The Social Democratic League (, SDB) was a

socialist 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 ...

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 ...

. Founded in 1881, the SDB was the first socialist party to enter 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 ...

Party history

Before 1881

In the 1860s, a socialist movement began to develop in the Netherlands. The development was aided by the foundation of the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist ...

and the foundation of the first

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 ...

s. Most of those unions however were united in the moderate (General Dutch Workingmans' Association; ANWV) in 1871, which was founded by Protestants and liberals to combat the influence of the Dutch section of the First International. Some prominent Dutch representatives of the First International joined the ANWV in order to radicalise the organisation. In 1878 they, led by Willem Ansigh, left the ANWV to found the Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging (Social-Democratic Association; SDV). It had branches in major cities like

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 ...

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 ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

1881–1893: Social Democratic League

The SDB was founded in 1881 by members of the SDV and similar local socialist parties. The strongest of these local socialist parties were located in the poor rural province

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. The party was based on

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

principles and therefore expected a

proletarian revolution A proletarian revolution or proletariat revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie and change the previous political system. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialist ...

. In 1882, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, a lapsed Lutheran minister, was elected as general secretary of the party. He would hold this position until 1887 and grow to become the party's strongman, he retained the position when he was in prison in 1886–1887 for insulting the monarchy. The party published the paper "Justice for All" (''Recht voor Allen'') of which Domela was editor. The SDB was also affiliated to the League for General Suffrage, which was a dominantly liberal organisation which campaigned for universal suffrage. In 1888, despite the party's revolutionary orientation it decided to participate in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

. Domela Nieuwenhuis was elected to the

for the district of Schoterland. The party was supported by the liberal Frisian People's Party (''Friesche Volkspartij''). Domela Nieuwenhuis won the seat in the second round with the support from the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party, which preferred a socialist over a liberal MP. In parliament Domela Nieuwenhuis tried to gain attention for the interests of the Dutch workers, but he was ignored by other MPs. In the 1891 general election, Domela decided not stand for reelection. His seat was taken by Willem Treub, a member of the left-liberal Radical League. This electoral defeat led to debate within the party. A group of 'moderates' wanted to continue the parliamentary work and the

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

course, another group, led by Domela Nieuwenhuis, wanted to pursue an anti-parliamentary course with a strong

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

orientation. This led to a split; during the SDB party conference of 1893 in Groningen, a majority voted to stop participating in the elections. A minority of members led by

Pieter Jelles Troelstra Pieter Jelles Troelstra (; 20 April 186012 May 1930) was a Dutch lawyer, journalist and politician active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage and his failed call for revolution at the en ...

tried to prevent this, and later left the party in order to create a new party. The split mirrored a larger conflict in the First International between reformists and revolutionaries, and Marxists and anarchists.

1893–1900: Socialists' League

In 1893, the SDB was forbidden by the court because the party had promoted illegal means to attain its goal. In response the party renamed itself Socialists' League (''Socialistenbond'', SB). When the anarchist elements began to take full control of the SDB, important regional social democratic figures joined the group around Troelstra. Together they formed a group called "the twelve apostles". They founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in 1894. In 1896, the radical wing of the party, led by Domela Nieuwenhuis, left the SB and continued without a party organisation. They chose for an anarchist course and

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

. They founded the paper ''De Vrije Socialist'' ("The Free Socialist") and became strongly linked to the Nationaal Arbeidssecretariaat ( National Workers' Secretariat; NAS) an anarcho-syndicalist union founded in 1893. In 1901 the district of Schoterland elected the independent Socialist candidate, Geert van der Zwaag as its MP. His views were similar to those of Domela Nieuwenhuis in the 1880s. In 1900, the SB joined the SDAP which had become electorally successful. When Domela Nieuwenhuis died in 1919, the anarchist movement in the Netherlands lost significance.

Name

Before the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the term

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

were used interchangeably to denote a

ideology. Social democrat was not more or less radical than socialist. The organisations called itself League (''Bond'') because it did not see itself as a party in the traditional sense. It was entrenched in the extra-parliamentary opposition and only entered elections once.

Ideology and issues

The SDB was a Marxist party, and it saw a socialist revolution, which would replace the capitalist system with a socialist one, as inevitable. Important issues for the party were the prohibition of alcohol, the abolition of the standing army and the replacement of the monarchy with a democratic republic and the independence 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 ...

. Practical social-economic reforms the party wanted to implement were the free education, better pay for teachers, a ban on child labour, a limited working day for women, the implementation of a system of

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

and a better housing for workers.

Representation

This table shows the SDB'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, in this case sole, candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Electorate

The electorate of the SDB was mainly located in the poor rural province of

. In the 1888 the party profited from the extension of suffrage to small farmers and other members of the middle class. In the second round the support of the Protestant ARP was crucial. They supported the SDB because they preferred a socialist over a liberal. In the 1890s the party began to win support in the poor rural province of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and larger cities, like

and

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...

. The SDAP would however soon overtake the party in these regions. {{Defunct political parties in the Netherlands Defunct socialist parties in the Netherlands Second International parties Political parties established in 1881 1881 establishments in the Netherlands Political parties disestablished in 1900 1900 disestablishments in the Netherlands