In 1961, there was a protest here against the Atom Bomb. 10,000 people walked quietly and in an orderly line, as the police calmly observed. There was almost no noise and just a few placards dotted around the crowd. (A friend suggested "It was like going to church", reflecting the strong influence of the church in daily Dutch life up until the early 60's.) This incredibly peaceful event gave no foresight towards the changes coming during the rest of the decade.
Within 5 years, Amsterdam experienced the Bouwvakkerrellen (construction-worker riots). A protest against a reduction of pay for the workers, and the death of Jan Weggelaar, caused chaos. The national newspaper De Telegraaf reported that he was killed by colleagues, but the people believed he was killed by Police violence. The city erupted and for a day and a half, the police battled to control students and workers who ran riot through the city.
Other major events included protests at Princess Beatrix's wedding to Prince Klaus, with Provo playing a major part, and the recently celebrated Maagdenhuis Bezetting - an occupation by 660 students of a University administration office in 1969. Especially the younger people were not happy to stand for the fixed way of things.
I have been trying to capture that "moment of tension" where things changed. Why such a massive difference in just 5 years between the protests in '61 and '66 and beyond?
One point of view is that children born during or just after World War II had not experienced the extremity of the war. In the late 40's through to the end of the 50's, it was just hard work as adults were occupied with re-building the country and the economy. But by the beginning of the 60's, the post-war generation were becoming students and were more interested in questioning the rigidity that had to be put in place in the period of re-construction.
And there were many key events worldwide, in particular the Vietnam war - the first w
ar to be covered so intensively on TV. It is no co-incidence that Holland was one of the biggest protesters against Vietnam, as the major TV company of the time, Philips, sold huge numbers in the Netherlands. People were seeing the world in their front room, and they didn't like what they saw. The Dutch government was one of the few who actively opposed USA actions in Vietnam, as a result of the ferocity of protest against it from the people.As my research continues, it is clear there are many threads to the story I want to capture. Gradually the timeline comes together and I get to grips with the connections between events. I am always hunting for the "why" - what caused people to change and start to behave in different ways?
My story is forming as the research continues through those times of change. I learned more about Amsterdam in this last month than in the previous 11 years.
