The Christian Historical Party (in Dutch: ''Christelijk Historische Partij'', CHP) was a

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 ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Reformed

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

, which existed from 1903 to 1908. The CHP is historically linked to the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

which is currently one of the major parties of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Party history

The CHP was founded in April 1903 as a merger of two conservative Protestant parties, the Free Anti Revolutionary Party and the

Christian Historical Voters' League The Christian Historical Voters' League (in Dutch: ''Christelijk Historische Kiezersbond'', CHK) was a Dutch conservative protestant political party. The CHK is historically linked to the Christian Democratic Appeal which is currently one of the ma ...

. Both were turned again the leadership and ideology of Abraham Kuyper, the leader of the main Protestant

Anti Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) 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 mi ...

. Kuyper had initiated a new political course for

Protestantism in the Netherlands Religion in the Netherlands was historically dominated by Christianity between the 10th and 20th centuries. In the late 19th century, roughly 60% of the population was Calvinist and 35% was Catholic. Since then, there has been a significant d ...

, which included cooperation with the Catholics, in the coalition, strategical support for extension of suffrage a rejection of

theocracy Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fr ...

in favour of a specific conception of state neutrality,

sphere sovereignty In neo-Calvinism, sphere sovereignty ( nl, soevereiniteit in eigen kring), also known as differentiated responsibility, is the concept that each sphere (or sector) of life has its own distinct responsibilities and authority or competence, and stan ...

and a strong party organization and

party discipline Party discipline is a system of political norms, rules and subsequent respective consequences for deviance that are designed to ensure the relative cohesion of members of the respective party group. In political parties specifically (often refe ...

. The opposition against Kuyper was led by Alexander de Savorin Lohman, who founded the Free Anti Revolutionary Party. In 1908, the CHP merged with the

Frisian League The League of caucuses on Christian Historical foundation in the province of Friesland (in Dutch: ''Bond van Kiesvereenigingen op Christelijk-Historischen grondslag in de provincie Friesland'', informally called Frisian League or ''Friesche Bond' ...

, another conservative Protestant party, to form the

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...

Name

The term "Christian Historical" was used before 1897 to denote supporters of the main Protestant party, the Anti Revolutionary Party, emphasizing the Protestant nature of the

history of the Netherlands The history of the Netherlands is a history of seafaring people thriving in the lowland river delta on the North Sea in northwestern Europe. Records begin with the four centuries during which the region formed a militarized border zone of the Ro ...

Ideology & Issues

The CHP was a conservative Protestant party. It saw government as a god-given institution, which should act according to biblical norms. Society should furthermore follow its historical course. Power should not be based on the opinion of the majority but on authority. The CHP was formed as a result of dissent within the main Protestant party the Anti Revolutionary Party, unlike that party the CHP did not recognize

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a legitimate religion. The party was strong anti-papist. According to the CHP, the

was a Protestant nation. As such it was hostile to the Catholic segment of society. It renounced the coalition between the Protestant

and the catholic General League and antithesis between religious and areligious parties. Catholic influences within society should be limited. The CHP advocated limited government. It supported only limited government interference in the economy and instead advocated

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

to help the poor. Furthermore, the party opposed general suffrage.

Representation

This table shows the CHP's results in elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter. It also possible that the party leader is a member of the cabinet; if D66 was part of the governing coalition, the "highest ranking" minister is listed.

Electorate

The electorate of the CHP was mainly constituted by adherents of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

from the upper class, especially

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

land owner Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

s, high officers and high-ranking civil servants. It won and kept seats in several districts with large reformed populations,

Goes Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Kort ...

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. Th ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

Dokkum Dokkum is a Dutch fortified city in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland. It has 12,669 inhabitants (February 8, 2020). The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the ''bolwerken'' (bulwarks). ...

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, and

Katwijk Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...

and Schiedam in South Holland.

International comparison

As a party for Protestant dissenters of a catholic-Protestant alliance, the CHP is a unique phenomenon in international perspective. Its political course, which included support of limited government, rejection of universal suffrage and hostility against Catholicism, is comparable to the course of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in the late 1800s and to some extent American Party of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

References

{{Dutch Christian political parties Protestant political parties Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Confessional parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1903 Defunct Christian political parties Political parties disestablished in 1908 1903 establishments in the Netherlands 1908 disestablishments in the Netherlands