6.3 The rise of the -isms

• History
• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 2

6.3 The rise of the -isms

The first social laws

1872 Trade unions permitted. 

Trade union = An organisation of people with similar occupations, 

which defends the rights of employees and fights for better 

working conditions.

Means: Demonstrations and strikes

Examples of social laws:

1874 Children's Act (Kinderwet van Van Houten)

1901 Industrial Injuries Act (Ongevallenwet)

1919 45-hour working week and 8-hour working day

6.3 The rise of the -isms

Name a 19th century -ism 

(a political/economical ideology):

people in this lesson

liberalism 

• Johan Rudolf Thorbecke rewrote the new constitution  
• Liberals fought for the seperation of power between the government, judges and parliament (trias politica)

liberalism

• liberty = freedom
• liberals were the people who wanted to spread the Enlightenment ideas further.
• They believe in more freedom for common people: freedom of
• -speech
• -religion
• -trade
• They were the opposites of conservatives

Confessionalism

Another political view was confessionalism. Confessionalists are Christians that think that the country should be ruled from a religious viewpoint. They believe that God has a plan for the world and this plan should be followed to rule the country. In the Netherlands, the protestant-reformed Abraham Kuyper was the most important politician between 1874 until the end of his life in 1920. He was the founder of the first political party in the Netherlands: the ARP, the Anti Revolutionaire Partij.

The main goal of the confessionalists was to get funding for their own schools, that of course were religion-orientated. The liberals were in favour of good education for children, however without a religious background. So the confessionalists struck a deal with the socialists: the confessionalists agreed to help the socialists win voting rights and in return, the confessionalists got funding for their special schools. Under the leadership of Kuyper, the ARP and the reformed church became very influential.

Election poster of the ARP in 1929. In 1973 the ARP merged with two other confessional parties into the CDA (Christen Democratisch Appel).

Feminism 

It was the year 1871 when the female student Aletta Jacobs was proud to hear that she would be the first woman to be allowed to study at university. Aletta got this special permission from minister Thorbecke himself and in 1878 she earned her diploma and became the first female doctor in the Netherlands. She dedicated her knowledge and skills to increasing the chances for women to study and to better healthcare. Aletta started to work in a poor neighbourhood in Amsterdam, held free consultations and introduced contraceptives. She is mostly known for her efforts for woman’s rights.

The main board of the "Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht" with the first female doctor in the Netherlands, Aletta Jacobs, ca 1915

Feminism II

The political ideology that belongs to this view is called feminism. Feminists believe that men and women are equal, and so they should have the same rights, such as the right to vote. It was not until 1917 that women in the Netherlands had passive vote rights, which meant that they could be elected and they could participate in the government. In England, women got the right to vote in 1918 and in the Netherlands women got this active vote right in 1919. Feminists still fight for woman’s rights all over the world, such as the right to earn equal salaries.

summarize

1. What is feminism?
2. How were feminists called in Britain?
3. When did women get active vote right in the Netherlands?

Feminists in Great Britain were called Suffragettes. These women in Britain used several means in their battle such as demonstrations, hunger strikes and even more militant actions such as making fires or chaining themselves to railroads.

Pictures: A suffragette campaigns for women's vote in 1908, left and right, police officers arrest a suffragette.

• France becomes a republic again
• In The Hague the king fears for his life
• So, in 1848, King Willem II turns from a conservative into a liberal overnight.

REACTION

REACTION

CONSERVATISTS

LIBERALS

SOCIALISTS

Back to the "old ways"

absolute monarchy

no democracy

Old ways? NO

We want FREEDOM

a constitution that gives rights and power to the people

Also: freedom of TRADE

Government: don't make rules for businesses

freedom of Trade? NO

That leads to the SOCIAL ISSUE

We want EQUALITY 

Government : make social laws and protect the workers

Time to work....

• Read par 6.3
• Summarize par 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
• Make par 6,3

Schoolstrijd

= langdurig conflict over betaling bijzonder onderwijs.

Protestanten & katholieken (voor)

Liberalen & socialisten (tegen)

Vanaf 3.00 min: feminisme en de schoolstrijd

liberalism

socialism

16. Drag the words left to the correct place.

No economic restrictions from government

Redistribute wealth

Poor people

Protection by the government

Rich people

freedom of opinion

Trias Politica, three powers:

legislative

executive

judicial

who?

who?

who?

what they do:

what they do:

what they do:

carry out the laws

parliament

judges

punish those who break the law

make the laws

government