[1] The PvdV was founded on 23 March 1946 by a group around the young liberal Korthals and the director of Heineken.

After the foundation they were joined by the rest of the top of the pre-war Liberal State Party.

The PvdV was classical liberal party with progressive leanings, committed to individual freedom and free market economics.

The PvdV mainly received support from atheists or latitudinarian Protestants from higher classes: businessmen, civil servants, wealthy farmers, and voters with free professions (such as lawyers and doctors).

The party performed particularly well in the major trading cities Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the rich municipalities around Hilversum and The Hague and in northern rural provinces, like Groningen and Drenthe.