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35-712: In the late 1880s and early 1890s the idea that trade unions should no longer be branches of the Social Democratic League (SDB), as they had been up to this point, became increasingly influential. In 1893, the National Labor Secretariat (NAS) was thus founded. At first, it encompassed both the SDB and the seven unions involved in its founding — the Dutch Cigar Makers' and Tobacco Workers' Union , General Dutch Typographers' Union ,

70-399: 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. The SDB was a Marxist party, and it saw a socialist revolution, which would replace the capitalist system with

105-558: A republic, abolish secret diplomacy , the army and the navy . It supported independence for the Dutch Indies . Furthermore the party wanted equal rights for men and women. It also sought to combat alcoholism . This table shows the SP'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

140-485: 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

175-534: 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. In 1893, the SDB

210-407: A system of social security and a better housing for workers. 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

245-443: 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. This led to

280-710: The Dutch Furniture Makers' Union , the Brushmakers' Federation , the Carpenters' Federation , the General Dutch Diamond Workers' Union , and the railway union Steeds Voorwaarts . The NAS was declaredly politically neutral, but in practice it was dominated by the SDB. After the SDB split into the revolutionary Socialist League and the parliamentary Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in 1894, both remained members and

315-666: The Socialist and Communist Parties . In 1922, the NAS decided to join the pro-Soviet Red International of Labour Unions (RILU), although many in the federation favored the anarcho-syndicalist International Workers' Association (IWA). In 1923, the question of international affiliation led to a split. About 8,000 members left to found the IWA-affiliated Dutch Syndicalist Trade Union Federation (NSV). The NAS, however, split from

350-425: The syndicalist trade union National Workers' Secretariat (Nationaal Arbeiders' Secretariaat). All its founders had their personal background in the free socialist movement of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis . The secretary of the NAS, Harm Kolthek , became the top candidate of the SP. In the 1918 election the threshold for admission to the House of Representatives was relatively low, at just over half of 1% of

385-656: The Communist Party and many of the union's leaders helped form the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in 1928. A further wave of militancy in the Dutch labor movement helped the NAS gain members in the late 1920s, but in 1933 and 1934 the government took measures against the left after a mutiny on board the cruiser De Zeven Provinciën , dealing the NAS a heavy blow. Municipal employees and civil servants could now be fired for their adherence to

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420-645: 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 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

455-517: The NAS did not get involved in the conflict between them, but the relations between the NAS and the parties soon deteriorated to the point that in 1896 both the Socialist League and the SDAP were expelled from the NAS, leaving only unions in the organization. By 1896 thirteen national and 16 local unions were part of the NAS. Conflict soon ensued over the distribution of financial means within

490-588: The NAS slowly turned to syndicalism . This development was influenced by the competition with the NVV and by Christiaan Cornelissen . Cornelissen, who was influenced by the French syndicalism of the CGT developed a syndicalist theory adapted to the local orientation of the NAS. Nevertheless, the chaotic internal organization of the NAS weakened it until Harm Kolthek took over as national secretary in 1907. Under his leadership,

525-475: The NAS soon led many of the larger unions to leave the organization. By 1903, only fifteen national, but 61 local organizations were part of the NAS. 1903 saw relations between the NAS on the one hand and the SDAP and many of the large non-NAS unions deteriorate further. A successful general strike , which started in January 1903, led to strict laws prohibiting such strikes. A "Resistance Committee" consisting of

560-523: The NAS was able to broaden its base by emphasizing its political and religious neutrality and its membership doubled to 7,200 by 1913. During this time, the NAS also started co-operating with political parties again, specifically it collaborated with the SDAP-breakaway Social Democratic Party on both a transport workers' strike in 1911 and protests against price increases in 1912. As a result of this many anarchists left

595-621: The NAS, the SDAP, and the General Diamond Workers' Union of the Netherlands (ANDB), the largest non-NAS union in the country, soon fell apart. In late 1903, the SDAP leader Pieter Jelles Troelstra then claimed the NAS was "done for". In 1906, the Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions (NVV) was founded as an SDAP-loyal union federation. It had more members than the NAS from the start. In the following years

630-451: The NAS. All unions in the federation had one vote, no matter what their size, but financial contributions to the union funds were on a per capita basis. Moreover, the NAS supported in principle all strikes - be they by NAS members or by non-affiliated unions or even individuals, because all strikes were seen as a learning experience for the working class. The financial shortage that resulted from this as well as increasing anarchist tendencies in

665-609: The RILU in 1927 due to fear of Moscow control. After the NAS had seceded from the RILU, it was reaching to the German revolutionary trade-unions and the international revolutionary-syndicalism, which opposed soviet politics. A merge with the NSV failed because the NSV wanted to return to a pure independent foundation, while the NAS executive thought that political and economic struggle were intertwined due to increasing state intervention. Eventually,

700-566: 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

735-565: The SP was unable to retain its seats. Increased competition from the Communist Party Holland and the anarchist Rapaille Party also inhibited electoral success. Meanwhile the power of the CPH over the NAS began to grow. In 1928 the party was officially dissolved. The party also competed in unsuccessfully in the 1925 elections . In 1929 most of its former members joined the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Henk Sneevliet . The SP

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770-453: The communist opposition within the NAS was expelled. As a counterpart of the communist network of unions, the NAS founded additional organizations and an innate political party, the RSP , in 1929. After 1920, the membership of the NAS waned reaching 13,000 in 1924. Its members were now primarily transport workers, construction workers, and Amsterdam municipal employees. In 1927, the NAS broke with

805-509: 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

840-550: 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

875-483: 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

910-486: The organization. Like most European syndicalist unions, the NAS saw its membership boom after World War I . Although the Netherlands were neutral in the war, they were not untouched by it: food shortages plagued the country and the revolutionary wave that swept Europe from 1917 to 1920 left its mark on the country. The massive wave of strikes greatly benefited the NAS, its membership rose from 10,500 in 1916 to 51,000 in 1920. During this time NAS members had great influence on

945-460: The party in these regions. Socialist Party (Netherlands, interbellum) The Socialist Party ( Dutch : Socialistische Partij , SP ), 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 Socialist Party was founded in 1918 as the political arm of

980-402: 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

1015-513: 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

1050-472: The revolutionary movement. In the 1930s the NAS also started turning its back on syndicalism arguing that the idea that the workers should build up a socialist society themselves had failed. Although it continued losing members, the NAS existed until the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940. The Germans forced the organization to be disbanded, but a few members continued its activities in illegality. After

1085-493: The vote. Consequently, the SP was elected with only 9,000 votes (that is 0.7% of vote). In parliament, the party worked together with League of Christian Socialists and the Social Democrat Party (later Communist Party Holland) in the revolutionary parliamentary party. This cooperation was not very productive and soon Kolthek became more independent. In 1922 , after the election laws were made more stringent,

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1120-471: The war, there were no efforts to re-found the NAS. Social Democratic League The Social Democratic League ( Dutch : Sociaal-Democratische Bond , SDB ) was a socialist political party in the Netherlands . Founded in 1881, the SDB was the first socialist party to enter the House of Representatives . In the 1860s, a socialist movement began to develop in the Netherlands. The development

1155-437: Was a revolutionary syndicalist libertarian socialist party. It sought to end private ownership in general and combat the ruling class . The SP wanted to abolish indirect taxation and implement a system of strongly progressive income taxes . It wanted to end child labour and night shifts and reduce the working day to eight hours. It believed that education should be free of charge. It wanted to replace monarchy by

1190-514: 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

1225-533: 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,

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