The Christian-Democratic Union (in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Christelijk-Democratische Unie'') was a minor progressive Protestant party in the Netherlands during the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

History

The CDU was formed in 1926 as a merger of three even smaller Christian

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

parties, the Christian Social Party, the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and the

League of Christian Socialists The League of Christian Socialists ( nl, Bond Christen-Socialisten, or BCS) was a Dutch Christian socialist political party. Party History The BCS was founded in 1907. In the 1918 elections, the first election with a system of proportional repr ...

. It had one seat between 1929 and 1937 and two between 1937 and 1946. The party always was in opposition. It was linked to the minor denomination Reformed Churches in Repaired Union (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Hersteld Verband), which split from the mainstream Reformed churches, because of its

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. The Synod of the reformed church therefore decreed disciplinary measures against members of the CDU. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the party joined the newly founded

Partij van de Arbeid The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

. In the 1950s many members left to join the pacifist PSP because of the relatively right-wing course of the PvdA.

Ideology

The CDU stood for a

just Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...

society based on biblical rules. The party's principles were based on the work of reformed theologian Karl Barth. It was a left-wing party to the extent that it was opposed to war in any form and demanded radical redistribution of income, nationalisation of core industries and influence of workers on corporations. It was in favor of Christian Democracy to the extent that it wanted to keep the sabbath.

Electoral results

House of Representatives

References

External links

Small political parties
in Dutch {{Authority control Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Christian pacifism Confessional parties in the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) Pacifism in the Netherlands Pacifist parties Protestant political parties Political parties established in 1926 Political parties disestablished in 1946 Defunct Christian political parties 1926 establishments in the Netherlands