The Socialist Party (, SP), also called the "Kolthek party" after its founder Harm Kolthek, was a Dutch

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

syndicalist Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

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, ...

. It was represented in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

between 1918 and 1922.

Party History

The Socialist Party was founded in 1918 as the political arm of the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

National Workers' Secretariat The National Labor Secretariat (, 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 the Social Democratic League (SDB ...

(Nationaal Arbeiders' Secretariaat). All its founders had their personal background in the free socialist movement of

Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis (31 December 1846 – 18 November 1919) was a Dutch socialist politician and later a social anarchist and anti-militarist. He was a Lutheran preacher who, after he lost his faith, started a political figh ...

. The secretary of the NAS, Harm Kolthek, became the top candidate of the SP. In the 1918 election the threshold for admission 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 ...

was relatively low, at just over half of 1% of the vote. Consequently, the SP was elected with only 9,000 votes (that is 0.7% of vote). In parliament, the party worked together with

League of Christian Socialists The League of Christian Socialists (, or BCS) was a Dutch Christian socialist political party. Party history The BCS was founded in 1907. In the 1918 elections, the first election with a system of proportional representation and male universal ...

and the Social Democrat Party (later Communist Party Holland) in the revolutionary parliamentary party. This cooperation was not very productive and soon Kolthek became more independent. In

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, after the election laws were made more stringent, the SP was unable to retain its seats. Increased competition from the Communist Party Holland and the anarchist Rapaille Party also inhibited electoral success. Meanwhile the power of the CPH over the NAS began to grow. In 1928 the party was officially dissolved. The party also competed in unsuccessfully in the 1925 elections. In 1929 most of its former members joined the Revolutionary Socialist Party of

Henk Sneevliet Hendricus Josephus Franciscus Marie Sneevliet, known as Henk Sneevliet or by the ''pseudonym'' "Maring" (13 May 1883 – 13 April 1942), was a Dutch communist politician who was active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As a funct ...

Ideology & Issues

The SP was a

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

party. It sought to end private

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

in general and combat the

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the class who own the means of production in a given society and apply ...

. The SP wanted to abolish

indirect tax An indirect tax (such as a sales tax, per unit tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise tax, consumption tax, or tariff) is a tax that is levied upon goods and services before they reach the customer who ultimately pays the indirect tax as a part of ...

ation and implement a system of strongly progressive income taxes. It wanted to end

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

and night shifts and reduce the working day to eight hours. It believed that education should be free of charge. It wanted to replace

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

by a republic, abolish secret

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

, the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and the

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. It supported independence for the

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independe ...

. Furthermore the party wanted equal rights for men and women. It also sought to combat

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

Representation

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

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 Government

In the municipal elections of 1919, the party won seats in several municipal legislatures including,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Zaanstad Zaanstad () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area of ...

and

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

Electorate

The electorate of the SP was concentrated in the lower classes. It drew its main support from the region around Amsterdam.

References

{{Authority control Defunct socialist parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1918 Political parties disestablished in 1928 1918 establishments in the Netherlands 1928 disestablishments in the Netherlands Syndicalism Syndicalist political parties Libertarian socialist parties