Republicanism in the Netherlands

[2] In discussions on forms of government, it is common to refer to certain 'models', based on how other countries are constituted: The Netherlands emerged as a state during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), declaring their independence from the Spanish Empire in 1581.

Struggles between the House of Orange, which gradually built up a dynasty with monarchical aspirations, and the Dutch States Party, a loose coalition of factions that favoured a republican, in most cases more or less oligarchical form of government, continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.

[18][19] The Netherlands became a constitutional monarchy in 1806, after French Emperor Napoleon appointed his younger brother Louis Bonaparte as vassal king over the Kingdom of Holland which replaced the Batavian Commonwealth.

The anti-French reactionary and Orangist ambiance amongst the Dutch populace, and the military forces of the conservative Sixth Coalition that occupied the Low Countries, allowed him first to establish the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands (1813–1815), a constitutional monarchy.

[21] During the Congress of Vienna, in which the European courts designed the Restoration, William lobbied successfully to unite the territories of the former Dutch Republic and Austrian Netherlands under his rule (confirmed by the Eight Articles of London).

Next, he seized the opportunity of Napoleon's return to assume the title of King William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands on 16 March 1815[22] (confirmed by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna on 9 June).

Nevertheless, the public prosecutor tried to convict Meeter to four years imprisonment for his anti-authoritarian writings in his magazine De Tolk der Vrijheid ("The Spokesman of Freedom"); he fled to Belgium in February 1841, and eventually to Paris.

[30] In 1867, William attempted to sell Luxembourg to France, to both restore the European balance of power after the unexpected Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), and alleviate his personal financial troubles.

The newly elected House of Representatives maintained its opposition and again rejected the foreign budget, and approved the motion-Blussé van Oud-Alblas, condemning the needless dissolution of Parliament that had not served the country's interests in any way.

His solitary decision, a few weeks after Queen Sophie of Württemberg's death, to raise French opera singer Émilie Ambre to 'comtesse d'Ambroise', granting her a luxurious residence in Rijswijk and expressing the intent to marry her without the cabinet's consent, led to political upheaval.

[32] Outspoken republican writers, journalists and their publishers were increasingly Socialist such as Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (together with Sicco Roorda van Eysinga thought to be behind the 1887 anonymous libel against William III, titled "From the Life of King Gorilla").

[37][38][note 1] The author of the rumour, the later parliamentarian and senator Louis Maximiliaan Hermans, was sentenced to six months imprisonment for lèse-majesté in 1895 for a different article and cartoon in De Roode Duivel, mocking the two queens.

Had the House of Orange died out, the throne would likely have passed to Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz, leading the Netherlands into an undesirable strong influence of the German Empire that would threaten Dutch independence.

[43] Not just Socialists, but now also Anti-Revolutionary politicians including Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper and Liberals such as Samuel van Houten advocated the restoration of the Republic in Parliament in case the marriage remained childless.

Hofmans divided the royal court into two camps before being forcibly removed after Juliana's husband, Prince Bernhard, leaked information on the power struggle to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

[62] Within the PvdA, the innovative "New Left" movement appeared, publishing the September 1966 manifesto Tien over Rood ("Ten About Red"), of which point 7 read: "It is desirable that the Netherlands become a republic as soon as queen Juliana's reign ends.

[70] On 20 August, the Den Uyl cabinet convened a crisis meeting, during which the Commission of Three's conclusions were unanimously confirmed, and earnest discussions ensued over which measures should be taken, and the consequences they would have for the queenship of Juliana, who would have threatened to abdicate if her husband were to be prosecuted.

However, a majority, including PvdA Ministers who were publicly critical about the monarchy, opined that the constitutional establishment could not be endangered and order should return as soon as possible, and feared to lose the vote of the still mostly royalist population during the next elections, in case prosecution were to be pursued.

[70] Because Bernhard had, according to the government, damaged the state's interests through his actions, he was honourably discharged from his most prominent military functions by Royal Decree on 9 September 1976; he was also no longer allowed to wear his uniform at official events.

"[72] In 1977, the PvdA included in its party platform a statement (Part II, Article 4) that it sought to introduce an elected head of state, thereby henceforth officially striving to abolish the monarchy.

[74] When Juliana announced her abdication on 31 January 1980, discussions on the form of government resurfaced in purple political circles, in which republican members, mainly from the youth wings, clashed with the royalist party boards.

[84][85][86] Although the overwhelming majority of initial reactions was negative, the premature revelation of the Republican Society's mere existence succeeded in breaking the taboo of questioning the monarchy by sparkling nationwide public discussion on the Dutch form of government.

Even before there was any official announcement of a marriage, Democrats 66 (D66) and especially GreenLeft and the Socialist Party (SP) responded critically, and demanded Máxima to publicly distance herself from the Argentinian regime to be allowed to marry Willem-Alexander.

[95] During the PvdA knowledge festival in Nijmegen on 19 February 2000, it was decided that a working group for democratisation would be founded, with the introduction of an elected head of state as its primary issue, which almost all present were in favour of.

[97] Early March 2000, MP Femke Halsema (GreenLeft) called for discussion on abolishing the monarchy, because according to her 'the time is ripe', and she pleaded for the establishment of a parliamentary republic after the German model.

[5] D66 leader Thom de Graaf, opining in April 2000 that there was not enough momentum for a republic, instead presented a plan for a 'modern kingship' as an alternative: the king should be 'at a distance, but have authority', comparable to the German president.

[103] On Prinsjesdag 2000, Kok made no proposals to the effect of amending the kingschap; he merely suggested that after elections, Parliament itself could host a consultative debate on who should be appointed informateur, but the eventual choice would remain a royal privilege.

Examples of these are when in 2000, Beatrix went on a winter sport holiday in Austria, that was boycotted by Europe at the time because Jörg Haider's Freedom Party was in government, or when Willem-Alexander and Máxima had a villa built in Mozambique in 2007, which they eventually abandoned under great pressure.

[124] The initiative, intended as a statement against the monarchy (200 years after the coronation of King William I),[125] obtained the necessary 40,000 signatures within 24 hours (helped by Lubach's appearance on De Wereld Draait Door on 23 March).

This would in fact bring a republican form of government closer, but only the Socialist Party (SP) and GreenLeft (GL) explicitly pose a republic with an elected head of state as their end goal.