Social Democratic Workers' Party Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij
Abbreviation	SDAP
Leader	Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1893–1925) Johan Willem Albarda (1925–1940)
Founded	26 August 1894 (1894-08-26)
Dissolved	9 February 1946 (1946-02-09)
Split from	Social Democratic League
Merged into	Labour Party
Newspaper	Het Volk
Youth wing	Arbeiders Jeugd Centrale
Membership(1939)	82,415[1]
Ideology	Socialism Marxism Reformism Republicanism
Political position	Centre-left toleft-wing
International affiliation	Second International (1894–1914) Labour and Socialist International (1923–1940)
Colours	Red
Politics of the Netherlands Political parties Elections

TheSocial Democratic Workers' Party (Dutch:Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij,SDAP) was asocialistpolitical party in the Netherlands existing from 1894 to 1946. Originating from a split in the priorSocial Democratic League, the party was a predecessor of the currentsocial democraticLabour Party.

The SDAP was founded by members of theSocial Democratic League (SDB) after a conflict betweenanarchist andreformist factions. During the SDB party conference of 1893 inGroningen, a majority voted to stop participating in the elections. They were afraid that the parliamentary work would drift the socialists away from what socialism was really about. A minority of members led byPieter Jelles Troelstra tried to prevent this, and later left the party in order to found a new party. The foundation of a new party was controversial within the socialist movement, because Troelstra was seen as a bourgeois force who had destroyed the unity of the SDB and the socialist movement. 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 "thetwelve apostles". The twelve apostles nearly all came from the provinces ofFriesland andGroningen or from large cities likeAmsterdam andRotterdam, and most were intellectual-type men like teachers, vicars or lawyers. That is why SDB members and other socialists mockingly called the SDAP not a workers' party but a teachers' (Dutch:Schoolmeesters), vicars (Dutch:Dominees) and lawyers (Dutch:Advocaten) party still forming the acronymSDAP.

The party was founded inZwolle in 1894. The party programme was a literal translation of theErfurt Program of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Both parties believed in an imminent revolution which would make an end to suffering and inequality between classes and between men and women. The parliamentary work was only seen as a means to help the workers before the revolution would set off.

In its first years, the SDAP was a small party, searching for the best way to organise itself. It received a lot of financial and organisational support from the German SPD. In 1894, theInternational recognised the SDAP as the labour party. The SDAP was open for other socialist organisations, such astrade unions to associate themselves with the party.

In 1896,Cornélie Huygens became the first female member of the SDAP, and the first woman in the Netherlands to be a member of a political party. She was known as the "Red Lady".^[2]

In the1897 general election, the party won its first two seats in theHouse of Representatives.Pieter Jelles Troelstra, a controversial person in the party, won the seat ofTietsjerksteradeel in Friesland and becamechairman of the parliamentary party. In parliament the SDAP supported the social legislation of theLiberal majority cabinet, led byNicolaas Pierson. The core of the cabinet was formed by theLiberal Union. During this period the party became the major socialist party of the Netherlands, attracting famous writers and poets likeHerman Gorter,Henriette Roland Holst andHerman Heijermans, and the journalistPieter Lodewijk Tak.

In 1900, party leader Troelstra visitedBerlin and received a considerable sum of money, with which the party founded its own daily newspaper, calledHet Volk, Dagblad voor de Arbeiderspartij ("The People, Paper for the Workers' Party"). In the same year the remainder of the SDB, which had been renamed Socialist League, joined the SDAP.

In the1901 general election, the SDAP performed particularly well; it tripled its seats to six, the Liberal cabinet which the socialists supported lost its majority. TheCoalition cabinet, composed of the ProtestantAnti-Revolutionary Party and the CatholicGeneral League, ignored the Socialists. After the election victory the party's power in the socialistpillar began to rise. In a massive reorganisation, the associated socialist organisations had to integrate with the party's branches.

In January 1903, a largestrike broke out in thedocking sector, out ofsolidarity other sectors like the railway sector went on strike too. The employers responded by firing the strikers. Years of suppression of the socialist movement and trade unions led to a huge revolt. The strikers demanded the re-employment of fired strikers, payment of wages for the striking days and the recognition of trade unions. The surprised directors of the railway companies accepted the demands. Meanwhile, the confessional cabinet led byKuyper wanted to end the strike by posing harsh penalties against the strikers, because the strike struck vital industries.

Initially, the SDAP supported the strike, hoping it would spark a socialist revolution. But in reaction to the government legislation, moderate party members, including Troelstra, turned against the strikes. This led to a controversy betweenorthodox Marxists andmoderate revisionists.

The strike ended the cooperation of socialist unions with confessional unions and the social democratic SDAP and anarchists of other organisations. The strike however did not only lead to breaches. The trade unions were prepared to unite and work together with the SDAP. TheDutch Confederation of Trade Unions (NVV) was founded in 1905 byHenri Polak.

After the railway strike, the conflict betweenrevisionists and orthodox Marxists intensified both within the SDAP and internationally. In 1903 Troelstra lost control ofHet Volk to the orthodox faction. In 1904, the orthodox faction had another victory, when revisionism was forbidden by the conference of theInternational inAmsterdam.

On the eve of the1905 general election, the revisionists won a crucial victory. The party decided to support liberal candidates who were in favour ofuniversal suffrage. The party gained one seat, meaning it held seven seats, and supported the liberal minorityDe Meester cabinet.

Many members of the SDAP were irritated by the behaviour of the orthodox Marxists who were continuously denouncing moderates. Troelstra openly attacked the orthodox Marxists and the party congress in a formal resolution declared to oppose all labelling opportunists and revisionists. The orthodox Marxist chairmanPieter Lodewijk Tak resigned and was succeeded byWillem Vliegen. Tak also lost control ofHet Volk to Vliegen.

In 1907, a group of orthodox Marxists aroundDavid Wijnkoop founded the magazineDe Tribune, which attacked the revisionist leadership of the SDAP. Troelstra and other leaders removed him and his associates from the party ranks in 1909. Wijnkoop founded the orthodox MarxistSocial Democratic Party (SDP) the same year. The SDP later became the Communist Party of Holland. This was one of the first splits within the European labour movement.

In the1909 general election, the SDAP held on to its seven seats, but their liberal allies lost many seats to the Coalition parties, who won a majority of sixty seats. In the knowledge that they could not accomplish anything in parliament, the SDAP focused on the extra-parliamentary movement foruniversal suffrage, for both men and women, regardless of class.

The party's original strategy was to organise mass strikes for universal suffrage. But the socialist union NVV feared reprisals from employers, so the SDAP decided to start apetition. In a massdemonstration inThe Hague onPrinsjesdag the petition was presented to parliament. The SDAP called itRoode Dinsdag ("Red Tuesday"). The demonstration led to considerable controversy, when QueenWilhelmina decided not to attend the Prinsjesdag ceremonies. For the 1912 Prinsjesdag the Red Tuesday was forbidden.

During this time, thewomen's movement began to influence the party. Women were deprived of political influence in the party, and the party leadership was split over the issue. Socialist women organisations began to flourish because of the struggle for universal suffrage. The SDAP founded a women's section, calledSamen Sterk (Together Strong). Samen Sterk tried to found trade unions for female employees, starting with house maids. This caused considerable controversy in bourgeoisie circles.

In the1913 general election, the SDAP more than doubled its seats to 15. As a serious force in parliament, the SDAP was asked to participate in government by the liberalformateur, and was offered three ministerial posts. The SDAP, even the reformist Troelstra, refused government participation, because the party acknowledged one of its major ideals, national disarmament, could not be realised. Instead of an unstable minority government, anextra-parliamentary cabinet was formed, comprising liberal and non-partisan ministers. The cabinet intended to realise socialist demands, likeuniversal suffrage, thestate pension and theeight-hour working day.

After the 1913 municipal elections, however, the SDAP did accept government responsibility inZaandam andAmsterdam, formingmunicipal executives with the liberals.

AfterWorld War I had broken out, the SDAP supported the Dutch policy of armedneutrality. This support was welcomed by the leaders of the other parties but not by many SDAP members. In 1915, a special conference declared that the SDAP only supported the government temporarily and the support could be withdrawn, thus preventing another party-wide conflict.

During the war, theAllies blockaded the Dutch ports, which in turn led to an enormous lack of food; riots broke out in the major cities. The SDAP supported the government actions against these riots. Many of the protesters were furious about the SDAP and changed allegiance to the Social Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, the political system was in revision. A constitutional reform enabling universal suffrage was prepared by the liberal cabinet. In order to realise this change a two-thirds majority was necessary. This practically meant that all major parties, including the Coalition parties needed to agree with the change. The Coalition parties would consent to the change, but only ifconfessional schools would be granted finances equal to the public schools and if universal suffrage was not extended to women.

The SDAP was especially critical of the second demand. On 17 September 1916, it organised a mass rally with 40,000 demonstrators, demanding female suffrage. In the end, however, the party consented with the changes the confessional parties demanded. With some changes, women were granted the right to be elected and women's suffrage was deconstitutionalised, meaning that only a normal majority was necessary to implement the change. In 1919, the left-liberalHenri Marchant initiated a bill to implement female suffrage, and in 1922 the first election with real universal suffrage was held.

In1918, the first general election with universal suffrage and proportional representation was held. The SDAP won 22 of the 100 seats. One of these seats was taken bySuze Groeneweg, the first woman elected to parliament. Four seats were won by otherleft-wing parties, including the communists. The confessional parties however won a majority.

In November 1918,revolution broke out inGermany. SDAP leader Troelstra thought that theNetherlands was ready for revolution as well. In a speech in parliament he demanded the resignation of the government, because he expected the army and the police to support the revolution. The government did not resign. Instead, it prevented revolution from spreading. In doing so they were supported by most of the Dutch population. This incident is called "Troelstra's mistake" (Dutch:Troelstra's vergissing). Many SDAP members were displeased with Troelstra. He politically survived the 1919 party congress, though only narrowly.

Troelstra's mistake, the SDAP's reluctance to form a socialist/liberal government in 1913 and the electoral strength of the confessional parties prevented the SDAP's participation in government until 1939.

The SDAP won in the 1919 municipal elections, and socialist-supportedmunicipal executives were formed in many cities.

In 1919, many socialist demands (universal suffrage, the eight hour workday and state pensions) were implemented. The party began to shift their focus away from the revolution and towards the direct improvement of the position of the working class.

Between 1919 and 1939, the SDAP got increasingly more seats but were kept out of government by a confessional majority; in 1926,Roman Catholic State Party leader,Wiel Nolens said that the confessionals would only govern with the socialists in a case of extreme necessity.

During the 1930s, the SDAP began to moderate its policies. It removed the demand of national disarmament in 1934, and became less republican, for instance sending a telegram with felicitations to Queen Wilhelmina in 1938 after her daughter, princessJuliana, gave birth to princessBeatrix. During the crisis the party proposed several plans for economic reform. In 1935 the SDAP published thePlan of Labour, which included plans to increaseemployment,nationalise vital industry and implement a system ofunemployment benefits. The confessional-liberal government rejected the socialist proposals for economic reform. After 1936, however, it changed its course, giving into socialist demands bydevaluating the guilder and allowing the national debt to rise in order to increase employment.

In reaction to this moderate course, a group of orthodox Marxist members, led byJacques de Kadt, left the party to form theIndependent Socialist Party. After an unsuccessful merger with the (Trotskyist)Revolutionary Socialist Party, many of the 3,000 split members returned.

This course of moderation was suddenly interrupted by the incidents surrounding the mutiny on the cruiserDe Zeven Provinciën. During the mutiny, the political leadership of the SDAP announced that, although they did not support it, they could understand the motives behind the mutiny. Because of this incident the government temporarily forbade soldiers to be a member of the SDAP.

In 1939, at the dawn ofWorld War II, prominent SDAP members were asked to participate in a national coalition, led by Protestant politicianDe Geer; the dawning war was the extreme necessity that allowed the SDAP to enter government. After the Netherlands was invaded by the Germans this government became theDutch government-in-exile, inLondon. The SDAP first supplied two ministers (Albeda and Jan van de Tempel) and in 1944 they were joined byJaap Burger. The SDAP was banned in 1940 bythe occupying force. Many SDAP members were involved inresistance work during the war.

After World War II, there was a widespread sentiment in the Netherlands that the political system should be changed. This was called theBreakthrough. In order to force this breakthrough the SDAP merged with the left-liberalFree-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the Christian-socialistChristian Democratic Union (CDU) to form a new party: theLabour Party. They were joined by individuals from the ProtestantChristian Historical Union (CHU) andAnti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and members of theCatholic resistance movement.

When it was founded in 1897 the SDAP was asocialist party, which strove for asocialist revolution. The party wanted tonationalise the means of production and build a system ofsocial security. It was a staunch proponent ofuniversal suffrage. Through time the party became more moderate. In 1939, the party was ademocratic socialist party, which wanted to improve the situation of Dutch workers through parliament.

The parties main issues were the 5 k's the party opposed:

1. Capital (Dutch:Kapitaal): the party opposed the rule of capital, and wanted to create a socialist society.
2. Church (Dutch:Kerk): the party opposed thecontrol the church had over large parts of society.
3. King (Dutch:Koning): the party opposed themonarchy and wanted to transform the Netherlands into arepublic.
4. Barracks (Dutch:Kazerne): the party wanted to disarm theDutch army. The party opposedmilitarism andnationalism. After the rise of the GermanNazi Party the SDAP began to agitate for a people's army.
5. Pubs (Dutch:Kroeg): the party thought thatalcoholism was one of the greatest foes of the working class.

Election	Lead candidate	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Government
1897	None	12,312	3.0	2 / 100	2	Confidence and supply
1901		36,981	9.5	6 / 100	4	In opposition
1905		65,561	11.2	6 / 100		Confidence and supply
1909		82,855	13.9	7 / 100	1	In opposition
1913		142,185	18.5	17 / 100	10	Confidence and supply
1917				15 / 100	2	Confidence and supply
1918	Pieter Jelles Troelstra	296,145	22.0	22 / 100	7	In opposition
1922		567,769	19.4	20 / 100	2	In opposition
1925	Willem Albarda	706,689	22.9	24 / 100	4	In opposition
1929		804,714	23.8	24 / 100		In opposition
1933		798,632	21.5	22 / 100	2	In opposition
1937		890,661	21.9	23 / 100	1	In opposition

This table shows the SDAP's results in elections to theHouse of Representatives,Senate andprovincial councils, as well as the party's parliamentary leader, this post is normally taken by the party's leader. It also possible that the party leader is member of cabinet, if the SDAP was part of the governing coalition, the highest ranking minister is listed, supportive indicates that the SDAP did not supply any ministers, but was supportive of the legislation proposed by cabinet.

Founders, known as the 12 apostles:Frank van der Goes,Pieter Jelles Troelstra,Henri van Kol,Adriaan Gerhard,Helmig Jan van der Vegt,Louis Cohen,Jan Fortuijn,Willem Helsdingen,Henri Polak,Jan Schaper,Hendrik Spiekman, andWillem Vliegen.

Many SDAP members of parliament were also members of a provincial or municipal council. Since 1913 the SDAP had participated in the municipal government of Amsterdam. Several famous SDAP politicians, likeWillem Drees had first built up a reputation in municipal government through initiating employment and housing programs. This tradition was calledWethouderssocialisme (AldermanSocialism) and was very important for the credibility of the post-war PvdA.

In 1919 the SDAP had 1162 members ofmunicipal councils and 72 members of themunicipal executive.

The figure below shows the SDAP's results in the 1927 provincial elections. In several provinces, the urban North Holland and South Holland especially, the party performed very well. In the Catholic and predominantly rural South, Limburg and North Brabant, the party had a marginal position. In the Protestant and rural North, especially Groningen and Friesland, the party also performed well.

In the period 1897-1919, when voting rights were restricted the party mainly received support from educated workers and young members of theIntelligentsia (lawyers, teacher, vicars and engineers). The SDAP was mainly supported by atheists andlatitudinarianprotestants. When universal suffrage was granted in 1919 the SDAP began to expand to all layers of the population, drawing heavy support from theworking class.

The party historically received strong support from the major cities, such asAmsterdam andRotterdam, and the northern provinces ofGroningen,Friesland andDrenthe and the industrial regionTwente.

The highest organ of the SDAP was theCongress, formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convened once every year. It appointed the party board, decided the order of candidates on electoral lists for theSenate andHouse of Representatives and had the final say over the party program.

When the SDAP was founded in 1897 it has around 600 members organised in 25 municipal branches.

In 1919 the party had around 49,000 members in around 645 municipal branches.

In 1938 the party had around 88,000 members in around 650 municipal branches.

The party's membership throughout its existence is displayed in the chart below.^[3]

This graph was using thelegacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to thenew Chart extension.

Between 1894 and 1914 the SDAP was member of theSecond International, after World War I, it lost its international contacts.

The party was a member of theLabour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.^[4]

The SDAP had strong links with other socialist organisations in the socialistpillar. It had strong links with the largest trade unionNVV. Two important means of propaganda of the party were the social democratic broadcasting organisationVARA and the paperHet Vrije Volk.The youth organisation Arbeiders Jeugdcentrale (Workers' Youth Central, AJC) was a large youth organisation aligned with the SDAP, founded in 1918, with around 11,500 members in 1935. The women's association aligned with the SDAP wasSamen Sterk (Together Strong) founded in 1912. The student's association aligned with the SDAP was the Social Democratic Students Club, (Sociaal-Democratische Studentenclub, SDSC).A Workers' Education Institute (Instituut voor Arbeiders Ontwikkeling IvAO) was set up in 1924 and a scientific bureau in 1935.But the SDAP also had close links with workers' recreational organisations like the League of Workers' Singing Association and the Dutch Workers' Sporting Association. Theteetotalist movement also had close links with the SDAP.

Between 1897 and 1919 the SDAP supported liberal politicians, who were in favour of universal suffrage, in some districts. Several liberal minority governments were supported by the socialists. These relations deteriorated after the SDAPs unwillingness to participate in socialist/liberal cabinet in 1913 and Troelstra's mistake (in 1918). Furthermore, universal suffrage, a goal which united the liberals and the socialists was granted in 1918.

The relations between the SDAP and the confessional parties was particularly bad. The confessional parties saw socialism as an atheist ideology. This prevented SDAP government participation until 1939. Following the 1919 election someChristian socialist parties entered parliament which advocated stronger cooperation between the SDAP and the confessional parties. These calls were ignored by the confessional parties.

The SDAP was in constant state of cold war with the communist partySDP, later CPH, split from the SDAP. In 1935 when Moscowdecreed thatComintern parties should cooperate with social democratic parties, the relationship improved.

The SDAP also had good relations with thesocial liberalFree-minded Democratic League (VDB). However the VDB's participation in the economically conservative 1930s crisis cabinets deteriorated this relationship. It furthermore had good relations with the Christian socialistChristian Democratic Union.

• J. Perry, P.J. Knegtmans, D.F.J. Bosscher, F. Becker and P. Kalma (1994). Honderd jaar sociaal-democratie in Nederland 1894-1994. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker.
• H. de Vos. (1976) Geschiedenis van het socialisme in Nederland, in het kader van zijn tijd, deel 1. Baarn: Het wereldvenster

• Bert Altena, "Bürger in der Sozialdemokratie: Ihre Bedeutung für die Entwicklung der Sozialdemokratischen Arbeiterpartei (SDAP) in den Niederlanden 1894-1914" (Citizens in The Social Democracy: Their Importance for the Development of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in the Netherlands, 1894-1914),Geschichte und Gesellschaft, vol. 20, no. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 1994), pp. 533–548.In JSTOR
• Archief SDAP at theInternational Institute of Social History

• Defunct socialist parties in the Netherlands
• Second International parties
• Members of the Labour and Socialist International
• Political parties established in 1894
• 1894 establishments in the Netherlands
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