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This article gives an overview of socialism in the Netherlands , including Communism and Social Democracy . It is limited to socialist, communist and social-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. OVERVIEW Socialism came relatively late to the Netherlands, because of its slow industrialization. In the 1860s a socialist movement began to develop. Although the socialists were aided by the foundation of the First International and of the first Dutch Trade Union s, united in the Algemeen Nederlands Werklieden Vereniging , a socialist party was not founded until 1881, when the Social Democratic League was founded. The slow industrialization was reflected in the support base of the first socialist parties. It wasn't the urban proletariat which supported them most, instead it were agricultural workers, who were the first to support the League. Before the First World War, the socialist movement saw two major spilts: in 1894 between revolutionary anarchists and parliament-oriented socialists. The latter left the League to found the Social-Democratic Workers' Party , while the former kept control of the SDB, which was soon banned by the government. The second split was between a revolutionary Marxist opposition and a Reformist-revisionist establishment. In 1907 the opposition group left the SDAP to found the Social-Democratic Party , which would become the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) after the Russian Revolution. This was one of the first splits between reformists and revolutionaries within the European labour movement. Both the revolutionaries and the reformists have their own labour unions, the reformist Nederlands Verbond Van Vakverenigingen and the anarcho-syndicalist Nationaal Arbeidssecretariaat . After the Second World War , the SDAP merged with smaller left-liberal, progressive catholic and protestant groups and parties to form the Labour Party (PvdA). The founders hoped that the old social structures would be replaced by a united progressive Netherlands, the so-called Break Through , but they gained only a third of the seats in the 1946 Elections . The PvdA governed the Netherlands between 1946 and 1958 with their leader Willem Drees as prime minister of a broad coalition. The PvdA became social-democratic supporting a Welfare State , a Mixed Economy , Decolonization and NATO . In 1946, the CPN performed particularly well, it had gained support because of the role of the communists in the Dutch Resistance . During the 1960s and 1970s socialism was invigorated with the development of New Left-movements. In 1957 the Pacifist Socialist Party was founded, connected with the developping Peace Movement , it formed an alternative for the pro-American PvdA and the pro-Russian CPN. In 1967 the Nieuw Links, a group of young socialists within the PvdA gained control of the party and set out on a new course, which includes both social-democratic and New Left ideals, such as a strong welfare state, women's liberation, environmental protection and international development. They wanted to form a progressive majority-coalition, together with their left-liberal and progressive christian allies. A group of social-democrats leave the PvdA to form DS'70 . The PvdA and their allies were unsuccesful at gaining a majority however in the 1971 and 1972 Elections and the PvdA's leader Joop Den Uyl is forced to form a tenuous coalition with the Christian democrats. During the 1980s socialism, communism and social-democracy are forced into a defensive position. The smaller socialist parties, PSP and CPN, which prospered in the 1960s and 1970s loose seats, the CPN even disappears from the Tweede Kamer in the 1986 . The PvdA is confined to opposition, while the liberals and Christian democrats reform the welfare state. The socialist labour union looses members and is forced to merge with the Catholic labour union to form the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging . In the 1990s socialists and social-democrats renew themselves. In 1989 the PSP and CPN merge with progressive christians and greens to form the GreenLeft . In 1994 Wim Kok , the new leader of the PvdA, looses a considerable number of seats, but becomes leader of the largest party. He forms an unprecedent '' Purple '' coalition with progressive and conservative liberals which implements a Third Way policy, including privatisation of public companies, legalisation of Prostitution and Euthanasia and some institutional reforms. In 1994 a small formerly Maoist party, the Socialist Party (SP) also enters parliament. In 2007 the PvdA re-enters the Coalition , now with christian-democrats and orthodox reformed. The SP has won an unprecedented 25 seats in the 2006 Elections . Since 2004, the GreenLeft has radically renewed its image now promoting itself as a left-liberal party, possibly breaking with its socialist roots. TIMELINE SDB
SDAP
CPN
BCS
SP (interbellum)
RSP
PvdA
PSP
DS70
SP
GreenLeft
SOCIALIST LEADERS
SOCIALIST THINKERS Influential Dutch socialist thinkers include:
SEE ALSO
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