Troelstra’s Mistake: November 1918

In November 1918, in the same week that the guns fell silent on the Western Front, the Netherlands found itself agitated by revolutionary sentiments. Germany had kicked out Emperor Wilhelm II and the Social Democratic Party of Germany had taken power. The Dutch Social Democratic Labour Party (SDAP) responded to these sentiments, which had their domestic origins but were amplified by the events across the border, by demanding far-reaching reforms. Supporters took to the streets, and the Dutch people feared – or hoped for – revolution.

During the Great War, the Netherlands had mobilised its army in line with its policy of armed neutrality. It had traded with the Entente but also with Germany, and this was not without controversy as both sides of the Great War accused the Netherlands of playing favourites and secretly helping the other side. In reality, the Dutch people helped both sides: many Belgian civilians were offered refuge, but they had done little to oppose the German efforts to fortify the border with murderous electric fences and cruel shootings at Belgians trying to cross over to the Netherlands. Some military leaders feared that it was inevitable that either side would at some point violate Dutch neutrality, and those who argued this then came to the conclusion that if it was inevitable, it would be better to side with Germany given how easy it would be for Germany to invade the Netherlands. This led to a somewhat more permissive attitude towards the Germans as well.

Due to the abovementioned reasons, Belgium felt that the Netherlands owed them something, and they demanded the Dutch regions of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Limburg, which would end restrictions on the port of Antwerp and award Belgium with the mining-rich Limburg. In exchange, the Netherlands would be awarded German Frisia, but the Dutch saw this as a terrible deal: strategic regions inhabited by vocal, eager citizens would be exchanged for indefensible farmland inhabited exclusively by foreigners. Belgium pressed its demands, and the Dutch feared that they were considering an invasion. This did not come to pass, but the Netherlands maintained its mobilised forces until after the Belgian threats subsided.

The soldiers were not happy to remain mobilised. There were other issues too, such as a food shortage and the arrival of the Spanish Flu, but the direct cause of the agitation in November 1918 was a mutiny at the end of October. Among the demands of the SDAP was demobilisation, and when Germany had its revolution, the Dutch Social Democrats attempted the same.

The attempted revolution was met with weakness from the political establishment. The elite Liberal parties were the most defeatist, thinking a revolution unstoppable, but the large confessional parties (i.e. the Christian conservatives, both Catholic and Protestant) too responded weakly, making calls for law and order but not actively encouraging their followers to oppose the revolution. Instead, this movement came from non-partisan efforts, who organised themselves as contrarevolutionary guards. Without much violence, the revolution fizzled into nothing, and the reputations of both SDAP-leader Piter Jelles Troelsta as well as Minister-President Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck suffered in the public eye. To the left, Troelstra had simply failed completely and lost all credibility, and on the right Ruijs de Beerenbrouck had failed to oppose him, as the Netherlands had needed to rely on popular conservative elements to stop the socialists.

The Dutch Revolution of 1919

The attempt had failed, and the government did not demobilise the soldiers. Volunteers were drawn from them to bolster the contrarevolutionary guards, but the rest were maintained to deter a Belgian invasion. In doing so, the government had empowered the remaining socialist sentiments in the army by taking away most of the soldiers motivated to fight for their nation and their queen, and this would turn out to be a huge mistake in January, when the German communists rose up.

Inspired by the German communists and emboldened by the failure of the moderate socialists, the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) spoke in support of the German Spartacists as soon as their revolution began and when they had assumed control of their country, the CPN responded by calling all mobilised Dutch soldiers to throw of their shackles and join the revolution. The soldiers who mutinied in October in Harskamp in Gelderland were the first to respond again. Soldiers based in barracks all around Arnhem and Nijmegen marched into these cities in full force and proclaimed local Soldiers’ and Workers’ Councils. Similar proclamations followed in Venlo, ‘s Hertogenbosch and eventually, Rotterdam, when harbour workers began a general strike. The SDAP split into two as the party leadership and even Troelstra himself opposed this revolution, but many of their followers answered the CPN’s call to arms. Cities in the heart of the Netherlands, such as Utrecht, Amersfoort, Breda and Tilburg would continue to join the communists as local workers and soldiers would either bypass or depose the local government and establish their own councils. In Den Helder, elements of the navy revolted and established councils among the navy.

Minister-President Ruijs de Beerenbrouck issued police and marechaussee to stop the revolution before asking the army, but the army had already been so demolished by the formation of contrarevolutionary guards and red guards that the remaining units simply defected. Police forces armed with long rifles engaged the red guards in street fights, and so managed to stop and arrest the communists in Maastricht, Middelburg and most importantly, Amsterdam. The Hague became the heart of the contrarevolutionary movement, centred around the national government, and more importantly, Queen Wilhelmina.

When it became evident that there was no army to stop the communists, “Red January” ended with a “final rally towards the revolution” and a march on the Hague. It was only a short distance from Red Rotterdam to the Hague, so they expected victory would come easy. It was at this point that Queen Wilhelmina, long confined to a constitution and customs that expected – but did not mandate – a monarch to stay out of politics, to issue a direct proclamation: “In God’s name, defend your fatherland, defend your queen!” it read, calling all Dutch citizens to oppose the revolution. It should be noted that the communists enjoyed less than 3% of the popular vote, and all Socialist parties together still no more than 30%. Most Dutch people were conservative and deeply religious. Such a proclamation drew a massive, popular response: the communists never made it to the Hague.

It was not the contrarevolutionary guards that stopped them there in the first week of February, but it was the citizenry carrying Dutch and orange flags who clogged the streets and held demonstrations in the Hague, Leiden, Delft and Haarlem. The communists could not march through those streets without violence, and the situation had not radicalised to such an extent that the red guards were willing to massacre civilians. The failed march was not the end of the revolution, but it was the end of its victorious period.

Throughout February, bolstered by German support, the revolution continued in the rest of the Netherlands. In what can not rightfully be called a Civil War due to the low number of casualties and lack of civilian involvement, the 1919 Dutch Revolution devolved into street fights between the contrarevolutionary and red guards. Queen Wilhelmina was in direct communication with the leaders of the contrarevolutionary guards, and in practice the actual government had no means of ordering them about. Utrecht and Rotterdam fell first to the contrarevolutionary movement, but the fighting continued deep into March until finally, the last red guards laid down their arms in Nijmegen and the socialist seamen surrendered their ships in Den Helder.

The Reaction: Mild Terror

The communists had failed, and in April the German communists were kicked out as a Military Dictator, Wilhelm Groener, took power. Their reaction to the communist takeover was violent, and many leaders were shot and forced underground. Dutch politicians and Queen Wilhelmina appealed to the contrarevolutionary guards to be civilised. The Netherlands had abolished capital punishment in 1870, and this discussion had long been settled. After the revolution, 1,352 people had died in the fighting, and that was considered to be enough.

The army was demobilised, and the CPN was outlawed, as were several other socialist and communist organisations. The SDAP was not outlawed, but many of its prominent figures were arrested due to their involvement in the revolution. Nobody was shot and the most severe sentences were given to David Wijnkoop and Louis de Visser, leaders of the CPN: they were given 32 years. The government wanted to appease the left, not destroy it, because they were still afraid of the power it had. The Dutch populace was divided on this response: many thought it typical of how the Dutch were more moderate and proper than their neighbours, but a majority saw it as nothing more than yet another act of weakness by the established confessional political parties. The government’s response did not survive a motion of no confidence in parliament, and the Queen accepted the government’s resignation. New elections were held in June.

One of the most interesting sides of the 1919 Dutch General Elections is the fact that they were the first elections with universal suffrage. Universal male suffrage had been introduced in 1917 and first practised in 1918, and while the constitution had opened the posibility for women to vote, this had to be made into law first. While the fires of revolution had taken hold of large parts of the country, the parliament in the Hague, which still convened, was made aware of the fact that the soldiers’ and workers’ councils that the communists afforded women the right to vote. They decided to take ammunition out of the hands of the communists by passing women’s suffrage themselves. Later, it would turn out that the women voted more conservatively than men in these first elections after their right to vote had been introduced.

Elections for the Tweede Kamer (lower house of parliament), June 7th 1919

(RK: catholic conservative party / CHU: Christian-Historic Union, protestant conservative with liberal and aristocratic background and mild anti-catholic sentiment / ARP: Anti-Revolutionary Party, protestant conservative / SDAP: Social Democratic Labour Party / Vrijheidsbond: Freedom League, classic liberal / SGP: Reformed Political Party, anti-catholic protestant religious fundamentalism / VDB: Free-thinking Democratic League, left-liberalism / Plattelandersbond: Country League, farmer’s issues / CPN: Communist Party of the Netherlands, communism, outlawed)

The CHU was the big winner of the elections, together with the SGP. Many liberal and moderate swing voters turned to the CHU, which featured many prominent members of the contrarevolutionary guards among its candidates. The ARP, which had expected to win big, instead lost almost a quarter of its votes to the newly formed SGP, who were more inclined to support the monarchy and oppose communism. A coalition of confessional parties alone was easily assembled, with the SGP, the SDAP and liberal parties in the opposition. However, something not directly visible from these results was the victory of the Orange League. This was an organisation of the popular leaders of the contrarevolutionary movement. They supported monarchist ideals and rejected partisan politics, but due to their popularity, they were invited to run for several parties. After the election, 5 CHU, 3 ARP, 2 RK and 2 Vrijheidsbond-members were publicly associated with the Orange League.

For the position of Minister-President, Queen Wilhelmina would have preferred to appoint Hendrikus Colijn, an ARP politician who was under contract with the Indonesian subsidiary of Shell, BPM, and thus unavailable. Instead, Wilhelmina ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, who had proven one of the stronger members of Ruijs de Beerenbrouck’s government, to form a new government filled with allies of Colijn. For instance, Bonifacius Cornelis de Jonge was reinstated as Minister of War.

Another German Parallel: the End of 1919

Over the course of the summer of 1919, a degree of serenity returned to the Netherlands. However, much had changed since last year. Socialism and communism were now feared, but the SDAP had taken a more moderate position, the communists had been outlawed, and the government had made some allowances towards social programs. The people had lost a lot of faith in their government and the ability of the politicians to keep the country safe, but instead regained that faith twofold over in their Queen Wilhelmina, who had proven to be a unifying figure, whose strong interventions in the van Karnebeek government were excused and understood as necessary. Those who decried it were liberals and socialists: people who had done nothing to stop and even supported a revolution. Perhaps this was wishful thinking on part of the monarchists, and who knew what way the pendulum would swing, but the monarch was more active than she had been since 1848.

It had also become apparent that a conscript army could not be relied upon. For national defense, prolonged mobilisation was not sustainable, and several military thinkers began floating ideas of establishing a smaller, more professional army as a cheaper solution. The Great War had shown the Netherlands that was as it stood was the result of raw industrial power, but whether it was the industrial or numerical superiority of the French and British that beat the Germans, or the appliance of new technologies, such as aircraft and tanks, remained to be seen. Should Germany consider war with the Netherlands, it was more important to deter such attacks by making them costly in terms of time, manpower and effort. A modern defense system was needed for that, but not necessarily an enormous army, and for the conflicts that the Netherlands could otherwise find itself engaged in, such as a hypothetical conflict in Belgium or colonial conflicts, different sorts of militaries would perform better. There was a lot to be discussed.

The year ended with a right-wing, military-minded government. And when on Christmas Day, Germany crowned an emperor, the son and grandson of Wilhelm II and his son, in exile in the Netherlands, some people could not help but note that just as the Netherlands had faced a milder version of Germany's revolution, the Netherlands had also concluded the year with a milder version of Germany's restoration of the monarchy, given the amount of power and support Queen Wilhelmina now enjoyed.