The Peasants' League (in Dutch: ''Plattelandersbond'', PB) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. The League played only a minor role in Dutch politics.

Party history

The party was founded on February 17, 1917. In the elections of 1918, the party won one seat. It had campaigned with two lists, one religious list and one secular list, in order to appeal to both religious and secular farmers. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Netherlands, a neutral country, had to rely on its own agriculture. Government influence in agriculture had increased, much to the unhappiness of many farmers. The party's seat was taken by Frederik Bos. Between 1918 and 1919, the League cooperated in the neutral parliamentary party, with other four one or two seat parties, namely the Alliance to Democratise the Forces, the Economic League, the Middle Class Party and the

Neutral Party The Neutral Party (, NP) was a Dutch political party founded in 1918 representing artists' interests. It played only a marginal role in Dutch politics. History The NP was founded on 14 February 1918 by , a well-known revue artist. The 1918 electi ...

. The parliamentary party was led by former minister

Willem Treub Marie Willem Frederik Treub (30 November 1858, Voorschoten – 24 July 1931, The Hague) was a Dutch politician. Biography Marie Willem Frederik Treub was born to Jacobus Petrus Treub, mayor of Voorschoten, and his wife Marie Louise Cornaz. Toget ...

. In 1919 Bos was replaced by Arend Braat as member of parliament. Braat was an unsophisticated and unconventional MP, who attempted to revoke the law on

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...

on five occasions but failed in each. He was ignored by most other politicians and scorned by the media for his unsophisticated behaviour. He immediately left the neutral parliamentary party. In the elections of 1922, the party won an additional seat, this is partially explained by Braat's unconventional behaviour, which appealed to the rural voters. The party's second MP De Boer tried to replace Braat as party leader. He was removed from the party ranks and participated in the 1925 elections. Braat lost his second seat, but De Boer was unable to win a seat. After the 1929 election, the leadership of Braat became even more contested. Because of his aggressive strategy against supporters of De Boer the party's organisation was not functioning well. Before the

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

elections, the party changed its name to National Farmers', Horticulturists' and Middle Class Party (''Nationale Boeren-, Tuinders- en Middenstandspartij'', NBTM) and renewed its party organisations. In this election it had two top candidates Cornelis Vervoorn, a rich farmer, for the Northern provinces of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

and Arend Braat, who has been the party's leader for a long time, for the rest of the Netherlands. Unexpectedly Vervoorn was elected into parliament because he received more votes than Braat. Braat tried to convince Vervoorn to give up his seat, but he refused. In the 1937 election, the party lost its seat, this is partially explained by the rise of the

National Socialist Movement Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, which was linked to a strong agrarian organisation ''Agriculture and Society''

Ideology & issues

The party advocated for the interests of farmers and tried to fight the disadvantaged position of rural communities. The party saw agriculture as the primary source of wealth of the Netherlands. Its main goal was to ensure a reasonable income for farmers, to expand the farming sector and protect

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...

. It wanted to abolish

Daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...

, reduce taxation and government interference, found a ministry of agriculture, implement an old age pension, improve agricultural education, and end the merger of municipalities. The change of name in 1933 to National Farmers', Horticulturists' and Middle Class Party also implied an ideological reorientation. The party is now also oriented towards the middle class in urban areas, while still holding on to its agrarian ideals. Small businesses, or the middle class, were seen as the link between farmers and consumers. It added several proposals to its party manifesto such as a cheaper supply of credit and the regulation of advertisements.

Leadership & support

This table shows the Peasants' League's results in elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and

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 ...

, 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.

Municipal and provincial government

The party was particularly strong in the provincial legislatives of Drenthe and Groningen. Where it also held several seats in local legislatives.

Electorate

The electorate of party consisted out of farmers form

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

, the northern region of

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

and the

southern islands The Southern Islands is a planning area consisting of a collection of islets located within the Central Region of Singapore, once home to the native Malay islanders and indigenous Orang Laut sea nomad tribes before they were relocated to the ma ...

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

References