The Christian Democratic Union (, CDU) was a minor progressive Protestant party in the Netherlands during the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

History

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

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

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 tea ...

and the

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 ...

. 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 Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

churches, because of its

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

. 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 Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the party joined the newly founded

Partij van de Arbeid The Labour Party ( , PvdA or P van de A ) is a social democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League and the Christian ...

. In the 1950s many members left to join the pacifist PSP because of the relatively

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

course of the PvdA.

Ideology

The CDU stood for a just society based on

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

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

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed 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 Decl ...

. 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 Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of core industries and influence of workers on corporations. It was in favor of

Christian democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

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, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

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