The Free-thinking Democratic League ( nl, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond, VDB) was a
progressive liberal 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 ...
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 ...
. Established in 1901, it played a relatively large role in Dutch politics, supplying one
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 i ...
,
Wim Schermerhorn
Willem "Wim" Schermerhorn (17 December 1894 – 10 March 1977) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 25 June 1945 until 3 July 1946. He was a member of the now-defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) a ...
. The League is a predecessor of two of the major Dutch political parties, 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
Labour Party (PvdA). The social-liberal
Democrats 66 also claims that it and the VDB are ideologically connected.
History
Before 1901
The VDB was a merger of two groups; one, the
Radical League
The Radical League ( nl, Radicale Bond) was a progressive liberal political party in the Netherlands from its founding in 1892 until it merged with the left wing of the Liberal Union to form the Free-thinking Democratic League in 1901.
History
...
, was founded in 1892 as an Amsterdam secession of the
Liberal Union; they left the Union over the issue of
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
. The second group was the Free-thinking Democratic political club (Dutch: Vrijzinnig Democratische Kamerclub, ''VD-kamerclub''). This was a club of Liberal Union MPs (in 1901 it had about twenty-five members, out of thirty-five Liberal Union MPs and one hundred MPs in total). The second group left the Union over the same matter. In 1901 the board of the Liberal Union, supported by the ''VD-kamerclub'', proposed that all its candidates would stand on a platform of universal suffrage. The party congress rejected this proposal. In reaction to this the party's board, some of the members of the ''VD-kamerclub'', and some of the party caucuses left the party.
1901–1917
The two groups, the Radical League and the ''VD-kamerclub'', merged in 1901 to form the Free-minded Democratic League. In the
1901 elections they won nine seats. The party always remained rather small, but because of their strategic position and quality of their MPs the party was very influential.
Although the VDB had split from the Liberal Union and the other liberal split, the League of Free Liberals, was against universal suffrage, they still needed each other to form a liberal alternative to 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 ...
coalition. In many districts there was only one liberal candidate supported by all three liberal parties.
In 1905 the VDB won two seats. From 1905 to 1908 the Liberal Union and the VDB formed a liberal minority cabinet led by
De Meester. The cabinet was supported by socialist
Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). In the
1909
Events
January–February
* January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.
* January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
* Jan ...
elections the Christian-democratic
coalitie regained its majority. The VDB lost two seats, making its total nine. In the
elections of 1913 the Christian democrats lost their majority. The VDB lost four seats, because it was not the only liberal party in favour of universal suffrage; the Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals had also included in their programmes. Furthermore, the socialist SDAP performed exceptionally well in these elections. The leader of the VDB,
Dr Dirk Bos, tried to form a cabinet with the liberals, free liberals, socialists and free-thinking democrats. The socialists refused to cooperate, because one of their major issues (unilateral disarmament of the Netherlands) could not be realised. A liberal
extra-parliamentary cabinet
The cabinet of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, which has been in power since 10 January 2022. It is headed by Prime Minis ...
was formed, led by
Pieter Cort van der Linden
Pieter Wilhelm Adrianus Cort van der Linden (14 May 1846 – 15 July 1935) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 29 August 1913 to 9 September 1918.
Biography
He was the last prime minister to lead a libe ...
. It implemented
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
and
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
.
During this cabinet a conflict between the VDB parliamentary party and minister Treub led to his resignation. Treub left the party and founded the
Economic League, which would merge with the Liberal Union to form the
Liberal State Party
The Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League" ( nl, Liberale Staatspartij "de Vrijheidsbond", LSP), was a conservative liberal political party in the Netherlands from 1921 to 1948. It is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and ...
.
1918–1945
In the 1918 elections, with universal suffrage and proportional representation in place, the liberal
alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
lost nearly half its seats. The VDB remains relatively stable with five seats, but they were nonetheless forced to a position in opposition to a Christian-democratic cabinet. In 1919, however, VDB leader Henri Marchant initiated the law for female suffrage. In the 1922 elections the party retained its five seats.
Betsy Bakker-Nort
Bertha "Betsy" Bakker-Nort (8 May 187423 May 1946) was a Dutch lawyer and politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) from 1922 to 1942.
Born in Groningen, she became involv ...
became the party's first female member of the House of Representatives.
In 1925 the party was instrumental in the fall of the cabinet led by
Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus "Hendrik" Colijn (22 June 1869 – 18 September 1944) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP; now defunct and merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from ...
: each year the orthodox Protestant
Reformed Political Party (SGP) proposed that the Dutch representation at the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
be removed. The Protestant SGP was fervently anti-Catholic. This proposal was always supported by the Protestant
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 ...
(CHU), which was part of the Catholic-Protestant cabinet, but nonetheless had an anti-Catholic history. For the
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 ...
leader
Nolens, this Papal representation was of utmost importance. In 1925 the VDB had convinced the other opposition parties that this was their chance to let the government fall and create a progressive cabinet. The entire opposition voted with the SGP and CHU, and the cabinet fell. In the following
1925
Events January
* January 1
** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...
elections the party gained two seats. The party leader,
Marchant Marchant is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adio Marchant (born 1987), English singer and songwriter known professionally as Bipolar Sunshine
* Alison Marchant, Australian politician
* Chesten Marchant (died 1676), last monog ...
, attempted to form a
progressive government with 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 ...
(RKSP), the SDAP and the VDB. He failed, however, and a new Christian-democratic cabinet was formed.
In the
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
elections the VDB retained its seven seats. In
1933 the party lost one seat, but it was nonetheless asked to cooperate in the centre-right government led by
Colijn, which consisted of the Catholic RKSP, the Protestant CHU and ARP, and the liberal VDB and Liberal State Party. The VDB cooperated in the budget cuts and the strengthening of the Dutch armed forces. The previously good relations with the SDAP came under considerable strain from this. In 1933 the party's leader, Marchant, who also served as minister of Education, stepped down because he had turned Catholic.
Pieter Oud
Pieter Jacobus Oud (5 December 1886 – 12 August 1968) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) party and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) ...
took his place as political leader of the VDB, until he became major of Rotterdam in 1938. In
1937 they managed to retain their seven seats. In 1941 the party was forbidden by the German occupying force. The VDB played a minor role in the 1940-1945 cabinets in exile.
Dissolution
After the German occupation there was a widespread feeling that a new political party was necessary, one that was not part of the pillarized system. This movement was called the
Breakthrough.
Willem Schermerhorn
Willem "Wim" Schermerhorn (17 December 1894 – 10 March 1977) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 25 June 1945 until 3 July 1946. He was a member of the now-defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) a ...
became the first
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 i ...
after the Second World War. He led a cabinet composed out of progressives of all parties. In 1946 the VDB merged with the Social Democratic Workers' Party and the progressive
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to form the modern-day
Labour Party (PvdA). However, this party soon strengthened its ties to democratic-socialist organisations. In 1948 a group dissatisfied with the failed "Breakthrough" and the increasingly socialist tint of the PvdA left the party. These were all former VDB members, led by former VDB leader
Pieter Oud
Pieter Jacobus Oud (5 December 1886 – 12 August 1968) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) party and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) ...
. They joined with the conservative-liberal
Freedom Party (PvdV) 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 influence of the VDB on the PvdA soon weakened as the party became an explicitly social-democratic party.
Name
The party specifically did not call itself liberal, because of the connotations with
conservative liberalism
Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...
. They preferred the word ''vrijzinnig'', which means "free-minded" or "free-thinking". It also has meanings in the Protestant church referring to more liberal, latitudinarian sections of the church, rather than secular
freethought. Democracy furthermore was a core issue for the League. The party did not call itself a party because in liberal circles parties were seen as factionalist and incompatible with the common good.
Ideology and issues
The VDB started out as a
left,
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
or
progressive liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
party, committed to
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...
and the construction of a
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
. It favoured the democratisation of the Dutch political system.
Female suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
was one of its most important issues.
It favoured government influence in the national economy by nationalising crucial industries. It also believed that government should play an important part in ensuring the welfare of the population; hence, it favoured the implementation of
state pensions for the elderly.
In the 1930s, the leader of the party,
Pieter Oud
Pieter Jacobus Oud (5 December 1886 – 12 August 1968) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) party and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) ...
, was somewhat more conservative than his predecessors - at least fiscally - supporting as Minister of Financial Affairs the strict fiscally conservative line of the Cabinet.
Before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
it favoured an army formed by national
conscription. After the war and until the 1930s, it favoured unilateral disarmament. This position was abandoned with the rise of international tensions after 1933.
Representation
Leadership
This table shows the VDB's results in elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader. If the party is part of the governing coalition the highest ranking minister is included, otherwise this will read opposition.
Municipal government
In its strongholds of Amsterdam and Rotterdam the party provided various
mayors. The former VDB leader Oud was mayor of Rotterdam between 1938 and 1941. In 1919
Maria Elisabeth Stellwag-Bes became party leader for the VDB in the municipal elections in Delft and was elected to the Delft city council. Deputy-leader
Corry Tendeloo
Nancy Sophie Cornélie "Corry" Tendeloo (3 September 1897 – 18 October 1956) was a Dutch lawyer, feminist, and politician who served in the House of Representatives for the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) from 1945 until 1946 and t ...
, who later became instrumental in the legal advancement of women's rights, was a member of the city council in Amsterdam.
Electorate
The VDB was mainly supported by
atheists or
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
s from
higher classes: the party was supported by teachers, civil servants, intellectuals and educated teachers. Regionally the VDB received most of its support form the large cities
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and
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 ''"Ne ...
, but also from provincial centres in
Groningen,
Drenthe,
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
South Holland.
Pillarisation
The VDB lacked a real system of
pillarized organisations around it. 'Neutral' organisations, which were not linked to a pillar, often had friendly relations with the VDB. This included the general broadcasting association
AVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep, General United Radio Broadcasting Organisation), the general union ANWV (Algemene Nederlandse Werkelieden Vereniging, the General Dutch Workers' Association); furthermore, the neutral employers' organisation
VNO and the financial paper ''
Het Handelsblad'' had good relations with the League. Together with the other liberal party, the Liberal State Party, these organisations formed the weak general pillar.
Relationships with other parties
The VDB was part of the
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...
the alliance with the liberal
Liberal Union and
League of Free Liberals
The League of Free Liberals ( nl, Bond van Vrije Liberalen) was a Dutch classical liberal political party and a predecessor of the Liberal State Party which is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the major Dutch ...
. These parties had good relations. The VDB served as bridge between the liberals and the socialist
Social Democratic Workers' Party. The SDAP supported two liberal minority cabinets, but the SDAP was unwilling to join a cabinet with these bourgeoise parties in 1913. After 1918, when the liberals lost more than half of their seats, the relations with Concentration dissolved and the two other concentration parties merged to form the
Liberal State Party
The Liberal State Party, "the Freedom League" ( nl, Liberale Staatspartij "de Vrijheidsbond", LSP), was a conservative liberal political party in the Netherlands from 1921 to 1948. It is historically linked to the People's Party for Freedom and ...
. The VDB continued to serve as the bridge between liberals and socialists. This strategy resulted in the fall of the cabinet Ruys van Beerenbrouck in 1925. The VDB was unable to form a government of liberals, socialists and Catholics. In 1933 the relations between the SDAP and the VDB worsened as the VDB joined the Cabinet Colijn, which had a very conservative economic policy. Their cooperation in the Second World War improved the relations between SDAP and VDB considerably. This led to the ''
Doorbraak'' and the formation of the
Labour Party with the SDAP and the VDB is its major components.
Name
Like some other liberal parties in Europe, such as the
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, the party did not have the word "Liberal" in its name. Instead it used the term "Vrijzinnig" which is difficult to translate into English. The term, which literally translated would be "Free thinking" or "Free minded" is used to refer to both
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
or
latitudinarian
Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologiansclerics and academicsfrom the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England). In particular, they believed that ...
tendencies in the Church and more progressive and social tendencies in liberalism, as opposed to
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...
.
The term "Democratic" is included in the parties name because of its clear commitment to further democratisation of the Dutch political system. The term "League" is used instead of "Party" because the organisation was not a centralised, strictly organised
mass 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 pol ...
but rather a loose league of politicians and local
caucuses.
References
Sources
*
{{Dutch liberal political parties
Defunct political parties in the Netherlands
Liberal parties in the Netherlands
Netherlands 1901
Social liberal parties
Labour Party (Netherlands)
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Political parties established in 1901
Political parties disestablished in 1946
1901 establishments in the Netherlands
Freethought organizations