Pacifist Socialist Party
The Pacifist Socialist Party (Dutch: Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, PSP) was a democratic socialist Dutch political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is one of the predecessors of GroenLinks.
Pacifist Socialist Party Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij
PSP
Nico van der Veen (1957–1960)
Henk Lankhorst (1960–1969)
Hans Wiebenga (1969–1972)
Bram van der Lek (1972–1978)
Fred van der Spek (1978–1985)
Andrée van Es (1985–1991)
27 January 1957
1 July 1991
Bloemgracht 55, Amsterdam (1960–1968)
Kerkstraat 445 (1968–1979)
Nieuwe Looierstraat 45 (1979–1991)
Grael
Party history[edit]
Before 1957[edit]
In 1955, a group of "politically homeless" activists had formed. The group mainly consisted of former members of the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN). They had left the PvdA over the military intervention against the Indonesian independence movement and the Labour party's support for NATO. Many of them had a background in the orthodox Marxist wing of the Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had merged into the PvdA. The former members of the CPN had left their party over the Stalinist course of the CPN. There was also a group of these politically homeless that had never been members of parties, while others had been member of pre-war parties such as the Independent Socialist Party.
These politically homeless individuals were a diverse group: progressive Christians, orthodox Marxists, Trotskyists, liberal pacifists and some anarchists. Many of them were active in the developing peace movement.
The party was sceptic of both the Eastern bloc and Western bloc. They were oriented at a third camp between Stalinist communism and western capitalism.
In 1956, the group asked the PvdA to put two candidates of these politically homeless on their list for the next elections, one on a 'safe' electable position on their candidate list and one that would need to be elected by preference votes. These candidates would have an independent position in parliament. The PvdA, although originally sympathetic to the idea rejected this. Thus the group felt forced to found its own party and it founded the Action group for the formation of a Party on Anti-militarist and Socialist principles in November 1956. It would chart the possibilities of a new political party.
Electorate[edit]
The party's electorate was very heterogeneous, although most voters could be seen as intellectuals, students, scientists, artists, while most socialist parties are oriented at workers. The party was a refuge for people who no longer felt at home in the social-democratic PvdA and the Communist Party of the Netherlands. It was supported by progressive Christians, especially Mennonites. Most of its voters lived in Amsterdam or Rotterdam.
The electorate of the PSP fluctuated; the changing appeal of the PvdA and the CPN played a role, as did the events of the Cold War. The rise of youth movements, like Provo, and the Vietnam war boosted the electorate of the party in the 1960s. Internal conflicts in the PSP and radical course of the social-democratic PvdA cost the PSP votes in the 1970s. The mass demonstrations against the placement of nuclear weapons boosted the party's support in the early 1980s.
Organisation[edit]
Organisational structure[edit]
The highest organ of the PSP was the congress, formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convened once every year. It appointed the party board and decided the order of the Senate, House of Representatives and European Parliament candidate lists and had the final say over the party program. For the months that the congress did not convene, a party council took over its role. It consisted out of representatives of all the municipal branches.
The party board consisted of 10 members: a party chair, general secretary, treasurer, political secretary, parliamentary secretary, international secretary, youth secretary, education secretary, the secretary for propaganda and a chair for the committee for radio and television.
Linked organisations[edit]
The PSP published its own magazine which was called Liberation (Dutch: Bevrijding) between 1957 and 1966 and 1978 and 1991 and Radical: Weekly for Socialism and Peace (Dutch: Radikaal: Weekbad voor Socialisme en Vrede) between 1967 and 1977. It was printed at the PSPs own printing company also called Liberation.
The PSPs youth was organised in the Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups (Dutch: Pacifistisch Socialistische Jongeren Groepen, PSJG) between 1977 and 1991. Between 1985 and 1991 the PSJG became more independent as it saw itself as the youth organisation of both the PSP and the PSvO which had split from the party. It published Keihard Tegengeweld (the title is a pun as it means both strongly against violence as strong counter-violence) and Disaster (Dutch: RamPSPoed, which spells PSP). In 1991 the PSJG merged into DWARS GreenLeft youth, which continued publishing Disaster until 1995.
In the 1980s the scientific institute of the PSP cooperated strongly with the scientific institutes of the PPR and CPN. They published De Helling together since 1985. The Rode Draad was published since 1985 it was a magazine for municipal and provincial councillors the PSP, PPR and CPN.
Relationships to other parties[edit]
For a long time the party refused to cooperate with other parties and preferred a position of testimonial party, which resembles the position of the Dutch orthodox Protestant parties, like the Political Reformed Party. The PSP's members of parliament, although isolated because of their radical position, were often respected across all parties for their principled position, commitment, rhetoric abilities and demeanour.
Between 1956 and 1981 it was at "cold war" with the Communist Party of the Netherlands as many former communists had joined the PSP's ranks. The PSP was highly critical of the CPN's Stalinist course. After 1981 the CPN, which had destalinized and PSP, began to cooperate more closely. The Christian left Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party were also dismissed by the PSP as too supportive of the PvdA and too moderate on important issues. After 1981 the PPR broke its links with the PvdA and became more oriented toward PSP and CPN. In the 1980s the four parties began to cooperate in municipal and European elections, because fewer seats can be won there. In 1989 this intensive cooperation led to the formation of a new party, the GreenLeft.
The party was originally sympathetic to the Labour Party PvdA. Before the party was founded, the group of politically homeless activists had asked to have an independent candidate on their lists. During the 1960s the relation deteriorated, as the PSP rejected the PvdA's moderate course and the PvdA the PSP's radical course. In 1971 the PvdA, which had become more leftwing under pressure of a new generation of party members, opened the door to the PSP. It wanted the PSP to cooperate in the Progressive Accords together with left-liberal Democrats 66 and the PPR. The PSP rejected as it felt these accords would be neither socialist nor pacifist. This decision let to considerable upheaval within the party. In the 1980s as the PvdA became more centrist, the PSP rejected the PvdA even more.