In the 1860s a socialist movement began to develop in the Netherlands. The development was aided by the foundation of the First International and the foundation of the first trade unions.
Most of those unions however were united in the moderate Algemeen Nederlandsch Werklieden Verbond[nl] (General Dutch Workingmans' Association; ANWV) in 1871, which was founded by Protestants and liberals to combat the influence of the Dutch section of the First International. Some prominent Dutch representatives of the First International joined the ANWV in order to radicalise the organisation. In 1878 they, led by Willem Ansigh, left the ANWV to found the Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging (Social-Democratic Association; SDV). It had branches in major cities like Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem and Rotterdam
1881–1893: Social Democratic League
The SDB was founded in 1881 by members of the SDV and similar local socialist parties. The strongest of these local socialist parties were located in the poor rural province Friesland. The party was based on Marxist principles and therefore expected a proletarian revolution. In 1882 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, a lapsed Lutheran minister, was elected as general secretary of the party. He would hold this position until 1887 and grow to become the party's strongman, he retained the position when he was in prison in 1886–1887 for insulting the monarchy. The party published the paper "Justice for All" (Recht voor Allen) of which Domela was editor. The SDB was also affiliated to the League for General Suffrage, which was a dominantly liberal organisation which campaigned for universal suffrage.
In 1888, despite the party's revolutionary orientation it decided to participate in the election. Domela Nieuwenhuis was elected to the House of Representatives for the district of Schoterland. The party was supported by the liberal Frisian People's Party (Friesche Volkspartij). Domela Nieuwenhuis won the seat in the second round with the support from the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party, which preferred a socialist over a liberal MP. In parliament Domela Nieuwenhuis tried to gain attention for the interests of the Dutch workers, but he was ignored by other MPs.
In the 1891 general election Domela decided not stand for reelection. His seat was taken by Willem Treub, a member of the left-liberal Radical League. This electoral defeat led to debate within the party. A group of 'moderates' wanted to continue the parliamentary work and the reformist course, another group, led by Domela Nieuwenhuis, wanted to pursue an anti-parliamentary course with a strong anarchist orientation.[citation needed] This led to a split; during the SDB party conference of 1893 in Groningen, a majority voted to stop participating in the elections. A minority of members led by Pieter Jelles Troelstra tried to prevent this, and later left the party in order to create a new party. The split mirrored a larger conflict in the First International between reformists and revolutionaries, and Marxists and anarchists.
1893–1900: Socialists' League
In 1893 the SDB was forbidden by the court because the party had promoted illegal means to attain its goal. In response the party renamed itself Socialists' League (Socialistenbond, SB). When the anarchist elements began to take full control of the SDB, important regional social democratic figures joined the group around Troelstra. Together they formed a group called "the twelve apostles". They founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in 1894. In 1896 the radical wing of the party, led by Domela Nieuwenhuis, left the SB and continued without a party organisation. They chose for an anarchist course and direct action. They founded the paper De Vrije Socialist ("The Free Socialist") and became strongly linked to the Nationaal Arbeidssecretariaat (National Workers' Secretariat; NAS) an anarcho-syndicalist union founded in 1893. In 1901 the district of Schoterland elected the independent Socialist candidate, Geert van der Zwaag as its MP. His views were similar to those of Domela Nieuwenhuis in the 1880s. In 1900 the SB joined the SDAP which had become electorally successful. When Domela Nieuwenhuis died in 1919 the anarchist movement in the Netherlands lost significance.
Before the Russian Revolution the term social democrat, socialist and communist were used interchangeably to denote a Marxist ideology. Social democrat was not more or less radical than socialist. The organisations called itself League (Bond) because it did not see itself as a party in the traditional sense. It was entrenched in the extra-parliamentary opposition and only entered elections once.
Ideology and issues
The SDB was a Marxist party and it saw a socialist revolution, which would replace the capitalist system with a socialist one, as inevitable. Important issues for the party were the prohibition of alcohol, the abolition of the army and the replacement of the monarchy with a republic and the independence of the Dutch East Indies.
Practical social-economic reforms the party wanted to implement were the free education, better pay for teachers, a ban on child labour, a limited working day for women, the implementation of a system of social security and a better housing for workers.
Representation
This table shows the SDB's results in elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter is the chair of the parliamentary party and the, in this case sole, candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.
The electorate of the SDB was mainly located in the poor rural province of Friesland. In the 1888 the party profited from the extension of suffrage to small farmers and other members of the middle class. In the second round the support of the Protestant ARP was crucial. They supported the SDB because they preferred a socialist over a liberal. In the 1890s the party began to win support in the poor rural province of Groningen and larger cities like Amsterdam and Zaandam. The SDAP would however soon overtake the party in these regions.
The Anti-Revolutionary Party was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister. In 1980 the party merged with the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) to form the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).
Sicco Leendert Mansholt was a Dutch farmer, politician and diplomat of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (PvdA), who served as the fourth president of the European Commission from 1 March 1972 until 5 January 1973.
The Free-thinking Democratic League was a progressive liberal political party in the Netherlands. Established in 1901, it played a relatively large role in Dutch politics, supplying one Prime Minister, Wim Schermerhorn. The League is a predecessor of two of the major Dutch political parties, the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA). The social liberal Democrats 66 also claims that it and the VDB are ideologically connected.
Pieter Jelles Troelstra was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at the end of World War I. From 1888 to 1904, Troelstra was married to Sjoukje Bokma de Boer, a well-known children's book writer, under the pen name of Nienke van Hichtum.
Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis was a Dutch socialist politician and later a social anarchist and anti-militarist. He was a Lutheran preacher who, after he lost his faith, started a political fight for workers. He was a founder of the Dutch socialist movement and the first socialist in the Dutch parliament.
The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party in 1991, forming the centre-left GreenLeft. Members opposed to the merger founded the New Communist Party of the Netherlands.
Herman Gorter was a Dutch poet and socialist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880s, centered on De Nieuwe Gids.
The Social Democratic Workers' Party was a Dutch socialist political party existing from 1894 to 1946, and a predecessor of the social democratic Labour Party.
The Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League", was a conservative liberal political party in the Netherlands from 1921 to 1948. It is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a major Dutch political party.
The Socialist Party, also called the "Kolthek party" after its founder Harm Kolthek, was a Dutch revolutionary syndicalist political party. It was represented in Parliament between 1918 and 1922.
The League of Christian Socialists was a Dutch Christian socialist political party.
The Christian Democratic Party was a Dutch left-wing Christian-democratic political party. The CDP played only a minor role in parliament. It is historically linked to both the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Appeal.
This article gives an overview of socialism in the Netherlands, including communism and social democracy. It is limited to communist, socialist, social democratic, and democratic socialist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme.
This article gives an overview of Christian democracy in the Netherlands, which is also called confessionalism, including political Catholicism and Protestantism. It is limited to Christian democratic parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme.
The National Labor Secretariat was a trade union federation in the Netherlands from 1893 to 1940.
Maria Wilhelmina Hendrika "Mietje" Hoitsema (1847–1934) was a Dutch feminist.
De Roode Duivel was a Dutch socialist, antireligious, republican, humorist satirical weekly magazine. The weekly was edited by Louis Maximiliaan Hermans, and was published from 1 August 1892 until 13 December 1897. De Roode Duivel had a circulation of several thousands of copies. Hermans, who was initially a member of the revolutionary Social Democratic League, also used the magazine to criticise the parliamentarist Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP).
Pieter Lodewijk Tak was a Dutch journalist and politician.
Anarchism in the Netherlands originated in the second half of the 19th century. Its roots lay in the radical and revolutionary ideologies of the labor movement, in anti-authoritarian socialism, the free thinkers and in numerous associations and organizations striving for a libertarian form of society. During the First World War, individuals and groups of syndicalists and anarchists of various currents worked together for conscientious objection and against government policies. The common resistance was directed against imperialism and militarism.
Henri van Kol, also known as Henri Hubert van Kol, was a Dutch politician, engineer, and part owner of a coffee plantation in the East Indies. In the first half of the 1870s, he studied hydraulic engineering at Polytechnic School in Delft, during which he was introduced and became increasingly interested in socialism that supported colonialism. Van Kol went to Indonesia where he worked as an engineer, met the woman who became his wife, Nellie van Kol, and they had their children.
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