The Christian Social Party (french: Parti Social Chrétien, or PSC; nl, Christelijke Volkspartij, CVP) was a major centre-right

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 political ideology ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

which existed from 1945 until 1968. Established as the successor to the pre-war Catholic Block, the new party was established with a "deconfessionalised"

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

orientation but split along linguistic lines in 1968 into the Christian Social Party (''Parti Social Chrétien'') and Christian People's Party (''Christelijke Volkspartij''). As the largest party throughout much of the period of its existence, it participated in most of the country's coalition governments during its existence alongside the

Belgian Socialist Party nl, Belgische Socialistische Partij , logo = Logo of the Belgian Socialist Party.png , caption = The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973. , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Achille Van Acker (first)André Cools (last) ...

and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and provided a number of influential prime ministers.

History

At the end of

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 opposin ...

, on 18–19 August 1945 the Parti Social Chrétien-Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP-PSC) was founded under the presidency of August de Schryver as the successor to the Catholic Party. In 1968, the party divided along linguistic lines, forming the Francophone Christian Social Party (''Parti Social Chrétien'') in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

and the Flemish Christian People's Party (''Christelijke Volkspartij'') in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Notable members

Jean Duvieusart Jean Pierre Duvieusart (10 April 1900 – 10 October 1977) was a Belgian Catholic politician of the PSC-CVP who served as prime minister of Belgium from June to August in 1950. Political career Jean Duvieusart became a member of the Chambe ...

Gaston Eyskens Gaston François Marie, viscount Eyskens (1 April 1905 – 3 January 1988) was a Christian democratic politician and prime minister of Belgium. He was also an economist and member of the Belgian Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC). He served t ...

Pierre Harmel Pierre Charles José Marie, Count Harmel (16 March 1911 – 15 November 2009) was a Belgian lawyer, Christian Democratic politician and diplomat. Harmel served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1965 to 1966. Early life He was born in Uccle ...

Théo Lefèvre Théodore Joseph Albéric Marie "Théo" Lefèvre (17 January 1914 – 18 September 1973) was a lawyer at the Ghent court of justice. In 1946 he became deputy of the Belgian parliament for the PSC-CVP. Between 25 April 1961 and 28 July 1965 he wa ...

Joseph Pholien Joseph Clovis Louis Marie Emmanuel Pholien (28 December 1884 – 4 January 1968) was a Belgian Catholic politician and member of the PSC-CVP. He was born in Liège, and volunteered to serve with the Belgian army during World War I, being commi ...

Paul Vanden Boeynants Paul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants (; 22 May 1919 – 9 January 2001) was a Belgian politician.
Rulers. Retrieved 30 August 2014.< ...

Jean Van Houtte Jean (Jan) Marie Joseph, Baron Van Houtte (17 March 1907 – 23 May 1991) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1952 to 1954. Born in Ghent, van Houtte held a doctorate in law and lectured at Ghent Univer ...

* Count

Jean Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers Jean V Charles, Count Snoy et d'Oppuers (2 July 1907 in Braine-l'Alleud – 17 May 1991) was a Belgian civil servant, diplomat and Christian Democratic politician of the PSC-CVP. Family Jean-Charles was born son of Thierry Idesbald, Baron ...

Sources

* Th. Luykx and M. Platel, ''Politieke geschiedenis van België'', 2 vol., Kluwer, 1985 * E. Witte, J. Craeybeckx en A. Meynen, ''Politieke geschiedenis van België'', Standaard, 1997

References

External links

Archives of Christian Social Party
i
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
Defunct political parties in Belgium Christian democratic parties in Belgium Defunct Christian political parties 1945 establishments in Belgium 1968 disestablishments in Belgium Political parties established in 1945 Political parties disestablished in 1968 {{Belgium-party-stub