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45-655: Like some other liberal parties in Europe, such as the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland , the party did not have the word "liberal" in its name because of its connotation with conservative liberalism . Instead it used the term vrijzinnig , which is difficult to translate into English. The term, which literally translated would be "free-thinking" or "free-minded" has meanings in the Protestant church referring to more liberal or latitudinarian tendencies in

90-530: A group dissatisfied with the failed "Breakthrough" and the increasingly socialist tint of the PvdA left the party. These were all former VDB members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud . They joined with the conservative liberal Freedom Party (PvdV) to form the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . The VDB started out as a left , social or progressive liberal party, committed to universal suffrage and

135-513: A liberal minority cabinet led by Theo de Meester . The cabinet was supported by Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). In the 1909 election the Coalition regained its majority. The VDB lost two seats, making its total nine. In the 1913 election the Christian democrats lost their majority. The VDB lost four seats, because it was not the only liberal party in favour of universal suffrage;

180-727: A loose league of politicians and local caucuses . In liberal circles parties were seen as factionalist and incompatible with the common good. The VDB was a merger of two groups; one, the Radical League , was founded in 1892 as an Amsterdam secession of the Liberal Union ; they left the Union over the issue of universal suffrage . The second group was the Free-thinking Democratic political club (Dutch: Vrijzinnig Democratische Kamerclub or VD-kamerclub ). This

225-620: A major Dutch political party. The LSP was founded on 16 April 1921 as a merger of the mainstream liberal Liberal Union , the conservative liberal League of Free Liberals , the minor Economic League and the single seat parties of the Neutral Party and the Middle Class Party . They were joined by the General Political Party, who lacked parliamentary representation. These were all the liberal parties in

270-543: A real system of pillarised organisations around it. "Neutral" organisations, which were not linked to a pillar, often had friendly relations with the VDB. This included the general broadcasting association AVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep, General United Radio Broadcasting Organisation), the general union ANWV (Algemene Nederlandse Werkelieden Vereniging, the General Dutch Workers' Association); furthermore,

315-606: The National Socialist Movement . Although the party was very small it was part of coalition cabinet two times between 1933 and 1937 in the second and third cabinets of Hendrikus Colijn . In 1939 several individual League-members were involved in the short-lived fifth Colijn cabinet. In 1941, after the Netherlands was invaded in 1940 by the Germans, the party was forbidden. In 1946, after the Netherlands

360-686: The Swiss National Council (first chamber of the Swiss parliament); 14 (out of 46) in the second chamber and two out of seven mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 27.2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19.7% in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). At the last legislative elections , 22 October 2007,

405-570: The federal government . The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919. From 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party took two seats in the magic formula . The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), as it was put under pressure by the Swiss People's Party . In response, the party formed closer relations with

450-652: The House of Representatives. In 1925, the party was instrumental in the fall of the cabinet led by Hendrikus Colijn : each year the orthodox Protestant Reformed Political Party (SGP) proposed that the Dutch representation at the Vatican be removed. The Protestant SGP was fervently anti-Catholic. This proposal was always supported by the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU), which

495-703: The Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals had also included in their programmes. Furthermore, the SDAP performed exceptionally well in these elections. The leader of the VDB, Dirk Bos , attempted to form a government with the liberals, free liberals, socialists and free-thinking democrats. The socialists refused to cooperate, because one of their major issues (unilateral disarmament of the Netherlands) could not be realised. A liberal extra-parliamentary cabinet

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540-460: The Liberal Union and the other liberal split, the League of Free Liberals, was against universal suffrage, they still needed each other to form a liberal alternative to the Christian democratic Coalition . In many districts there was only one liberal candidate supported by all three liberal parties. In 1905, the VDB won two additional seats. From 1905 to 1908 the Liberal Union and the VDB formed

585-436: The Netherlands except for the progressive-liberal Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB). The merger was forced by the constitutional revision of 1918 implementing universal suffrage and proportional representation . The two biggest parties (the Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals) had lost a considerable number of seats with the implementation of universal suffrage, while the other three parties had profited from

630-452: The VDB, until he became major of Rotterdam in 1938. In 1937 , they managed to retain their seven seats. In 1941, the party was forbidden by the German occupying force. The VDB played a minor role in the 1940-1945 cabinets in exile. After the German occupation, there was a widespread feeling that a new political party was necessary, one that was not part of the pillarised system. This movement

675-514: The bridge between liberals and socialists. This strategy resulted in the fall of the second Ruijs de Beerenbrouck cabinet in 1925. The VDB was unable to form a government of liberals, socialists and Catholics. In 1933 the relations between the SDAP and the VDB worsened as the VDB joined the Colijn cabinet, which had a very conservative economic policy. Their cooperation in World War II improved

720-631: The centre-right government led by Colijn , which consisted of the Catholic RKSP, the Protestant CHU and ARP, and the liberal VDB and Liberal State Party. The VDB cooperated in the budget cuts and the strengthening of the Dutch armed forces. The previously good relations with the SDAP came under considerable strain from this. In 1933 the party's leader, Marchant, who also served as minister of Education, stepped down because he had turned Catholic. Pieter Oud took his place as political leader of

765-431: The church, rather than secular freethought , as well as more progressive and social tendencies in liberalism, as opposed to classical liberalism . The term "Democratic" is included in the parties name because of its clear commitment to further democratisation of the Dutch political system. The term "League" is used instead of "Party" because the organisation was not a centralised, strictly organised mass party but rather

810-419: The construction of a welfare state . It favoured the democratisation of the Dutch political system. Female suffrage was one of its most important issues. It favoured government influence in the national economy by nationalising crucial industries. It also believed that government should play an important part in ensuring the welfare of the population; hence, it favoured the implementation of state pensions for

855-466: The elderly. In the 1930s, the leader of the party, Pieter Oud , was somewhat more conservative than his predecessors, at least fiscally, supporting as Minister of Finance the strict fiscally conservative line of the Cabinet. Before World War I , it favoured an army formed by national conscription . After the war and until the 1930s, it favoured unilateral disarmament. This position was abandoned with

900-715: The extremely poor and pensions for the elderly. It defended public education . Internationally it favoured international (mutual) disarmament and the gradual implementation of autonomy for the Dutch Indies . The LSP mainly received support from agnostics or latitudinarian protestants (such as Remonstrants , moderate orthodox or freethinking members of the Dutch Reformed Church and Mennonites ) from higher classes: businessmen , civil servants , wealthy farmers, and voters with free professions (lawyers, doctors etc.). The party performed particularly well in

945-497: The following 1925 elections the party gained two seats. The party leader, Marchant , attempted to form a progressive government with the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), the SDAP and the VDB. He failed, however, and a new Christian democratic cabinet was formed. In the 1929 elections, the VDB retained its seven seats. In 1933 , the party lost one seat. Nonetheless, the party was asked to cooperate in

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990-414: The general broadcasting association AVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep, General United Radio Broadcasting Organisation), the general union ANWV (Algemene Nederlandse Werkelieden Vereniging, the General Dutch Workers' Association), furthermore the neutral employers' organisation VNO and the financial newspaper Het Handelsblad had good relations with the League. Together with the other liberal party,

1035-399: The liberal alliance lost nearly half its seats. The VDB remains relatively stable with five seats, but they were nonetheless forced to a position in opposition to a Christian democratic cabinet. In 1919, however, VDB leader Henri Marchant initiated the law for female suffrage. In the 1922 elections the party retained its five seats. Betsy Bakker-Nort became the party's first female member of

1080-566: The liberals and the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). The SDAP supported two liberal minority cabinets, but the SDAP was unwilling to join a cabinet with these bourgeoise parties in 1913. After 1918, when the liberals lost more than half of their seats, the relations with Concentration dissolved and the two other concentration parties merged to form the Liberal State Party . The VDB continued to serve as

1125-482: The lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader. The party's leader can also be in cabinet. The party was particularly strong in urban municipal and provincial governments . The party supplied several mayors of larger cities, such as Pieter Droogleever Fortuyn in Rotterdam In the following figure one can see the election results of

1170-508: The major trading cities Amsterdam and Rotterdam , the rich municipalities around Hilversum and The Hague and in northern rural provinces, like Groningen and Drenthe . This table shows the LSP's results in elections to the House of Representatives , Senate and States-Provincial , as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and

1215-625: The members of the VD-kamerclub , and some of the party caucuses left the party. The two groups, the Radical League and the VD-kamerclub , merged in 1901 to form the Free-minded Democratic League. In the 1901 elections they won nine seats. The party always remained rather small, but because of its strategic position and the quality of its MPs, the party was very influential. Although the VDB had split from

1260-482: The name Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League" (Liberale Staatspartij, "de Vrijheidsbond"), after 1937 it adopted the name Liberal State Party ("Liberale Staatspartij"). The LSP was a conservative liberal party. Personal freedom was their most important principle. It therefore defended a small state and was in favour of free trade . Government should however be involved in providing social security for

1305-556: The neutral employers' organisation VNO and the financial paper Het Handelsblad had good relations with the League. Together with the other liberal party, the Liberal State Party, these organisations formed the weak general pillar. The VDB was part of the Concentration the alliance with the liberal Liberal Union and League of Free Liberals . These parties had good relations. The VDB served as bridge between

1350-730: The other major parties in agreeing the ' magic formula ' to divide up the seats of the Federal Council , with the FDP permanently receiving two of the seven seats. After the 2003 elections , lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a common parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly . In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union . They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP. The Liberals . In 2003, it held 36 mandates (out of 200) in

1395-556: The party provided various mayors . The former VDB leader Oud was mayor of Rotterdam between 1938 and 1941. In 1919, Maria Elisabeth Stellwag-Bes became party leader for the VDB in the municipal elections in Delft and was elected to the Delft municipal council. Deputy leader Corry Tendeloo , who later became instrumental in the legal advancement of women's rights, was a member of the municipal council in Amsterdam. The VDB lacked

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1440-501: The party won 15.6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats. National groups: * observer *associate member **observer Liberal State Party The Liberal State Party , "the Freedom League" ( Dutch : Liberale Staatspartij "de Vrijheidsbond" , LSP ), 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),

1485-419: The provincial election of 1931 per province. It shows the areas where the LSP is strong, namely South Holland and too a lesser extent Gelderland and North Holland. The party is very weak in rural and Catholic Limburg and Brabant. The LSP lacked a real system of pillarised organisations around it. 'Neutral' organisations, which were not linked to a pillar, often had friendly relations with the LSP. This included

1530-536: The radical movement on the 'left' of the political spectrum . It was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right. The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined

1575-622: The relations between SDAP and VDB considerably. This led to the Doorbraak and the formation of the Labour Party with the SDAP and the VDB is its major components. Free Democratic Party of Switzerland The Free Democratic Party ( German : Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei , FDP ; Romansh : Partida liberaldemocrata svizra , PLD ), also called Radical Democratic Party ( French : Parti radical-démocratique , PRD ; Italian : Partito liberale-radicale svizzero , PLR )

1620-516: The rise of international tensions after 1933. The VDB was mainly supported by atheists and liberal protestants from higher classes : the party was supported by civil servants, intellectuals and educated teachers. Regionally, the VDB received most of its support form the large cities Amsterdam and Rotterdam , but also from provincial centres in Groningen , Drenthe , North and South Holland . In its strongholds of Amsterdam and Rotterdam,

1665-557: The smaller Liberal Party , leading to their formal merger in 2009. The elements ' liberal ', ' radical ' and freisinnig (an obsolete German word for 'liberal', or literally "free thinking" ) in the party's name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. This conflict led to the foundation of the Swiss federal state in 1848 after

1710-407: The system of proportional representation. During its entire existence the LSP lost seats, the party started with ten seats in 1922 and was left with only four in 1937. Unlike other social groups, the liberals did not build up a structure of pillarised organisations around it: therefore liberal voters were relatively independent from the League and were easily attracted by new political parties, like

1755-686: The victory of the predominantly Protestant and liberal cantons over the conservative and Catholic ones in the Sonderbund war . From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals. The radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical , and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party, the ancestor of the modern Christian Democratic People's Party . They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal 'Liberals', federalist 'Radicals', and social liberal 'Democrats': placing

1800-727: Was a liberal political party in Switzerland . Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP. The Liberals . The FDP was formed in 1894 from the Radicals , who had dominated Swiss politics since the 1830s, standing in opposition to the Catholic conservatives , and who from the creation of the federal state in 1848 until 1891 formed

1845-417: Was a club of Liberal Union MPs (in 1901, it had about 25 members, out of 35 Liberal Union MPs and 100 MPs in total). The second group left the Union over the same matter. In 1901, the board of the Liberal Union, supported by the VD-kamerclub , proposed that all its candidates would stand on a platform of universal suffrage. The party congress rejected this proposal. In reaction to this the party's board, some of

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1890-643: Was called the Breakthrough . Willem Schermerhorn became the first Prime Minister after the Second World War. He led a cabinet composed out of progressives of all parties. In 1946 the VDB merged with the Social Democratic Workers' Party and the progressive Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to form the modern-day Labour Party (PvdA). However, this party soon strengthened its ties to democratic-socialist organisations. In 1948,

1935-528: Was formed, led by Pieter Cort van der Linden . It implemented universal suffrage and proportional representation . During this cabinet, a conflict between the VDB parliamentary party and minister Willem Treub led to his resignation. Treub left the party and founded the Economic League , which would merge with the Liberal Union to form the Liberal State Party . In the 1918 elections, with universal suffrage and proportional representation in place,

1980-470: Was liberated, the Liberal State Party was reformed to the Freedom Party , which in 1948 became the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). In 1963 a group of VVD members tried to rekindle the "Freedom League" flame, but they were unable to gain seats in the elections and dissolved. The party was official founded as the "Freedom League" ("Vrijheidsbond"), during the 1920s the party adopted

2025-520: Was part of the Catholic-Protestant cabinet, but nonetheless had an anti-Catholic history. For the Catholic leader Nolens , this Papal representation was of utmost importance. In 1925 the VDB had convinced the other opposition parties that this was their chance to let the government fall and create a progressive cabinet. The entire opposition voted with the SGP and CHU, and the cabinet fell. In

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