page_title: Anthony Fokker
section_title: Return to the Netherlands
hierarchical_section_title: Anthony Fokker / Return to the Netherlands
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Anthony Fokker met vliegenierskap en verrekijker bij microfoon op luchthaven Schiphol
context_page_description: Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker was a Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer. He is most famous for the fighter aircraft he produced in Germany during the First World War such as the Eindecker monoplanes, the Dr.1 triplane and the D.VII biplane.
  After the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to produce aircraft, Fokker moved his business to the Netherlands. There, his company was responsible for a variety of successful aircraft including the Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor, a successful passenger aircraft of the inter-war years. He died in New York in 1939. Later authors suggest he was personally charismatic but unscrupulous in business and a controversial character.
context_section_description: After the war's end, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to build any aircraft or aircraft engines. The Armistice, not the Treaty of Versailles, singled out the Fokker D.VII for destruction or confiscation, the only aircraft to be so named. In 1919, Fokker returned to the Netherlands and started a new aircraft company, the Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (Dutch Aircraft Factory), predecessor to the Fokker Aircraft Company. Despite the strict disarmament conditions in the Treaty, Fokker did not return home empty-handed: he managed to smuggle six goods trains' worth of D.VII and C.I military aircraft and spare parts out of Germany across the German-Dutch border. Author Weyl says that Fokker used 350 railway wagons and made sure that each train was too long to fit into the railway sidings where trains were normally checked for contraband. Weyl quotes Fokker himself as saying that he paid 20,000 Dutch guilders in bribes. The trains included 220 aeroplanes, more than 400 aero engines and much other material. This initial stock enabled him to quickly set up shop, but his focus shifted from military to civil aircraft such as the very successful Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor.
  Fokker's admitted bribery has contributed to his reputation for sharp business practices. Weyl also points out that – in addition to possible criminal charges for the Fokker D.VIII fatal crashes – Fokker also failed to pay taxes to German authorities, and actually owed more than 14 million marks. Fokker's autobiography tells a similar story, but focuses on the rampant corruption, hyper-inflation, economic meltdown, and violent revolutionary forces of the pre-Weimar days. According to Fokker's account, as WWI progressed, the German High Command became increasingly brazen, even forcing Fokker into German citizenship against his will. Fokker describes his escape from Germany as a harrowing tale in which he protected as many workers as possible and escaped with less than a quarter of his net worth. He takes pains to rebuff the claim that he left the country owing any taxes.
caption: Fokker in the Netherlands in 1934
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Reportage Schiphol. Anthony Fokker met vliegenierskap en verrekijker bij microfoon op luchthaven Schiphol\n*1934", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:05 11:28:12", "Image Artist": "Willem van de Poll", "Image Copyright": "http://proxy.handle.net/10648/ae9cee90-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84", "Image ExifOffset": "396", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "534", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3881", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1323", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1764"}