Pieter Jelles Troelstra
Encyclopedia
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, 12 May 1930) was a Dutch
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...
politician
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
active in the socialist workers' movement. He is most remembered for his fight for universal suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and his failed call for revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Troelstra was married from 1888 until 1904 to Sjoukje Bokma de Boer, who was a well-known children's book writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Nynke van Hichtum.
Early career
Troelstra was born in Leeuwarden on April 20, 1860 as the son of a liberal tax inspector. He was an ethnic Frisian, and his name is styled in the traditional Frisian way: first name ("Pieter", because of his Frisian writings often also written as "Piter", as it is spelled in FrisianWest Frisian language
West Frisian is a language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. West Frisian is the name by which this language is usually known outside the Netherlands, to distinguish it from the closely related Frisian languages of Saterland Frisian and North Frisian,...
), patronymic ("Jelles", meaning "son of Jelle"), family name (Troelstra).
He went to read law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
. When he was finished he settled in Leeuwarden as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He got into contact with politics and the workers' movement through a Frisian
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
movement, later to be known as the Friese Volkspartij (Frisian People's Party). He had originally joined this movement because of his poetry and interest in the West Frisian language
West Frisian language
West Frisian is a language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. West Frisian is the name by which this language is usually known outside the Netherlands, to distinguish it from the closely related Frisian languages of Saterland Frisian and North Frisian,...
. Through the movement and his work as a lawyer, he got into the social-democratic part of this wide movement.
Involvement with the SDB
In 1890, Troelstra joined the Sociaal-Democratische Bond (Social-Democratic League, SDB), an early Dutch socialist movement under the leadership of Ferdinand Domela NieuwenhuisFerdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis was the Netherlands' first prominent socialist. He was a Lutheran 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. His family added the second...
. In time, he got into conflict with the anarchist tendencies of the movement. When in 1893 the SDB took a decisive anti-parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
ary stance, Troelstra no longer believed it could do any useful socialist work.
Founding of the SDAP
After trying to get some members of the SDB to join him, he was one of the twelve men who started the Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiders Partij (Social-Democratic Workers' Party, SDAP) in 1894. Unlike the old SDB, the SDAP was more like its German counterpartSocial Democratic Workers' Party
Social Democratic Workers' Party may refer to one of the following parties:*Social Democratic Workers' Party *Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria*Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany*Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party...
, then still also named the SDAP, which was taking a more reformist course, trying to get social law implemented, while still keeping the ideal of revolution up.
Troelstra was inclusive in his outlook. As leader of the Parliamentary faction of the SDAP, he did not insist upon a tight party line. This permitted a period of harmony within the SDAP between 1894 and 1900.
Both within and outside parliament, the SDAP proved to be a powerful force, despite their relatively small representation in the House of Representatives. However, the socialist felt a moral advantage because parliament could hardly be said to be an accurate representation of the people and they used their possibilities to the full, among other things by filibustering (each representative had an unlimited speaking time). When, in 1911 a majority of parliament even refused to vote on an SDAP motion, the anger of the party was expressed by one of its most fiery speakers, J.H. Schaper:
In that case, the inkwells will fly through the room. [...] I cannot be held accountable for anything. I assure you, we will start throwing chairs.This antagonism between the SDAP and more conservative forces would cause bitterness for a long time afterwards, and also explains much of Troelstra's actions.
The 1913 elections and universal suffrage
Troelstra's biggest political issue was universal suffrage in the NetherlandsNetherlands
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...
. This struggle reached its climax in 1910-1913. After electoral success in the 1913 general election, the SDAP under Troelstra's leadership was offered a place in the a coalition government. This proposed coalition had plans for universal suffrage but a party congress renounced such a close co-operation with its traditional enemy. Some MPs such as the SDAP's co-founders Vliegen and Schaper, were very distraught over what they saw as a tactical disaster. Vliegen wrote in 1934:
I have never been able to prefer a government without social democrats over one with them, as evident as it may be that one cannot entertain all company. I still think that the refusal to accept government responsibility in 1913 is one of the most significant errors the SDAP ever made
There is evidence to suggest that Troelstra himself was rather relieved; he had only reluctantly supported the request for government participation. Universal suffrage eventually did come to be in the Netherlands in 1917, under the leadership of the liberal minority cabinet of Cort van der Linden
Pieter Cort van der Linden
Pieter Wilhelm Adriaan Cort van der Linden was a Dutch politician. He served as prime minister of the Netherlands between 1913 and 1918....
.
Proclamation of the socialist revolution
Inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
and the German Revolution
German Revolution
The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic...
of 1918, Troelstra made one of the moves that would guarantee him a place in parliamentary history: the proclamation of the socialist revolution in November 1918. There was already talk of possible revolutions in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The poverty that resulted from the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
epidemic of 1918 had struck the lower class hard (also in the Netherlands). And now there was unrest in the Netherlands as well. In military camp Harskamp soldiers had started a revolt, which spread to a dozen other camps. This had nothing to do with politics, but the Russian revolution the previous year had also started like this. And there was such unrest among the workers in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
that a strike was likely. On 5 November, Troelstra warned parliament for what might come. Right wing politicians also started thinking a revolution was unavoidable. On 9 November, the German emperor Wilhelm II abdicated (and fled to the neutral Netherlands), a sign of the crumbling hierarchy, upon which a revolution in Germany seemed imminent. The mayor of Rotterdam saw what might come and called a meeting with socialists to ensure that, in case of a revolution, essential facilities like gas and water plants were left alone. The government had a similar meeting. On 10 November, members of the SDAP who were at first sceptical now believed that a revolution was indeed possible and the Red Week effectively began.
The navy in Den Helder
Den Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
decided to disarm the sailors because there was too much unrest among them. The also socialist party RSC organised a meeting with mainly soldiers, who next marched on a military barracks to seek support, but were shot at, resulting in 3 dead and 18 wounded.
On the argument that the revolution would not stop at the border, Troelstra suggested that power be transferred to the SDAP. A program of changes was drawn, including women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, an 8-hour working day, abolition of the Senate, nationalisation of appropriate companies and a state pension at the age of 60. But the party thought the time was not ripe and did not allow him to go any further—which he ignored.
On 11 November, Troelstra proclaimed the revolution, during a debate about the general Snijder's suppression of the Harskamp revolt. A government committee had advised the dismissal of Snijders because he "had proved unable to grasp the spirit of the new age". Snijder's departure was being stalled, however, according to rumours due to the personal involvement of the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
. At a certain point, Troelstra took the stage, and in the words of the later Dutch prime minister Drees
Willem Drees
Willem Drees was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 7, 1948 until December 22, 1958....
:
- "[Troelstra's socialist colleague] Vliegen had warned him, the party representatives were concerned about what they'd read in the morning newspapers. Troelstra started out moderately, but after he while he erupted again, spoke about 'taking over power' and 'revolution', and that the time had come for it."
But the government had already started a counter-campaign (including posters and the spreading of 500,000 pamphlets) telling people that the revolutionaries formed a small minority. This caused the 'Orange-movement' (oranjebeweging), named after the colour of the Royal House because it played on national and loyalist sentiments. Many people that were not monarchists (like Roman Catholics and moderate socialists) joined the Orange-movement because they felt a socialist revolution went too far. Trustworthy sections of the army were mobilised and sent to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and The Hague and vigilante patrols were installed. On 12 November, Troelstra held a long speech in parliament. But the moment had gone. The revolution did not take place.
This has come to be known as Troelstra's Mistake (Troelstra's Vergissing). It has been said that the Dutch did not really want a revolution. But others claim the potential leaders just were not prepared and did not seize the moment. The SDAP was divided and when they united they did so too late. The most active players in all this were the 'counter-revolutionaries' (the authorities). A symbolic act would have been needed, like occupying the city hall in Rotterdam, the centre of unrest and an SDAP stronghold.
After the 'Revolution'
After all this Troelstra was broken and stayed at home, but at a party conference two weeks later he was received with a standing ovation. Although he could defend the position that the party had never had actual plans for a coup, his reputation had taken irreparable damage, both within and outside the party (if not among party grass roots).The SDAP would not be re-invited to form a government until the national cabinet of 1939. But the establishment and the political right wing had gotten a fright. The next cabinet, under Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus Colijn
Hendrikus Colijn was a successful Dutch soldier, businessman and politician.-Early life:He was born in 1869 in the Haarlemmermeer to Antonie Colijn and Anna Verkuil, who had migrated to the Haarlemmermeer polder from the Land of Heusden and Altena for religious reasons...
, although right-wing, started social reforms to take away discontent which might give the socialists further support. Despite this (or maybe to some partly because of this), Troelstra was and still is seen as an inspirational figure for many in the Dutch workers' movement.
He withdrew from politics in 1925 and devoted much time, despite ever declining health, to dictating his memoirs to his secretary, the later 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...
alderman Herman Wiardi Beckman. These memoirs (Gedenkschriften), which appeared in four volumes ('Genesis', 'Growth', 'Surf' and 'Storm') after 1925, almost became part of the furniture in the house of many Dutch workers, further testimony to Troelstra's reputation among his followers.
Peter Jelles Troelstra died on May 12, 1930 in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. To this day the The Hague section of the PvdA, the successor of the SDAP, celebrates labour day
Labour Day
Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for...
at a monument to Troelstra.