The 1946 Dutch political crisis refers to a period of political unrest and instability in the Netherlands following the Catholic People's Party narrow victory in the 1946 Dutch General election in May of 1946 until the Soviet invasion of the Netherlands and establishment of the Socialist Republic of the Netherlands in November of 1946.
Political Crisis[]
Prelude[]
During the Second World War, the Netherlands would fall under occupation of Nazi Germany in 1940. German occupation of the Netherlands would devastate the infrastructure of the Netherlands, as well as result in the mass extermination of Dutch Jews and other targets of the Nazi regime. Following the liberation of the Netherlands in 1946 and the return of the Dutch government from exile, large portions of the Netherlands were in rubble. With cities such as Rotterdam being nearly levelled during the fighting. Due to the devastation and widespread poverty in the post-war Netherlands, left-wing movements such as the Labour Party and the more radical Communist Party of the Netherlands would gain widespread support going into the 1946 general election.
1946 Dutch General Election[]
General elections in the Netherlands were held on 17 May 1946. Due to widespread poverty and devastation caused by the Second World War, support for the Communist Party was at an all-time high. In the weeks leading up to the election, the Communist Party of the Netherlands would successfully organize large rallies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague. With each rally surpassing 30,000 supporters in attendance. The growth of support for the communists would cause alarm within the administration of Prime Minister Willem Schermerhorn. As a result, there were discussions within Schermerhorn's cabinet about postponing the elections until the political situation in the Netherlands stabilized. However, Schermerhorn was of the opinion that having the elections as soon as possible was necessary or else the Communist party would gain even more traction in a potential later election. As a result, the elections were held on 17 May 1946, a mere 2 months following the end of the second world war.
The results of the 1946 Dutch would be extremely close. With the Catholic People's Party only winning a plurality in the House of Representatives by a razor-thin margin, leading the Communists by only 1 seat. Carl Romme and the Catholic People's Party would declare victory the day after the election, announcing their intention to form a coalition government with the Labour Party and the Anti-Revolutionary Party. However, the Communist Party refused to concede the election. The refusal to concede largely came from concerns about the election being too close to call and accusations on the part of the Communist party that the election had been rigged against the party. There were also accusations of fraud levied against the Communists by many right-wing and liberal parties. Believing that the Communists were boosted by an influx of fake ballots sent across the border from the Soviet occupation zone.
Continued Political Instability + Soviet Invasion of the Netherlands[]
Protests by various left-wing groups would erupt following the results of the election, believing the election to be rigged. Various right-wing groups would respond with counterprotests in major cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Within days, the protests would turn violent as clashes between both sides intensified. By the second week of protests and rioting, the Dutch police in cities like Amsterdam would drastically escalate violent crackdown in an effort to restore order. The violent crackdown would result in the death of 5 Communist dissidents over the course of a week. This political instability and crackdown of communist support, as well as a lack of relief from other western powers, would result in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin deciding to invade the Netherlands in early October.
On October 14th, 1946 at around 8:00 AM; roughly 20,000 Soviet troops and 500 soviet tanks would pour across the border of the Soviet-occupation zone in Germany into the Netherlands with the goal of aiding the pro-Communist Dutch dissidents. Due to the Dutch military still being crippled from the Second World War, the Soviet military faced little to no resistance. After a few hours of fighting, the Soviets would take Amsterdam at around 1 PM. A few hours before the fall of Amsterdam, Queen Wilhelmina and Prime Minister Romme would flee to the Dutch Antilles. The following day, a Soviet occupational authority would be established which temporarily oversaw the establishment of Soviet administration in the Netherlands. After a month of occupation, the Socialist Republic of the Netherlands would be proclaimed on November 20th, 1946. Communist Party of the Netherlands leader Saul de Groot would take over as Premier.
International Impact[]
Exile of the Dutch monarchy[]
With the Communists seizing power in the Netherlands, the Dutch monarchy was once again forced into exile less than a year after returning to the country. The Dutch monarchy, alongside the rest of the Dutch government, would relocate to the Dutch West Indies. Queen Wilhelmina, fearing a continued loss of the monarchy's political power, refused to abdicate even as she got older, serving as Queen until the formal abolition of the monarchy in 1955.
American Antilles[]
The United States and London Treaty Organization would continue to recognize the Kingdom of the Netherlands as the legitimate government of the Netherlands. However, the Dutch government in exile would struggle financially, being unable to sustain itself without the assistance of American loans and foreign aid. By 1955, US involvement in the Caribbean had intensified significantly since the start of the Cuban Revolution in 1953. On the invitation of the Dutch government in exile, the United States began housing troops on the Islands of the Dutch Antilles. This invitation was prompted by the fear that the Cuban Revolution would inspire the indigenous people of the Dutch Antilles to revolt against the Dutch government in exile and form independent socialist nations.
Upon the arrival of US troops in 1955, Douglas MacArthur would sign Executive Order 10449, proclaiming his intention to annex the Dutch Antilles as a territory of the United States. In the executive order, MacArthur cited the inability of the Dutch government to sustain itself without American aid and the necessity for the US to fight communism directly in the Caribbean, something which continued ineffective Dutch governance in the Antilles would undermine. The US troops stationed in the Dutch Antilles would take over on June 14th, 1955; with Congress formally recognizing the annexation on July 1st, 1955. This recognition came through the passing of the American Antilles Act which merged the US Virgin Islands and the newly acquired Dutch Antilles into the American Antilles territory. The American takeover of the Dutch Antilles would result in the abolition of the Dutch government in-exile and the Dutch monarchy. Following the abolition of the Dutch government in exile, the Socialist Republic of the Netherlands would be allowed into the United Nations as LTO-aligned nations no longer blocked recognition of the government.
Cold War in Europe[]
The invasion of the Netherlands would spark anti-Communist fervor and paranoia through much of Western and Southern Europe. This is because the Netherlands was the first Western European nation to be successfully invaded and conquered by the Soviet Union. With the fall of the Netherlands, American, French, and British aid intensified to neighboring Belgium, Westphalia, and Luxembourg in order to prevent them to also falling to Communism. The militarization of Belgium would result in the Belgian-Dutch border becoming one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world.
The victory of De Groot and his hardline Stalinist Communist Party in the Netherlands would act as a vindication of Stalinist political thought and would give Stalin further control in Europe. Through the expansion of the Communist bloc, Soviet intelligence capacities had expanded alongside with it. With Soviet intelligence gaining expanded capabilities, the KGB would successfully assassinate Josip Broz Tito in 1950 while also successfully conducting a coup in Turkey in 1948.
The fall of the Netherlands would also lead to western European countries taking more measures to crush international communist and socialist movements. This would culminate into the launch of Operation Apollo in 1954 and the atomic bombing of Bad Radkersburg during the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1955.
See also:[]
Sources:[]
- Contributors, Wikipedia. “1946 Dutch General Election.” Wikipedia, 26 May 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Dutch_general_election#:~:text=1946%20Dutch%20general%20election%20From%20Wikipedia%2C%20the%20free. Accessed 28 June 2022.
- alanrezko. “R/Vexillology - Flag of Communist Netherlands.” Reddit, 2019, www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/bye84m/flag_of_communist_netherlands/. Accessed 28 June 2022.
- “Paul de Groot Biography | HowOld.co.” Www.howold.co, www.howold.co/person/paul-de-groot/biography. Accessed 28 June 2022.