Communist Party of Holland – Central Committee ( nl, Communistische Partij Holland – Centraal Comité; ), often referred to as ''CPH–Wijnkoop'' after one of its main leaders) was a

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 ...

in 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 ...

. CPH-CC emerged in 1926, following a major split in the

Communist Party of Holland The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...

Split

The divisions in CPH had emerged in 1925, when the Communist International asked the leadership trio of the party to step down. David Wijnkoop,

Willem van Ravesteyn Willem van Ravesteyn (Rotterdam, 15 October 1876 – Rotterdam, 10 June 1970) was a Dutch Communist politician and historian. Ravesteyn studied history at the University of Leiden and was involved in setting up the local branch of the Dutch Soc ...

and

Jan Ceton Jan Ceton (13 May 1875, Bodegraven – 21 January 1943, Amerongen) was a Dutch left-wing politician involved with both the Social Democratic Workers' Party and the Communist Party of the Netherlands. Ceton is best known as one of the founders of th ...

had led the party since its foundation in 1909. The trio was accused of not fully implementing decisions given to the party by the International. After their demotion, the group would rally an oppositional tendency within the party. The group was able to gather strong support within the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

branch of the party, which was van Ravestyen's home turf. As a result, the entire Rotterdam organisation of CPH was expelled from the party. On May 22–24 other followers of van Ravesteyn and Wijnkoop were expelled.

Formation of CPH-CC

In July the group around Wijnkoop started publishing a monthly magazine, ''De Communistische Gids''. On October 17, 1926, the expellees founded the CPH-CC as a separate party. The chairman of CPH-CC was Jan Hoogcarspel and its secretary was J. Mulder. CPH-CC considered itself as the true inheritor of the legacy of CPH. State intelligence sources claimed that around 200-300 CPH cadres had crossed over to CPH-CC.

1927 elections

In the 1927 municipal elections, CPH-CC fared well in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the northern parts of the country. In both Amsterdam and Rotterdam the CPH-CC vote-share outnumbered that of the CPH. In Amsterdam the party got 14 446 votes and two seats in the municipal council. In Rotterdam and Opsterland the party won two seats in each council. In Schoterland,

Beerta Beerta () is a village and former municipality with a population of 2,205 in the municipality of Oldambt in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. In the 20th century, Beerta was a communist stronghold. In 1933, the municipal council was d ...

and

Finsterwolde Finsterwolde () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen, about 7 km northeast of the city of Winschoten. Finsterwolde was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Beerta into Reiderland. In 2010 Reiderland merged i ...

the party won three seats in each council.

Relations with the Communist International

Notably amongst its main leaders, differences existed in CPH-CC over which attitude the party should have towards the international communist movement. Wijnkoop strove for recognition by the Communist International to the CPH-CC. Van Ravesteyn on the other hand, opposed rapprochement with the International. However, the international was not interested in recognizing CPH-CC as the legitimate communist party in the Netherlands. The 1928 congress of the Communist International decided to urge the CPH-CC to dissolve itself and that its members ought to return to CPH.

1929 election

CPH-CC decided to contest the 1929 parliamentary election. The party got 29 860 votes nationwide (0.88%), compared to 37 622 votes for CPH. Both parties won one seat each in the lower chamber. Wijnkoop was elected on behalf of CPH-CC. The party had won 3.8% of the votes in Rotterdam, 2.43% in Amsterdam, 1.48% in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

and 1.07% in

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 ...

Dissolution of the party

Following the 1929 election, a general party conference was held in March 1930. The conference decided to move towards a reunification with CPH. Discussion began with the Communist International and CPH, and in the beginning of July the party was disbanded. The majority of its members joined CPH.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party of Holland - Central Committee Defunct communist parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1926 Political parties disestablished in 1930 1926 establishments in the Netherlands 1930 disestablishments in the Netherlands