History before 1879 In the mid-19th century, the historian
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer laid the foundations of an Orthodox Reformed body of political thought. The Protestant nature of the Dutch nation occupied a central role in this body of thought, and Groen and his followers were consequently fiercely
anti-Catholic; in 1853, they joined the in response to the
reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands. They also opposed the modern ideas of the
Enlightenment and the
French Revolution, including popular sovereignty, liberalism and rationalism. As such, they adopted the label
antirevolutionary. Groen had been the sole antirevolutionary in the
House of Representatives since 1840, but the first direct election in 1848 saw the election of a few other antirevolutionaries. Under Groen's leadership, they formed a distinct parliamentary grouping. Despite its small size, often comprising no more than three or four members, its principled approach often made it the most important opponent of the
liberals. Despite its distinct identity in parliament, however, there was much overlap between antirevolutionaries and the larger conservative movement in electoral politics. The two groups were united in their sympathy for Christian education, their concern about the direction of the
Dutch Reformed Church and their love for the royal house. Many Orthodox Reformed voters voted for conservative candidates, and antirevolutionaries were generally elected only where the conservatives refrained from fielding a candidate. This changed in the late 1860s, when the
Van Zuylen van Nijevelt cabinet sought to bring about an anti-liberal coalition consisting of conservatives, antirevolutionaries and Catholics, and offered the latter two a new school act. The liberal majority in the House of Representatives formed a united front, however, and two snap elections failed to break their majority, leading the cabinet to resign in 1868. This conflict led to a polarisation between conservatives and liberals which resounded in electoral politics. Conservatives portrayed the liberals as radical republicans, while liberals decried the conservatives for their
rapprochement with the Catholics. Many Catholic voters in Protestant-majority districts voted for conservative candidates, while Protestant voters shifted their support to liberal candidates. The disappointment of the Van Zuylen van Nijevelt cabinet and the inability of the antirevolutionaries to benefit from the resulting realignment led Groen to abandon politics. This left the antirevolutionaries without a leader until the leadership was picked up by the young Dutch Reformed theologian
Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper, with whom Groen van Prinsterer had begun to correspond in 1864, founded the antirevolutionary newspaper
De Standaard in 1872, and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1874. He is credited with the electoral success of the antirevolutionaries in the 1870s, with their parliamentary group growing from around five members in 1868 to thirteen in 1875.
Founding and growth, 1879–1888 , founder and party leader until 1920,
prime minister 1901–1905 On 3 April 1879, Abraham Kuyper founded the ARP as the first nationally organised political party in the Netherlands. An 1878 petition for
equal payment for religious schools became one of the catalysts for the foundation of the political movement. In 1877, Kuyper had already written "Our Programme" in which the political ideals of the ARP were written down. Around the ARP the separate Protestant society began to grow: in addition to
De Standaard, many Protestant schools were founded, and the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam was established as a Protestant university in 1880. Kuyper led the
1886 Dutch Reformed Church split, which resulted in the establishment of the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in 1892. While Kuyper shared Groen's anti-Catholic sentiment, the struggle for the equal funding of religious schools led him to pursue a strategic alliance with the Catholics, with whom the Anti-Revolutionaries shared this goal. This political strategy was later provided a theoretical justification in the form of
Antithesis, the notion that the divide between secular and confessional parties was the primary cleavage along which political conflict revolved, superseding the rivalry between Protestants and Catholics. The approach was favourably received by
Herman Schaepman, leader of the Catholics in the House of Representatives. The strategic alliance with the Catholics, which became known as the
Coalition, resulted in further electoral success in the 1880s. In 1879, thirteen antirevolutionaries were among the hundred members of the
House of Representatives, although not all were members of the ARP. During the period between 1879 and 1883, their numbers grew slowly, peaking at 19. After the 1884 election they had 21 members of parliament. In 1886 they won their first seat in the
Senate.
Antithesis, 1888–1917 In the
1888 election, the ARP won 31.4% of the vote and 27 seats. A
confessional cabinet was formed led by the anti-revolutionary
Aeneas Mackay Jr.; it combined anti-revolutionary and Catholic ministers, joined by two conservative independents. Because the liberals still controlled the Senate, many of the cabinet's proposals met resistance there and the cabinet fell before the end of its four-year term. In the
1891 election, the ARP lost 2% of its votes, but six of its seats. The confessional parties also lost their majority. A
liberal cabinet, led by
Van Tienhoven was formed. It proposed drastic changes to the
census, which would result practically in universal male suffrage, proposed by minister Tak. The ARP was divided on the issue: Kuyper and a majority of the parliamentary party voted in favour of the law, while
Alexander de Savornin Lohman vehemently opposed it. Kuyper had tactical reasons to support enlarged franchise – the 'kleine luyden' (middle class) who would be allowed to vote often supported the ARP. De Savorin-Lohman opposed the law because it would imply some form of
popular sovereignty instead of
divine sovereignty. In 1894, this resulted in a split between the ARP and the group around De Savorin-Lohman.
Party discipline also played a role in the conflict between Kuyper and De Savorin-Lohman: Kuyper, the party leader, favoured strong party discipline, while De Savorin Lohman opposed strong parties. The split results in the foundation of the
Free Anti Revolutionary Party in 1898, which would become the
Christian Historical Union in 1904. With De Savorin-Lohman a group of prominent party politicians left the party, including many of its aristocratic members (who like De Savorin-Lohman have
double names). The CHU continued its opposition against universal suffrage and was more
anti-papist than the ARP. In the
1894 election, the ARP lost almost half of its vote and six of its twenty-one seats. The Catholics broke their alliance with the ARP and supported a conservative cabinet. In the
1897 election, the ARP won back some ground: it was supported by 26% of the electorate and won seventeen seats. The group around De Savorin Lohman, won 11% of the vote and six seats. A liberal cabinet was formed and the ARP was confined to opposition. In
1901, the ARP won a decisive victory. It won 27.4% of the vote and 23 seats. A cabinet was formed out of the ARP, the
Catholics and the group around De Savorin-Lohman, now called the
Christian Historical Party. The cabinet was led by Kuyper, being the first person to
formally lead the cabinet for four years. It was characterised by Kuypers' authoritarian leadership. This can best be seen by the railway
strike of 1903, in which Kuyper showed no mercy to the strikers and instead pushed several particularly harsh anti-strike laws through parliament. After the Senate, where there was a liberal majority, rejected Kuypers' law on higher education, which sought to bring equal titles for alumni of the Free University, which Kuyper himself founded, Kuyper called for new elections for the Senate. With a confessional majority in the Senate, the law was pushed through. In the
1905 election, the ARP lost only 3% of the vote, but eight seats, although it was able to strengthen its position in the Senate. Kuyper, the party's leader, lost his own seat in Amsterdam to a
progressive liberal.
Theo Heemskerk led the anti-revolutionary
parliamentary party. A minority liberal cabinet was formed. Former anti-revolutionary MP Staalman left ARP and founded the Christian Democratic Party, which later became the
Christian Democratic Union, which would play a minor role in the interbellum political landscape. In 1908, Kuyper returned to the House of Representatives. After a crisis in the liberal cabinet Theo Heemskerk was given the chance to form a new cabinet. A minority confessional cabinet was formed. In the
1909 election the ARP won 3% of vote and twenty-five seats. The Heemskerk cabinet continues. In 1912, Kuyper left national politics because of health reasons, and in 1913, he was elected to the Senate. In the
1913 election, the ARP lost 6% of the votes. The party lost more than half of its seats, leaving them with 11 seats overall. Another minority liberal cabinet was formed. The leadership of the ARP lay in the hands of less prominent politicians. Although a relatively small opposition party, the ARP played an important role in Dutch politics. The liberal minority cabinet, led by
Cort van der Linden sought to resolve two important issues in Dutch politics: the conflict over the equalisation of payment for religious schools and universal suffrage. In the
constitution change of 1917 both items were resolved. The ARP was given equal payment for religious schools, but it had to accept
women's suffrage and
proportional representation.
Interwar period and World War II, 1917–1945 , party leader 1920–1940,
prime minister 1925–1926 and 1933–1939 After the
Pacification of 1917, marked by the introduction of
universal suffrage, the party never received more than twenty percent of the vote. The
1918 election provided a decisive test for the party, where the party won two additional seats. The three confessional parties won 50 seats. The confessional parties formed a new cabinet, led by the Catholic
Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck. The ARP supplied three ministers and former prime minister Theo Heemskerk became Minister of Justice. A group of concerned anti-revolutionaries, led by
Gerrit Kersten, founded the
Reformed Political Party, which opposed universal suffrage and cooperation with the Catholics. The electorate of the ARP changed in the interbellum – the difference between lower class Protestants who voted ARP and middle class Protestants who voted CHU began to disappear, with religious differences between the
Dutch Reformed Church (CHU) and the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (ARP) becoming more important. In the
1922 election, former minister of war
Hendrikus Colijn became the leader of the ARP. He emphasised
defence and
fiscal conservatism as core issues of the party. With him the ARP got sixteen seats in the House of Representatives and fifteen in the
Senate. He became
Minister of Finance in the second cabinet of Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck. He led the party in the
1925 election; the party lost three seats in this election. The ARP continued in government with
Jan Donner as minister of Justice. In the
1929 election, the ARP lost another seat. The confessional parties continued to govern. ,
prime minister 1940–1945 during
World War II leading the
Dutch government in exile In the 1930s, with the growing international political threats and
economic crisis, the ARP began to regain its popularity, under the leadership of Colijn. In
1933, the ARP gained two seats and Colijn formed a broad cabinet comprising the
Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), CHU, ARP,
Liberal State Party (LSP) and
Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB).
Jan Schouten led the party's parliamentary party. Between 1933 and 1939, Colijn led several parliamentary and
extra-parliamentary cabinets with changing composition, although the CHU, ARP, and RKSP continued to form the core of the cabinet. Colijn refused to
devalue the
guilder but was unable to resolve the economic crisis. In
1937 the ARP gained three seats and reached a historic 17 seats. Colijn continued to govern. In 1939, his fifth cabinet fell and Colijn was succeeded by
Dirk Jan de Geer.
Pieter Gerbrandy joined the cabinet without support of his parliamentary party. During
World War II, members of the ARP played a role in both the
governments-in-exile, of which many were led by
Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy and the
resistance movements. The resistance paper
Trouw was founded by ARP members. Many future ARP MPs began their political career in the Dutch resistance.
Postwar era, 1945–1980 After World War II, the ARP returned to Dutch politics. The anti-revolutionary
Jo Meynen was minister of War, albeit without support of his parliamentary party. In the
1946 election,
Jan Schouten led the party. It lost four seats. During the formation, it became clear that the ARP could not govern: it strongly opposed the decolonisation of the
Dutch Indies. It saw maintenance of the Dutch colonial empire as necessary for the continued wealth and power of the Netherlands. The
Labour Party (PvdA) and the
Catholics however favoured decolonisation, under heavy pressure from the United States. For six years the ARP was relatively isolated. In 1944, a theological conflict within the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands led to a break between the Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches (liberated). This also had political repercussions; in 1948, the
Reformed Political League was set up by members of the liberated churches. They were unable to win seats until 1963. The party remained stable in the
1948 election and remained in opposition. , party leader in 1956 and 1958–1959,
prime minister 1966–1967 After the
1952 election, the ARP returned to the cabinet, which consisted of the confessional ARP, CHU, KVP and the social democratic PvdA, led by the social democrat
Drees.
Jelle Zijlstra became minister of economic affairs. In the
1956 election in which Jelle Zijlstra became political leader the ARP kept its 10% of the vote, but due to the enlargement of the House of Representatives it got 15 seats. A conflict between the PvdA and the KVP caused the early downfall of the cabinet. The ARP remained part of the care-taker cabinet led by
Louis Beel. In the
1959 election the ARP lost another seat. It continued to be part of the cabinet, now led by
Jan de Quay. The three confessional parties were joined by the conservative liberal
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. , party leader 1963–1973 and last
Prime Minister of the ARP 1971–1973 After the
1963 election, the cabinet continued, now led by Victor Marijnen. The new anti-revolutionary leader
Barend Biesheuvel became
Minister of Agriculture. In 1965 this cabinet fell over a conflict between the liberals and the confessionals. The PvdA joins the ARP and the KVP in a new cabinet, led by
Jo Cals. This cabinet fell after one year, over conflict between the KVP and PvdA over government spending. The ARP joins the PvdA in its plea for more government spending. A caretaker government is formed by the KVP and ARP, led by former ARP-leader Jelle Zijlstra. In the
1967 election campaign, the ARP, CHU and KVP declared that they would continue to govern together. This led to considerable conflict with the KVP, which also spilled over into the ARP, as the younger generation wanted to govern with the PvdA. The ARP gained two seats, but the KVP loses eight seats. A new liberal/confessional cabinet is formed. Biesheuvel does not enter government but instead chooses to remain in parliament. In the
1971 election, the ARP lost two seats, and its confessional allies (KVP and CHU) lost seven and three seats respectively. They faced competition from the
left-wing Christian Political Party of Radicals (PPR), which was formed by former KVP members and joined by some prominent anti-revolutionaries, including
Bas de Gaay Fortman, son of
Wilhelm de Gaay Fortman, one of the party's ministers. The liberal/confessional cabinet lost its majority. A new government was formed consisting of liberals and confessionals, now joined by
Democratic Socialists '70, a group of moderate social democrats who left the "radicalising" PvdA. This cabinet was led by Barend Biesheuvel.
Willem Aantjes became the chair of the party's parliamentary party. Under his leadership the ARP fashioned itself a new left-wing "radical evangelical" image, while the CHU retains its conservative image. The cabinet did not hold together for long: DS '70 were unable to agree with proposed budget cuts, and the cabinet fell. In the subsequent
election the ARP gained one seat. After long coalition talks several prominent anti-revolutionaries, including Wilhelm de Gaay Fortman, joined the progressive cabinet led by
Joop den Uyl. The cabinet was riddled with conflicts between confessional and progressive politicians.
Dissolution , the last party leader from 1973 until 1977 Meanwhile, a process of merger had started between the KVP, ARP and CHU. In 1974 they founded a federation called the
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In the formation of a common Christian democratic identity anti-revolutionary Aantjes played a decisive role: he orients the party towards the
sermon on the Mount where Christ says that Christians should clothe the naked and feed the hungry. In the 1977 election, they campaigned together under as the CDA. Some prominent anti-revolutionaries, like Aantjes did not agree the CDA/VVD cabinet that was formed after the election and wanted to continue with the PvdA. However, they supported the cabinet politically. A group of these anti-revolutionaries left the CDA in 1981 to found the left-wing Christian
Evangelical People's Party. While the ARP was one of the dominant forces in the merged party, it was not until 2002 that a CDA member with anti-revolutionary roots became Prime Minister,
Jan Peter Balkenende. ==Ideology==