The Revolutionary Socialist Party ( nl, Revolutionair Socialistische Partij or RSP) was a Dutch socialist

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 ...

, that has been variously characterized as Trotskyite and

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

. In 1935 it merged with the Independent Socialist Party (OSP) to form the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party ( nl, Revolutionair Socialistische Arbeiderspartij, RSAP), but most of the former OSP members left the united party the same year.

Henk Sneevliet Hendricus Josephus Franciscus Marie (Henk) Sneevliet, known as Henk Sneevliet or by the ''pseudonym'' "Maring" (1883 - 1942), was a Dutch Communism, Communist, who was active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As a functionary of t ...

was the RSP/RSAP's undisputed leader throughout its existence, as well as its only Representative.

Party history

Predecessors

The oldest predecessor of the Revolutionary Socialist Party is the Revolutionary Socialist Union (Dutch: Revolutionair Socialistisch Verbond; RSV), a group of dissidents from the

Communist Party 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 ...

(CPH) led by

. Another predecessor is the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

(Dutch: Socialistische Partij; SP), a syndicalist party, which was closely linked to the

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

National Workers' Secretariat The National Labor Secretariat ( nl, Nationaal Arbeids-Secretariaat, NAS) was a trade union federation in the Netherlands from 1893 to 1940. Early years In the late 1880s and early 1890s the idea that trade unions should no longer be branches of ...

(NAS).

Foundation

In 1929 former members of both the Revolutionary Socialist Union and the Socialist Party founded the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Both parties opposed both the

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

social-democracy 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 soc ...

of the

SDAP SDAP may refer to: * Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), a Dutch political party founded in 1894 that later merged into the Labour Party (Netherlands) * Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany, a German political party founded in 18 ...

and the CPH. A leading person in the foundation was

, a prominent former member of CPH and an associate of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

. The Central Intelligence Service, the Dutch secret service at the time, attributed the foundation of the RSP to Sneevliets personal need for power and glory, from which he was blocked in the CPH which distrusted the " trotskyite" Sneevliet.

1929–1935: RSP

The RSP entered in the 1929 elections but was unable to win a seat, due to heavy opposition of the CPH and the

Communist Party of Holland-Central Committee Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

, an opposition group that had left the CPH. Just before the 1933 elections Sneevliet apprehended for supporting the mutiny on the De Zeven Provinciën. The RSP saw the mutiny as part of the liberation of the

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. The RSP raised a large campaign with slogans as: "From the Cell to Parliament", "Make Sneevliet the public prosecutor in the House of Representatives" and "I accuse" (a clear reference to

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

's "J'accuse"). The campaign worked and the party won one seat, which was taken Sneevliet, who was consequently released from prison. The position in parliament was mainly used to propagandise.

1935–1940: RSAP

In 1935 the RSP and the Independent Socialist Party (OSP) merged to form the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (RSAP). The OSP saw this as a way to gain seats in the next election, while the RSP saw it as a way to strengthen its basis. Although the OSP had more members, the RSP, which had one MP, was far stronger. Sneevliet remained the party's sole MP, while OSP leader Piet Schmidt became the party chairman. Sneevliet also became secretary of the party-board. Internal tensions between former members of the RSP and OSP caused the downfall of the party. In 1935 a group of former OSP'ers left the party to found the League of Revolutionary Socialists. The direct reason for this split was the question which group of left-wing German refugees the party should ally with. In 1936 Schmidt was expelled, after he had publicly criticized the

Moscow Trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against " Trotskyists" and members of " Right Opposition" of the Communist Party o ...

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so ...

s. Sneevliet took the position of chair. Schmidt's sympathy for democracy and his fear of totalitarian dictatorship was the direct reason of this split. In the elections of 1937 the party was unable to win any seats. After these elections the party received more opposition from the Dutch government: civil servants were forbidden to be member of NAS or the RSAP and prominent members of the RSAP were persecuted for insulting 'friendly heads of state' like

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. The communist CPN which had gained strength after several purges, also campaigned strongly against the "trotskyite

counterrevolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

sect". Strong arm squads of the CPN attacked several prominent RSAP-members. Finally Trotsky and Sneevliet entered in an ideological conflict, cutting the RSAP off from its international contacts.

Dissolution: MLL

One day before the Dutch capitulation, May 14, 1940, the RSAP was officially dissolved. In 1938 it was already secretly decided that if the Germans would invade, the RSAP would dissolve and go underground. The party was reformed into the

resistance organization A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

Marx-Lenin-Luxemburg Front. As such it supported the

February strike The February strike ( nl, Februaristaking) was a general strike in the German-occupied Netherlands in 1941, during World War II, organised by the then-outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in defence of persecuted Dutch Jews and agains ...

. In 1942 Sneevliet was executed. This prevented the re-foundation of the RSP after the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. The party's third way between authoritarian stalinism and social-democracy would later be reflected in the left-socialist

Pacifist Socialist Party The Pacifist Socialist Party ( nl, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, PSP) was a democratic socialist Dutch socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft. Party histor ...

, which was also founded by former members of the communist CPN and the social-democratic PvdA.

Ideology and issues

The RSP was a left-communist party, which opposed both the authoritarian

stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the the ...

of the CPH and the moderate reformism of the

. It united all kinds of groups that did not feel welcome within the CPH and SDAP:

leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishm ...

s, orthodox

marxists Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

, council communists and anarcho-socialists. The party's main goal was the proletarian

world revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...

, which would replace the

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

system by a system of

workers' council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

s. In the end this would result in a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

society, where exploitation and

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

would be eliminated. It also had several concrete issues it campaigned on: *Government intervention to combat

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...

and government subsidies for the unemployed; *Abolition of

Dutch monarchy The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

; *Amnesty for all

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

s and

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

s; *Replacing the army by a system of workers' militia; *Equal treatment of men and women; *Betting

working condition {{Short description, 1=Overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions This is a list of topics on working time and conditions. Legislation * See :Employment law Working time * See :Working time * Flextime Working conditions * Bio ...

s for workers: a 6-hour workdays, special protection of female and young workers, a ban on night work and an obligatory vacation; *A

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...

; *

Old age pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

s from the age 55; *Decolonization of the

Representation

This table shows the RSP's results in elections to the

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 ...

and

, 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. * as RSAP

Municipal and provincial government

The party was particularly strong in the city of Amsterdam. Here Sneevliet was a member of the local legislative.

Electorate

The RSP was mainly supported by leftwing intellectuals, who were highly concentrated in the large cities. Out of the 48.405 votes it got in 1933, 20.000 were obtained in Amsterdam.

Organization

Youth wing

The Leninist Young Guard (Dutch: Leninistische Jeugd Garde; LJG) was an independent youth organization linked to the RSAP. LJG published ''Arbeidersjeugd'' 1937–1940. Sal Santen became the secretary of LJG in 1936.

Journal

The party-magazine of the RSP was called The Revolutionary (Dutch: De Baanbreker), it continued as the New Torch, after the foundation of the RSAP.

International organizations

The RSP was in close contact with

and his followers in the

International Left Opposition International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(which became the International Communist League) and signed the Declaration of the Four with the ICL in 1933."Declaration of the Four"
, ''The Militant'', September 23, 1933. The OSP, however, was part of the

International Revolutionary Marxist Centre The International Revolutionary Marxist Centre was an international association of left-socialist parties. The member-parties rejected both mainstream social democracy and the Third International. Organizational history The International was fo ...

, along with the British

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. When the two merged into the RSAP, the alignment with the IRMC continued.

Pillarized organization

Although the RSP was too small to have a real

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

of social organizations around it, it did have strong links with the

National Labour Secretariat, which previously had strong links with the communist party.

Relationships to other parties

The RSP was shunned by other leftwing parties, because of its strong opposition to the social-democratic SDAP and the communist CPH. Cooperation with the leftwing opposition of the SDAP, united the OSP resulted in the foundation of the RSAP in 1935.

International comparison

The RSP and the RSAP are very comparable to other dissident Marxist groups within the

anti-Stalinist left The anti-Stalinist left is an umbrella term for various kinds of left-wing political movements that opposed Joseph Stalin, Stalinism and the actual system of governance Stalin implemented as leader of the Soviet Union between 1927 and 1953. Th ...

, including the left-communist movement, the

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

movement (e.g. the French Workers' Struggle or American Workers Party, or parties formed as Marxist opposition within social-democratic parties, like

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was establish ...

. Trotsky criticised the RSP/RSAP as "

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 ...

References

External links

Archief Revolutionair-Socialistische Partij
at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

The Life and Death of Sneevliet, ''Workers' Liberty''
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