The First Biesheuvel

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

was the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Dutch Government 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, ...

from 6 July 1971 until 9 August 1972. The cabinet was formed by the

christian-democratic 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 ...

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP),

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 m ...

(ARP) and

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 in ...

(CHU), the conservative-liberal

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 ...

(VVD) and the

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

Democratic Socialists '70 The Democratic Socialists '70 ( nl, Democratisch Socialisten '70, DS'70) was a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. History DS'70 was founded on 4 April 1970 as the result of a split from the Labour Party (PvdA). In June 1970, ...

(DS'70) after the election of 1971. The cabinet was a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

coalition and had a slim

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster 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 ...

with Protestant Leader

Barend Biesheuvel Barend Willem Biesheuvel (; 5 April 1920 – 29 April 2001) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) now the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 6 J ...

a former Minister of Agriculture serving as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Prominent

Catholic 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 ...

politician

Roelof Nelissen Roelof Johannes Nelissen (4 April 1931 – 18 July 2019) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. Biography Nelissen attended a Gymnasium (s ...

the Minister of Economic Affairs in the previous

served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and was given the portfolio of Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs, former Liberal Leader

Molly Geertsema Willem Jacob "Molly" Geertsema II (; 18 October 1918 – 27 June 1991) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist. Geertsema attended a Gymnasium in The Hague from June 1930 until June 1937 and appl ...

served as Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. The cabinet served in the early years of the

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

. Domestically it had to deal with the peak of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

and a growing

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

but it was able to implement several

social reforms A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

to the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and stimulating

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

and

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

. The cabinet suffered several major internal conflicts between the cabinet members of the Democratic Socialists '70 and the rest of the coalition which lead to the fall of the cabinet just 1 year into its term on 19 July 1972 with the Democratic Socialists '70 cabinet members resigning on 21 July 1972 and the cabinet continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced with the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * ''The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' T ...

Second Biesheuvel cabinet The Second Biesheuvel cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 9 August 1972 until 11 May 1973. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and Christian H ...

on 9 August 1972.Mr. B. W. (Barend) Biesheuvel 6 juli 1971 – 11 mei 1973
Geschiedenis24.nl, 9 December 2005

Term

Problems of the cabinet were the release of war criminals (three of Breda) and the increasing inflation, combined with a stagnating economy (

stagflation In economics, stagflation or recession-inflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high or increasing, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high. It presents a dilemma for economic policy, since action ...

). The decision to cut government expenses was not supported by DS'70, so the cabinet lost its majority in the parliament, resulting in Biesheuvel II. Minister Stuyt, the first minister for

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

affairs, issued an urgency-note concerning the environment. In 1972, the first report from the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

was published, which showed that the environment is in a bad state worldwide and that resources will eventually run out. The cabinet recognised the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and voted to allow

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

back into the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Andrei Gromyko and Barend Biesheuvel 1972

Cabinet Members

: : :

Trivia

* Six cabinet members (later) served as Party Leaders and ''

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is t ...

s'':

(1963–1973) of the Anti-Revolutionary Party,

(1969–1971) of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy,

Norbert Schmelzer Wilhelm Klaus Norbert Schmelzer (22 March 1921 – 14 November 2008) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and economist who served as Catholic People's Party, Leader of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) from 1963 to 1971 and List of Ministers of Fo ...

(1963–1971) of the Catholic People's Party,

Dries van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; born 2 February 1931) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of t ...

(1976–1982) of the Christian Democratic Appeal,

Willem Drees Jr. Willem "Wim" Drees Jr. (24 December 1922 – 5 September 1998) was a Dutch politician of the Democratic Socialists '70 (DS'70) party and economist. Drees worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Minist ...

(1971–1977) of the Democratic Socialists '70,

Bé Udink Berend Jan "Bé" Udink (12 February 1926 – 24 May 2016) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. Udink applied at t ...

(1970–1971) and

Roelof Kruisinga Roelof Johannes Hendrik Kruisinga (27 August 1922 – 7 December 2012) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and physician. Kruisinga attended a Gymna ...

(1971–1977) of the Christian Historical Union. * Five cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors: Dries van Agt (Criminal Law and Procedure),

Louis Stuyt Lodewijk Benedictus Johannes "Louis" Stuyt (16 June 1914 – 30 October 2000) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and physician. Decorations References Ext ...

(Internal Medicine), Willem Drees Jr. (Public Economics), Kees Boertien (Commercial Law) and Roelof Kruisinga (Otorhinolaryngology). * Four cabinet members (later) served as Queen's Commissioner: Molly Geertsema (Gelderland), Dries van Agt (North Brabant), Kees Boertien (Zeeland) and

Henk Vonhoff Hendrik "Henk" Johan Lubert Vonhoff (22 June 1931 – 25 July 2010) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and teacher. Vonhoff attended the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, State Civic School of Amsterdam in Amst ...

(Groningen).

References

External links

;Official *
Kabinet-Biesheuvel I en II
Parlement & Politiek *
Kabinet-Biesheuvel
Rijksoverheid {{DEFAULTSORT:Biesheuvel cabinet, First Cabinets of the Netherlands 1971 establishments in the Netherlands 1972 disestablishments in the Netherlands Cabinets established in 1971 Cabinets disestablished in 1972