Charles Joseph Ignace Marie Welter (6 April 1880 – 28 March 1972) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses, later the

Roman Catholic State Party The Roman Catholic State Party (, RKSP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1926 as a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations. During its entire exis ...

(RKSP), the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP) and founder of Catholic National Party (KNP) before rejoining the Catholic People's Party and nonprofit director.

Biography

Welter worked as a civil servant for the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

from July 1901 until October 1902 and for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in the

Kedu Residency Kedu Residency (also known as Kedoe and Kedoo) was a colonial administrative unit in Central Java in Java, Indonesia. It contained the areas which are now the Kebumen, Wonosobo, Temanggung, Purworejo and Magelang regencies (including Magelang c ...

and

Pekalongan Pekalongan () is a city of Central Java, Indonesia. It was formerly the seat of Pekalongan Regency on the northern coast of the province, but is now an independent municipality within the province. It covers a land area of 45.25 km2 and had a p ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

from October 1902 until April 1908 and in Batavia from April 1908 until May 1911. Welter moved back to the Netherlands and worked for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

from May 1911 until November 1915 and returned to the Dutch East Indies working for the Ministry of Colonial Affairs in Batavia from November 1915 until October 1925. After the 1925 general election, Welter was appointed Minister of Colonial Affairs in the

first Colijn cabinet First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, taking office on 1 October 1925. The cabinet fell just three months later on 11 November 1925 and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity until the cabinet formation of 1926 resulted in the formation of the first De Geer cabinet on 8 March 1926, in which Welters was not given a cabinet post. In March 1926 Welters was nominated as a member of the

Council of the Indies A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, serving from 30 March 1926 until 30 March 1931. Welter semi-retired from active politic and became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Cadastre Agency,

Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often a ...

and the Welter Commission) and as a diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government. Welter was elected 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 ...

in the 1937 general election, taking office on 8 June 1937. Following the cabinet formation of 1937 Welter returned to his position as Minister of Colonial Affairs in the fourth Colijn cabinet, taking office on 24 June 1937. The cabinet fell on 29 June 1939 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1939, with Welters not given a cabinet post in the new fifth Colijn cabinet, which took office on 25 July 1939. On 25 July 1939, just three days later, the cabinet was dismissed by

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the second cabinet formation of 1939 when it was replaced by the second De Geer cabinet with Welter appointed as Minister of Colonial Affairs again, taking office on 10 August 1939. Upon the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

on 10 May 1940, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

fled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. The second De Geer cabinet fell on 26 August 1940 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Dirk Jan de Geer Dirk Jan de Geer (14 December 1870 – 28 November 1960) was a Dutch politician of the Christian Historical Union. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 8 March 1926 until 10 August 1929, and from 10 August 1939 until 3 Septembe ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1940, when it was replaced by the first Gerbrandy cabinet, with Welter continuing as Minister of Colonial Affairs and appointed as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, dual serving in both positions, taking office on 3 September 1940. The cabinet fell on 12 June 1941 after a conflict between Queen Wilhelmina and

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Adriaan Dijxhoorn Adriaan Quirinus Hendrik Dijxhoorn (10 September 1889 – 22 January 1953) was a Dutch soldier who served as Minister of Defence during the Battle of the Netherlands. Following the outbreak of the Second World War he was appointed Minister of Def ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1941 when it was replaced by the

second Gerbrandy cabinet The Second Gerbrandy cabinet, also called the Third London cabinet was the Dutch government-in-exile from 27 July 1941 until 23 February 1945. The cabinet was formed by the List of political parties in the Netherlands, political parties Roman Ca ...

, with Welter continuing as of Minister of Colonial Affairs, taking office on 27 July 1941. On 17 November 1941 Welter and Minister of Finance and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Shipping Max Steenberghe resigned after disagreeing with the cabinet's war policies. Returning to the Netherlands in 1945, Welter was appointed to 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 ...

for the newly founded

. In March 1946, he was a member of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the policy of the Dutch East Indies government. He disagreed strongly with the government policy on the Dutch Indies, as well as his party's cooperation with the Labour Party. From the beginning of 1947, the Provisional Catholic Committee of Action acted within the KVP against the Indonesian policy of the

Roman/Red Roman/Red () is the nickname for a period in Dutch politics between approximately 1945 and 1958. This period was characterized by coalitions between the Catholic and social-democratic parties in the Netherlands and Belgium. "Roman" refers to the pa ...

coalition. In 1948, this committee took part in the general election with a separate Welter list, winning a single seat. On 11 December 1948 the Catholic National Party (KNP) was established. Welter, who occupied the only seat in parliament, also became the first general chairman of the KNP. After the transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia, this KNP initially seemed to still have a reason to exist, especially as a right-wing opposition party, not only with regard to the lasting problems in relations with Indonesia, but also in opposition to the trade union influence within the Catholic People's Party. In 1952, the KNP won 2.7% of the vote and two seats in the House of Representatives. On 29 October 1955, under pressure from the bishops, the KNP merged back into the Catholic People's Party. When the Drees cabinet fell at the end of 1958, Welter's last complaint against the KVP also disappeared, because years of cooperation with the social democrats came to an end. Welter remained as a Member of Parliament for the KVP from 1956 to 1963.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Ch.J.I.M. Welter (KVP)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Welter, Charles 1880 births 1972 deaths Catholic National Party politicians Catholic People's Party politicians Delft University of Technology alumni Dutch critics Dutch expatriates in England Dutch expatriates in Indonesia Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch people of World War II Dutch political party founders Dutch traditionalist Catholics Dutch Roman Catholics General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses politicians Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Leaders of political parties in the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of colonial affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of finance of the Netherlands Party chairs of the Netherlands Politicians from The Hague Roman Catholic State Party politicians 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats