History
The party was founded by a group around Jacques de Kadt and Piet J. Schmidt on 28 March 1932. The group had split from the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij, SDAP after a conflict over the internal opposition publication, the ''De Fakkel''. The moderate leadership of the SDAP banned the publication, in reaction to this the leftwing opposition left the party. It entered in the 1933 Dutch general election, 1933 elections where at won 27,000 votes and nearly one seat. In 1935 the party merged with the Revolutionary Socialist Party (Netherlands), Revolutionary Socialist Party, and formed the Revolutionary Socialist Party (Netherlands), Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party.Ideology & Issues
The OSP was an orthodox Marxist, revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist party, which opposed both the authoritarian stalinism of the Communist Party Holland, Communist Party of the Netherlands and the moderate reformism of the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiderspartij, Social-Democratic Workers' Party. The party's main goal was the Communist revolution, proletarian world revolution, which would replace the capitalism, capitalist system by a system of workers' councils. In the end this would result in a Communist society where Economic inequality, inequality, Exploitation of labour, exploitation and Social class, class would be eliminated.Electorate
The RSP was mainly supported by leftwing intellectuals and educated workers, who were highly concentrated in the large cities.Organization
Linked organisations
The party had a strong basis of young militants, united in Socialist Youth Union. (Dutch: ''Socialistische Jeugd Vereniging''; SJV). The party magazine was the ''De Fakkel'' (The Torch), which had actually ignited the break between OSP and SDAP. The Youth Union was affiliated to the International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations.Relationships to other parties
The OSP was shunned by other leftwing parties, because of its strong opposition to the social-democratic SDAP and the Communist CPH. Cooperation with the small Left-Communist RSP led to their merger with the RSAP in 1935.International Comparison
The OSP is very comparable to other parties formed as orthodox Marxist opposition within social-democratic parties, like Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (see anti-Stalinist left and centrist Marxism).Bibliography
* De Cort, B. (2004) ''Solidariteit in anonimiteit. De geschiedenis van de leden van de Onafhankelijke Socialistische Partij'' * Eekman, M. and H. Pieterson (1987) ''Linkssocialisme tussen de Wereldoorlogen'' * Vossen, K. (2003) ''Vrij vissen in het Vondelpark. Kleine politieke partijen in Nederland 1918-1940'' pp. 82–94External links