [Government and Parliament], Leiding, I. Jaargang, n. 8 (August 1939), 469.
Herman Vos, “Hervorming van den Staat of Opheffing van het Parlementarisme?” [Reform of the State or Abolition of Parliament?] and “Regeering en Parlement” [Government and Parliament], Leiding, I. Jaargang, n. 6 and 8 (June and August 1939), 324–333 and 468-475, respectively.
J.M. [J. Mellick], “Contribution à l’histoire du syndicalisme belge sous l’occupation,” Revue syndicaliste, 2me année, n. 19 (November 1949), 9–10, 12, provides a review of this movement sympathetic to de Man.
His own account of his singular orientation is confirmed in Charles Perrier, “Augustin Habaru et Henri de Man,” Revue syndicaliste (Paris), v. 2, n. 10 (February 1949), 12–13.
A search of the scanty available literature on collaboration and resistance in occupied Belgium has failed to turn up any significant new data on de Man. See, e.g., Paul Delandsheere et Alphonse Ooms, La Belgique sous les Nazis (Brussels, n.d. [1946]), v. I, 91 and 277; v. 2, 157 and 400. In La Cohue de 1940 (Lausanne, 1949), 171-190, 383-394, Léon Degrelle alleges that in September 1940 under the aegis of Otto Abetz de Man and he agreed to participate in a proposed Belgian government; but the effort was in any event abortive.
Gerhard Günther, “Zur Psychologie des Sozialismus,” Deutsches Volkstum, II. Jahrgang (October 1929), 739–744.
Though the study seems to have been well received as an instance of historical scholarship, it must be pointed out that its theoretical cogency is dissipated because of the fact that de Man made no serious effort to undertake an examination of the much-vexed question of the nature of the “spirit of capitalism.” For a general appreciation, see Friedrich Baethgen, review of Jacques Coeur, der königliche Kaufmann, Deutsche Literaturzeitung, Jahrgang 72, H. 4 (April 1951), 178–183.
For a unique, insightful, and appreciative attempt to identify the significance of de Man’s contribution for the analysis of the socialist movement today, see Adriaan M. van Peski, “Hendrik de Man: Ein Wille zum Sozialismus,” Hamburger Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsund Gesellschaftspolitik, 8. Jahr. (1963), 183–204.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1966 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dodge, P. (1966). Knight — Errant. In: Beyond Marxism: The Faith and Works of Hendrik de Man. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0476-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0476-8_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-015-0015-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-0476-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive