The ''Doorbraak'' ("Breakthrough") was a Dutch short-term political movement 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 ...

, with the stated goal of renewing the

politics of the Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke ...

by coalescing progressive liberals,

Christian democrats __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 ...

and

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

in a single progressive political party. In the process, the movement sought to 'break through' the

pillarisation Pillarisation (from the nl, verzuiling) is the politico-denominational segregation of a society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs. These societies were (and in some areas, still are) vertically divided into two or more gr ...

in Dutch politics. This led to the creation of the modern day Labour Party.

Background

After World War II, there was widespread feeling amongst progressives that the pillarised political system should be broken open. No longer should Catholics vote for the

Roman Catholic State Party The Roman Catholic State Party ( nl, Roomsch-Katholieke Staatspartij, RKSP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1926 as a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses ...

simply because they were Catholic or Reformed people for the

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 ...

simply because they were Reformed. Instead, political issues should structure the political system. The progressives were united in their vision of a democratic socialist Netherlands. In order to force this breakthrough, the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the left-liberal

Free-thinking Democratic League The Free-thinking Democratic League ( nl, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond, VDB) was a progressive liberal political party in the Netherlands. Established in 1901, it played a relatively large role in Dutch politics, supplying one Prime Minister, ...

and the Christian socialist Christian Democratic Union united to form the Labour Party, a progressive party open to all people. The new party did not, however, gain enough support from Catholics or Reformed adherents. Much of the liberal wing left in 1948 and joined with the conservative liberal Freedom Party to form the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

. The PvdA became encapsulated in the socialist pillar. In 1966, social liberal Democrats 66 attempted another breakthrough of the pillarised political system, again unsuccessfully.

References

{{Reflist Political history of the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) Aftermath of World War II in the Netherlands