'Espionage Is Practised Here On a Vast Scale' The Neutral Netherlands, 1914-1940

Its neutral stance and its geographical position, wedged in between three rivalling European major powers, made The Netherlands in the period 1914–1940 a fertile ground for espionage. Its territory was used as a springboard and a place for information exchange. Also, The Netherlands itself were the subject of military information gathering, as it was a potential area for military operations by each of the surrounding great powers. The Dutch were well aware of these activities on their soil and tried to profit from contacts with foreign agents in order to strengthen Dutch neutrality. This extensive counter espionage was successful in 1914–1918 but failed in 1939–1940. During the inter war years the Dutch service, modest in size, focused on curtailing ‘bolshevism’, a danger that came from abroad but formed an internal threat to state security. This led to a rudimentary internal security apparatus.