nl, Belgische Democratische Unie , logo = , leader1_title = Leaders , leader1_name =

Max Bastin Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

, Pierre Clerdent , foundation = 1945 , dissolved = 1946 , split = Catholic Party , merged =

Belgian Socialist Party nl, Belgische Socialistische Partij , logo = Logo of the Belgian Socialist Party.png , caption = The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973. , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Achille Van Acker (first)André Cools (last) ...

, headquarters =

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, ideology =

Social democracy 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 ...

Christian democracy 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 ...

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

Belgian unionism , position =

Centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

, international = , colours = Fucsia , country = Belgium The Belgian Democratic Union (''Union Démocratique Belge'', ''Belgische Democratische Unie'' or ''UDB'') was a short-lived political party in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

after the Second World War.

History

Formation

The UDB was one of two post-war parties founded in Belgium appealing to Christian thought, the other being the Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP), heir to the prewar Catholic Party. The UDB's main founders were Pierre Clerdent and Antoine Delfosse and the party essentially originated in the French-speaking Christian workers' movement, being unable to gain major supporters from among the Flemish Christian workers' movement. The UDB was essentially a "labourist" (''travailliste'') party (which would now be placed on the centre-left) and was much keener on secularisation (''déconfessionnalisation'') and progress (''progressisme'') than the PSC-CVP, wishing to bring those of all philosophical and religious persuasions under one flag. It had ambitions to be a nationwide party, but was mainly restricted to

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

and the French-speakers in Brussels, making it short on influence in the capital's political circles. Its leaders came from the Belgian resistance and the other parties hoped that the UDB and CVP would compete against and weaken each other by splitting the Christian vote. When the PSC-CVP refused to participate in the second government of Achiel Van Acker (2 August 1945 - 9 January 1946), two UDB members of parliament joined it - Marcel Gregoire for Justice and Jacques Basyn for Defence.

Franz De Voghel Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

(with UDB sympathies) was minister of finance.

Fall

UDB hopes were high at the general elections on 17 February 1946, but these were disappointed, with the party only gaining 51,095 votes (mainly in Brussels) and only managed to elect one person to the Chamber of Representatives (

Paul M. G. Lévy Paul Michel Gabriel, Baron Lévy (27 November 1910 – 16 August 2002) was a Belgian journalist and professor. He was born in Brussels and was a Holocaust survivor. He worked for many years as Director of Information at the Council of Europe ...

for the arrondissement of

Nijvel Nivelles (; nl, Nijvel, ; wa, Nivele; vls, Neyvel) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstre ...

, though he resigned after only a few weeks and replaced by

Werner Marchand Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

). It was clear that the party had several leaders but no members. In 1946 it had 2,637 members - 380 in Flanders, 904 in Brabant (Brussels) and 1353 in Wallonia. This marked its end. Some of its leaders went over to the CVP, including Pierre Clerdent (governor of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

and later a liberal senator),

Alfred Califice Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

(frequently a minister for the CVP) and Antoine Delfosse (for whom this meant a switch back to the CVP). Lévy,

and Jacques Basyn became independents.

External links

Union Démocratique Belge
at Belgium-WWII ( Cegesoma) {{Belgian political parties Defunct political parties in Belgium Belgian Resistance 1945 establishments in Belgium 1946 disestablishments in Belgium Political parties established in 1945 Political parties disestablished in 1946 Catholic political parties Christian socialist organizations

History

Formation

Fall

Further reading

External links