The Roman Catholic State Party (, RKSP) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Christian democratic 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 ...

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, ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The party was founded in 1926 as a continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations. During its entire existence, the party was in government. In 1945 the party became 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).

History

The RKSP was founded 3 June 1926, as the continuation of the General League of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations. Since 1918, the General League called itself RKSP informally. Instead of the loose league of

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

es with little

party discipline The term party discipline is used in politics in two closely related, yet distinct, meanings. In a broad sense (also known as party cohesion), the discipline is adherence of the party members at large to an agreed system of political norms and ru ...

, as the General League was, the RKSP became a real party, with stronger party discipline and organisation. In 1922 another Catholic party, the Roman Catholic People's Party, was founded by former members of the General League. It was oriented towards Catholic workers. The General League received little competition from this party, but accelerated the RKSP's process of party-formation. During the 1920s and the 1930s, the RKSP was the biggest party in the Netherlands, receiving a steady 30% percent of the vote at each election. During this entire period the party was in government, in coalition with the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP) and the

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU), two

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

parties. This coalition was called the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

. Despite its success, the party was blocked from many political offices. Positions like the Vice-President of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

and the President of 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 ...

and

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 ...

of the States General were all occupied by Protestants. The RKSP also supplied only one Prime Minister, Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, between 1929 and 1933. The cooperation with the ARP and CHU was problematic. In 1925 the Ruijs de Beerenbrouck cabinet was composed of the ARP, the CHU and the General League fell over the Dutch representation at the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. This issue continued to divide the RKSP and the CHU and the ARP, as did the prohibition of traditional marches by Catholic churches and the role of government in the economy. The second Colijn cabinet fell because the RKSP wanted a more interventionist economic policy, but that cabinet was restored. In 1939, however, the fourth Colijn cabinet fell again on economic policy. In 1939, a coalition of RKSP, CHU, Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) ended more than 20 years of Coalition government. 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 RKSP was replaced by the

Ideology

The RKSP based on biblical norms and

Catholic dogma A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding".Schmaus, I, 54 The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' states: The faithful are only required to accept a teach ...

. An important encyclical was ''

Rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'', or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, which addressed the condi ...

'' of 1891. In this

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

called for stronger government interference in the economy, while denouncing

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. The RKSP wanted strong government control over public morality: divorce should be limited, the Sunday's rest was to be kept, cinemas and theatres should be kept under tight government control,

alcohol addiction 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 Hea ...

should be combated. The party was a staunch proponent of a

corporatist Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...

economy, where employer's organisations, unions and

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

work together for the common good. The RKSP was in favour of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and labour legislation. During

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the call for a more active role of government was strengthened. Regarding foreign affairs, the RKSP was an advocate of Dutch neutrality, which was to be maintained by a strong army and navy. Furthermore, the party was in favour of the colonial government of 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 ...

Electoral performance

Linked organisations

The KVP had close links to many other Catholic institutions such as the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and together they formed the Catholic

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

. These organisations included the Catholic Labour Union, the Catholic Employers Organisation, the Catholic Farmers' Organisation, Catholic Hospitals united in the Yellow-White Cross and Catholic Schools. The Catholic Broadcasting Association KRO and the Catholic paper ''

De Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

'' were the voices of the RKSP.

Important figures

The Limburg-based priest Wiel Nolens led the party since its foundation until his death in 1931. The former professor and minister Piet Aalberse succeeded Nolens. Other prominent figures were Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Prime Minister between 1918 and 1925, and again from 1929 and 1933, and the young

Carl Romme Carl Paul Maria Romme (21 December 1896 – 16 October 1980) was a Dutch politician of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later co-founder of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister o ...

, who would lead the KVP in the 1940s and 1950s.

Electorate

The RKSP was supported by Catholics of all classes. In

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

and Limburg, it often got more than 90% of the vote.

References

Literature

External links

* {{Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Confessional parties in the Netherlands Catholic political parties Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Social conservative parties 1926 establishments in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1926 Political parties disestablished in 1945 Defunct Christian political parties 1945 disestablishments in the Netherlands