The Christian-Democratic Union (in Dutch: ''Christelijk-Democratische Unie'') was a minor progressive Protestant party in the Netherlands during the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

History

The CDU was formed in 1926 as a merger of three even smaller Christian

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

parties, the Christian Social Party, the

Christian Democratic Party __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 te ...

and the League of Christian Socialists. It had one seat between 1929 and 1937 and two between 1937 and 1946. The party always was in opposition. It was linked to the minor denomination Reformed Churches in Repaired Union (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Hersteld Verband), which split from the mainstream Reformed churches, because of its

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...

. The

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...

of the reformed church therefore decreed disciplinary measures against members of the CDU. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the party joined the newly founded Partij van de Arbeid. In the 1950s many members left to join the pacifist PSP because of the relatively

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, autho ...

course of the PvdA.

Ideology

The CDU stood for a just society based on

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

rules. The party's principles were based on the work of reformed theologian

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary ''The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...

. It was a left-wing party to the extent that it was opposed to war in any form and demanded radical redistribution of income, nationalisation of core industries and influence of workers on corporations. It was in favor of

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 ...

to the extent that it wanted to keep the

sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

Electoral results

House of Representatives

References

External links

Small political parties
in Dutch {{Authority control Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Christian pacifism Confessional parties in the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) Pacifism in the Netherlands Pacifist parties Protestant political parties Political parties established in 1926 Political parties disestablished in 1946 Defunct Christian political parties 1926 establishments in the Netherlands