Dutch general election, 1946

Last updated March 26, 2019

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 17 May 1946,^[1] the first after World War II. The Catholic People's Party, a continuation of the pre-war Roman Catholic State Party, remained the largest party in the House of Representatives, winning 32 of the 100 seats.^[2]

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

The Catholic People's Party was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses. During its entire existence, the party was in government. In 1980 the party merged with the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Following the elections, the Catholic People's Party formed a grand coalition government with the Labour Party.

Results

Indicated changes in seats are compared to the Schermerhorn-Drees cabinet appointed by Queen Wilhelmina after World War II.

The monarchy of the Netherlands is constitutional and, as such, the role and position of the monarch are defined and limited by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a fairly large portion of the Dutch Constitution is devoted to the monarch; roughly a third of the document describes the succession, mechanisms of accession and abdication to the throne, the roles and responsibilities of the monarch and the formalities of communication between the Staten-Generaal and the role of the monarch in the creation of laws.

Wilhelmina was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948.

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Catholic People's Party	1,466,582	30.8	32	+1
Labour Party	1,347,940	28.3	29	–3
Anti-Revolutionary Party	614,201	12.9	13	–4
Communist Party of the Netherlands	502,963	10.6	10	+7
Christian Historical Union	373,217	7.8	8	0
Freedom Party	305,287	6.4	6	+2
Reformed Political Party	101,759	2.1	2	0
Protestant Union	32,020	0.7	0	New
Dutch Bellamy Party	11,205	0.2	0	New
Lopes Group	5,537	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	152,304	–	–	–
Total	4,912,015	100	100	0
Registered voters/turnout	5,275,888	93.1	–	–
Source: Nederlandse verkiezingsuitslagen

Popular Vote

KVP			30.81%
PvdA			28.31%
ARP			12.90%
CPN			10.56%
CHU			7.84%
PvdV			6.41%
SGP			2.14%
Other			1.02%

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References

↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1413

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[NS-1] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1396 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

[2] Nohlen & Stöver, p1413

v t e Elections and referendums in the Netherlands
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