Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
' first prominent socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. He was a Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
preacher who, after he lost his faith, started a political fight for workers. He was the first socialist in the Dutch parliament.
Nieuwenhuis was born in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. His family added the second surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
"Domela" in 1859. After his theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
studies he became an Evangelical-Lutheran preacher and served in various Dutch towns. During this time he gradually lost his faith and came into contact with the social issues of the time. He stopped preaching in 1879, becoming active in various socialist activities.
In 1881 Nieuwenhuis became the frontman of the Sociaal-Democratische Bond (SDB), a socialist movement which was constructed from various local movements. It fought for universal suffrage and supported socialist workers' initiatives such as strikes. Under Nieuwenhuis' leadership and propaganda the movement became bigger and bigger. As the movement grew, it began to come under attack. In 1887 Nieuwenhuis was sentenced to one year in prison for insulting royalty in an article, although it is not certain whether or not he actually wrote the article.
At the conferences of the Second International (IAA) in 1891 and 1893, anarchists, including Nieuwenhuis, presented resolutions that envisioned a call for general conscientious objection and for a general strike in the event of a declaration of war. The majority of the IAA, however, believed that all wars would disappear if capitalism could be removed. (lit: peace news)
In 1888 he was elected to the House of Representatives, one of the two chambers that make up the Dutch parliament
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
. He was the first and at the time the only socialist elected into parliament. He stayed there until 1891, when he decided not to run again. The SDB could not come to agreement over this, and Nieuwenhuis himself was disappointed with parliamentary methods.
From this time onwards Nieuwenhuis moved more and more toward anarchist beliefs. The SDB followed him there but not free of trouble. Many did not agree with this shift, most importantly Pieter Jelles Troelstra
Pieter Jelles Troelstra
Pieter Jelles Troelstra was a Dutch 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 end of World War I...
, who left the party together with some other prominent members and started the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij (SDAP) in 1894, a more reformist party. In the same year, the SDB was declared illegal. Nevertheless, Nieuwenhuis remained hostile to Troelstra and his SDAP.
Nieuwenhuis kept publishing and fighting for the social-anarchistic cause. He visited various congresses, started and joined new movements and did not shy away from action. He died on 18 November 1919.
External links
Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis in Biografisch Woordenboek van het Socialisme en de Arbeidersbeweging in Nederland (BWSA)- Wolfram Beyer: The flaw in the peoples‘ army, in: Peace NewsPeace NewsPeace News is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union , and from 1990 to 2004 was co-published with War Resisters' International.-History:Peace News was...
No 2447, London June-August 2002 (Kontroverse Karl Liebknecht / Domela Nieuwenhuis), online