WWI & WWII QUEEN WILHELMINA NETHERLANDS 1948 THRONE ABDICATION BRONZE MEDAL FOB!

Description

Here’s a Rare Medal Commemorating the Queen of the Netherlands’ Abdication of the Throne in
1948!
QUEEN WILHELMINA
(1880 – 1962)
QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS 1890-1948 – ABDICATING
THE THRONE
IN 1948 TO HER DAUGHTER PRINCESS JULIANA
!
Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina reigned for almost 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch! Her reign saw both
World War I
and
World War II
, as well as the
Dutch economic crisis of 1933
.
The Queen was a prolific autograph collector who had literal piles of material
!
<>
HERE IS A SMALL BRONZE MEDAL FOB WITH ATTACHED PATRIOTIC RIBBON DEPICTING A RELIEF OF QUEEN WILHELMINA WITH THE DATES
“1890-1948.”
THE MEDAL FOB HAS A RED, WHITE & BLUE RIBBON ATTACHED WITH SAFETY PIN HANGER.
THERE IS NO MAKER’S MARK.
The entire piece measures
¾” x 1½”
and is in very fine condition.
<>
:
<>
BIOGRAPHY OF QUEEN WILHELMINA
Wilhelmina
(full Dutch name: Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was
Queen of the Netherlands
from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw both
World War I
and
World War II
, as well as the
Dutch economic crisis of 1933
.
The only child of King
William III of the Netherlands
and
Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont
, Wilhelmina ascended to the throne at the age of 10 after her father's death in 1890, under her mother's
regency
. After taking charge of government, Wilhelmina became generally popular for maintaining Dutch neutrality during the First World War and solving many of her country's industrial problems. By that time, her business ventures had made her the world's first female billionaire in dollars. She went on to ensure that her
family
was one of seven European royal houses remaining in existence.
Following the German
invasion of the Netherlands
in 1940, Wilhelmina fled to Britain and took charge of the
Dutch government-in-exile
. She frequently spoke to the nation over radio and came to be regarded as a symbol of the
resistance
although she was criticised for failing to acknowledge some of the atrocities such as the Bombing of Nijmegen. By 1948, she had returned to the liberated Netherlands and was the only survivor of the 16 monarchs who were sitting on their thrones at the time of her coronation. Increasingly beset by poor health, Wilhelmina abdicated in favour of her daughter
Juliana
in September 1948 and retired to
Het Loo Palace
, where she died in 1962.
She remains reasonably popular in the Netherlands, even among the Dutch
Republican movement
. This is due to her being seen as a symbol of
Dutch Resistance
during
World War II
.
King William III died on 23 November 1890 and 10-year-old Wilhelmina became Queen of the Netherlands, though her mother was named
regent
. In 1895, Wilhelmina visited
Queen Victoria
of the United Kingdom, who penned an evaluation in her diary: "The young Queen ... still has her hair hanging loose. She is very slight & graceful, has fine features, & seems to be very intelligent & a charming child. She speaks English extremely well & has very pretty manners."
On 6 September 1898, Wilhelmina was
sworn-in
at the
Nieuwe Kerk
in Amsterdam.
She was well aware what was expected by the elected representatives, but was a strong-willed, forceful woman who spoke and acted her mind. She "hated" politicians and instead stated a love for the people. Reflecting popular opinion in the Netherlands at the time, Wilhelmina expressed a level of disdain towards the British for their
annexations
of the
Transvaal Republic
and the
Orange Free State
in the
Boer War
. The
Boers
were descended from Dutch colonists who migrated to the region while it was a
Dutch colony
, and the Dutch people, Wilhelmina included, felt a close level of affinity towards them. In one conversation with her former governess, the Briton Elisabeth Saxton Winter, Wilhelmina referred to the Boer
commandos
as "excellent shots."
[6]
During the war, Wilhelmina ordered the Dutch cruiser
HNLMS
Gelderland
to
Portuguese East Africa
with the order to evacuate
Paul Kruger
, the president of the
South African Republic
.
Marriage
On 7 February 1901 in The Hague, Queen Wilhelmina married
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
. Although she was devoted to her spouse at the time of their wedding, it proved in the long run to be an unhappy marriage that did little more than meet its obligation by producing an heir. Prince Henry was known to have had numerous extra-marital affairs, at least one of which resulted in illegitimate offspring. On 9 November, nine months after her marriage, Wilhelmina suffered a miscarriage. On 4 May 1902, she gave birth to a premature
stillborn
son. Her next pregnancy ended in another miscarriage on 23 July 1906. During this time Wilhelmina's
heir presumptive
was her first cousin once removed
William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
. Next in line was her cousin
Marie Alexandrine of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
.
As it was assumed that the former would renounce his claim to the Dutch throne and that the latter was too elderly to become Queen, Marie Alexandrine's eldest son, German
Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz
, stood in line to succeed Wilhelmina if she had no surviving children. Prince Heinrich had close associations with the German Imperial family and military, so there were fears that were the Queen to remain childless, the Dutch Crown "was bound to pass into the possession of a German prince, whose birth, training, and affiliations would naturally have led him to bring Holland [sic] within the sphere of the German Empire, at the expense of its independence, both national and economic", according to one contemporary publication. The birth of Princess
Juliana
, on 30 April 1909, was met with great relief after eight years of her childless marriage. Juliana formed a close relationship with her mother, who suffered two further miscarriages on 23 January and 20 October 1912.
World War I
Before the First World War began, Wilhelmina visited the powerful German
Emperor Wilhelm II
. The emperor thought he could impress the ruler of a relatively small country by telling her, "My guards are seven feet tall and yours are only shoulder-high to them." The queen smiled politely and replied, "Quite true, Your Majesty, your guards are seven feet tall. But when we
open our dikes
, the water is ten feet deep!" She was very wary of a German attack, especially in the beginning. Partly due to her political influence, the Netherlands remained neutral during
World War I
. However, the
Allies
included the Netherlands in their blockade of Germany, intercepting all Dutch ships and severely restricting Dutch imports to ensure that
goods
could not be passed on to Germany. Furthermore, the
Russian revolution
by the
Bolsheviks
in 1917 cost the queen almost 20% of her
financial assets
.
Being a woman, Wilhelmina could not be the Supreme Commander, but still used every opportunity she had to inspect the Crown forces. She appeared without prior notice on many occasions to see reality instead of a prepared show. She wanted a small but well-trained and equipped army and was very unhappy with most of her governments, which were always eager to cut the military
budget
. In June 1917, Wilhelmina returned from a two-day visit to
Zaltbommel
on the
train that derailed at Houten
, but remained unharmed and helped to take care of the injured.
Civil unrest gripped the Netherlands after the war, spurred by the end of the Russian Empire. Instead of a violent revolution, Socialist leader
Pieter Jelles Troelstra
wanted to abolish the existing government and the monarchy by winning control of
Parliament
in an election with the support of the working class. However, Wilhelmina's popularity helped restore confidence in the government. She brought about a mass show of support by riding alongside her daughter through the crowds in an open carriage. At the end of World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm fled to the Netherlands, where he was granted
political asylum
, partly owing to his
familial links
with the royal family. In response to Allied efforts to get their hands on the deposed Kaiser, Wilhelmina called the Allies' ambassadors to her presence and lectured them on the
rights of asylum
.
Interwar period
Medal depicting Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina had a keen understanding of business matters. She used her personal wealth inherited from her family to make several investments in the United States, which eventually made her the world's richest woman and first female billionaire in
dollars
. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Netherlands began to emerge as an
industrial
power with the help of the Queen's
funds
. Engineers reclaimed vast amounts of land that had been under water by building the
Zuiderzee Works
, the largest
hydraulic
engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the 20th century. Its main purposes were to improve
flood protection
and create additional land for agriculture.
In 1939, the government proposed a refugee camp near the city of
Apeldoorn
for German Jews fleeing the
Nazi
regime. However, Wilhelmina intervened because she felt the planned location was "too close" to the royal family's summer residence. Indeed if spies were to be among the fugitives, they would be within walking distance of
Het Loo Palace
. After long discussions, the camp was finally erected about 10 km from the village of
Westerbork
.
Aside from economical and security matters, Queen Wilhelmina used most of the 1930s to find a suitable husband for Juliana. This was a difficult task since she was very religious and insisted that her daughter's husband would be a
Protestant
of royal birth. Many prospects from the United Kingdom and Sweden either declined or were turned down by Juliana. Finally, mother and daughter found a suitable match in German
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
. Wilhelmina had her lawyers draft a very detailed
prenuptial agreement
that specified exactly what her future son-in-law could and could not do.
World War II
On 10 May 1940,
Germany
invaded the Netherlands
. Despite her hostility towards the British, the almost sixty-year-old Queen Wilhelmina and her family fled The Hague and boarded
HMS
Hereward
, a British destroyer sent by King
George VI
to take them across the North Sea. There is an ongoing debate about the royal family's departure. Some
say that an evacuation to the United Kingdom had been planned some time in advance, since at least the end of 1939. Others
say the queen boarded the destroyer with the intent of going to the Dutch province of
Zeeland
, which had not yet been conquered. However, along the journey, it became clear that due to advancing German forces, Zeeland was not safe either, forcing the destroyer to sail for the United Kingdom. In any case, she arrived in the United Kingdom on 13 May, planning to return to the Netherlands as soon as possible. The
Dutch armed forces
in the Netherlands, apart from those in Zeeland, surrendered on 15 May.
In Britain, Queen Wilhelmina took charge of the
Dutch government in exile
, setting up a chain of command and immediately communicating a message to her people. Relations between the new Dutch government and the queen were tense, with mutual dislike growing as the war progressed. She went on to be the most prominent figure, owing to her experience and knowledge, which earned her respect and support among the other leaders of the world. On the other hand, the new Dutch government did not have a parliament to back them and had few employees to assist them. The Dutch prime minister,
Dirk Jan de Geer
, believed the Allies would not win and intended to open negotiations with Germany for a separate peace. Therefore, Wilhelmina sought to remove De Geer from power. With the aid of minister
Pieter Gerbrandy
, she succeeded.
During the war, Queen Wilhelmina's photograph was a sign of resistance against the Germans. Like
Winston Churchill
, Wilhelmina broadcast messages to the Dutch people over
Radio Oranje
. She called
Adolf Hitler
"the arch-enemy of mankind". Her late-night broadcasts were eagerly awaited by her people, who had to hide to listen to them illegally. An anecdote published in her
New York Times
obituary illustrates how she was valued by her subjects during this period:
Although celebration of the Queen's birthday was forbidden by the Germans, it was commemorated nevertheless. When churchgoers in the small fishing town of
Huizen
rose and sang one verse of the Dutch national anthem,
Wilhelmus van Nassauwe
,
on the Queen's birthday, the town paid a fine of 60,000 guilders.
Queen Wilhelmina visited the United States from 24 June to 11 August 1942 as a guest of the U.S. government. She vacationed in
Lee, Massachusetts
and visited New York City, Boston, and Albany, New York. In the latter city, she attended the 300th anniversary celebration of the
First Church in Albany
, established by
Dutch settlers
in the 17th century. She addressed the U.S. Congress on 5 August 1942 and was the first queen to do so. Shortly afterwards, Wilhelmina went to Canada in 1943 to attend the christening of her new granddaughter
Margriet
on 29 June 1943 in
Ottawa
and stayed a while with her family before returning to the United Kingdom.
During
Operation Steinbock
, Queen Wilhelmina was almost killed by a
bomb
that took the lives of several of her guards and severely damaged her residence near
South Mimms
in England. In 1944, Wilhelmina became the first woman since the 15th century, other than queens of the United Kingdom, to be inducted into the
Order of the Garter
. Churchill described her as "the only real man among the governments-in-exile" in London.
In England, Queen Wilhelmina developed ideas about a new political and social life for the Dutch after the liberation, wanting to create a strong cabinet formed by people active in the resistance. She dismissed De Geer and installed a new prime minister with the approval of other Dutch politicians. When the Netherlands was liberated in 1945, the queen was disappointed to see the same political factions taking power as before the war. In mid-March 1945, she travelled to the liberated areas of the southern Netherlands, visiting the region of
Walcheren
and the city of
Eindhoven
where she received a rapturous welcome from the local population. On 2 May 1945, she came to stay in a small country estate called
Anneville
located just south of
Breda
with Juliana and adjuncts
Peter Tazelaar
,
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
and fellow
Engelandvaarder
Rie Stokvis. Anneville was the scene of a number of processions where the residents of Breda and the surrounding communities came to greet their Queen. She remained there for a little over six weeks.
Shortly after the war, Queen Wilhelmina wanted to give an award to the
Polish Parachute Brigade
for their actions during
Operation Market Garden
and wrote the government a request. The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Eelco van Kleffens
, opposed the idea because he thought an award for the Poles would upset relations with the
'Big Three'
and harm national interests. The Polish Parachute Brigade were just awarded the
Military Order of William
on 31 May 2006 after 61 years.
Later years
Following the end of World War II, Queen Wilhelmina made the decision not to return to her palace but to move into a mansion in The Hague, where she lived for eight months. She travelled through the countryside to motivate people, sometimes using a bicycle instead of a car. However, in 1947, while the country was still recovering, the
revolt
in the oil-rich
Dutch East Indies
saw the sharp criticism of the queen by the Dutch economic elite.
Around the same time, Queen Wilhelmina's health started failing, forcing her to cede her monarchial duties to Princess Juliana temporarily towards the end of 1947 (14 October through 1 December). She considered abdication, but her daughter pressed her to stay on for the stability of the nation. Wilhelmina had every intention of doing so, but exhaustion forced her to relinquish monarchial duties to Juliana again on 12 May 1948, which left the princess to deal with the early elections caused by the
ceding of the Indonesian colonies
.
Dismayed by the return to pre-war politics and the pending loss of Indonesia, Wilhelmina abdicated on 4 September 1948 after a reign of 57 years and 286 days due to advancing age and illness. She passed the crown to Juliana and was hence forward styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands". Since then, the influence of the Dutch monarchy continued to decline but the country's love for its royal family continued.
No longer queen, Wilhelmina retreated to
Het Loo Palace
, making few public appearances until the country was devastated by the
North Sea flood of 1953
. Once again, she travelled around the country to encourage and motivate the Dutch people. During her last years, she wrote her autobiography, entitled
Eenzaam, maar niet alleen
(
Lonely but Not Alone
), in which she gave her account of the events in her life and revealed her strong religious feelings.
Wilhelmina died of cardiac arrest in Het Loo Palace at the age of 82 on 28 November 1962. She was buried in the Dutch royal family crypt in the
Nieuwe Kerk
in
Delft
, on 8 December. At her request and contrary to protocol, the funeral was completely in white to give expression to her belief that earthly death was the beginning of eternal life. According to German
Salic law
, the
House of Orange-Nassau-Dietz
became extinct upon her death, but this rule is not recognised by royal Dutch succession laws.
In addition to being the last male-line descendant of House Orange-Nassau, she was also the last great-grandchild of
Emperor Paul I of Russia
.
In popular culture
Queen Wilhelmina appears as the leader of the Dutch civilization in
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
.
She was portrayed by
Andrea Domburg
in
Paul Verhoeven
's 1977 film
Soldier of Orange
.
Queen Wilhelmina can also appear as the leader of the Netherlands in
Hearts of Iron IV
.
Titles, styles and honours
Titles and styles
31 August 1880 – 21 June 1884:
Her Royal Highness
Princess Pauline of Orange-Nassau
21 June 1884 – 23 November 1890:
Her Royal Highness
Princess Wilhelmina of Orange-Nassau
23 November 1890 – 4 September 1948:
Her Majesty
Queen Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau
4 September 1948 – 28 November 1962:
Her Royal Highness
Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina's full regnal title from her accession to her marriage was: "Wilhelmina,
by the Grace of God
, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, Duchess of Limburg,
etc.
" She adopted her husband's ducal title upon marriage as customary, becoming also a duchess of Mecklenburg.
Honours
Netherlands
:
Grand Master of the
Military William Order
,
1890
; Grand Cross,
4 September 1948
Grand Master of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion
,
1890
Grand Master of the
Order of Orange-Nassau
,
1890
Joint Grand Master of the
Order of the Gold Lion of Nassau
,
1890
Grand Master of the
Order of the House of Orange
,
1890
Founder of the
Johanniter Order
,
1909
Since Wilhelmina received no Dutch honours before ascending the throne aged ten and resigned the position of grand master when she abdicated in 1948, she was in the unusual position of being a Dutch princess and former queen who did not hold a Dutch honour. Her daughter and successor therefore appointed her Grand Cross of the Military William Order. This was the only Dutch honour she ever held in her life in a personal capacity.
Eponyms
Queen Wilhelmina State Park
in
Arkansas
, and
Wilhelmina Bay
in Antarctica are named for Queen Wilhelmina.
In 1892, the company Fortuin celebrated its 50th anniversary by producing peppermint candy with the image of the 12-year-old Princess Wilhelmina, which have continued in production since then. Among Dutch sweets, these mints have become the "most Dutch of all".
Ancestry
After Wilhelmina had taken office in 1890, rumours were spread by Socialist satirical magazine
De Roode Duivel
("The Red Devil") that William III was not her real father, but Emma's confidant, S.M.S. de Ranitz. This would undermine the legitimacy of the Queen's reign. Although no hard evidence exists for the allegations and the consensus amongst historians is that they are false, the rumours were stubborn and still feature in
conspiracy theories
circulating in republican circles. The author of the rumour, the later parliamentarian and senator Louis Maximiliaan Hermans, was sentenced to six months imprisonment for
lèse-majesté
in 1895 for a different article and cartoon in
De Roode Duivel
, mocking the two queens.
………….
Top of Form
I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over 20 years.~
WE ONLY SELL GENUINE ITEMS, i.e., NO REPRODUCTIONS, FAKES OR COPIES!