The League of Christian Socialists (in Dutch: Bond Christen-Socialisten, BCS) was a Dutch

Politics of the Netherlands

The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...

 Christian socialist

Christian socialism

Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

. The BCS is historically linked to the Dutch Labour Party and GreenLeft

GreenLeft

GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...

.

Party History

The BCS was founded in 1907. In the 1918 elections

Dutch general election, 1918

A general election of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament was held in the Netherlands on July 3, 1918. It was the first election in which universal male suffrage was applied, and the first in which a system of proportional representation was used...

, the first election with a system of proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 and male universal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

 the threshold for the House of Representatives was relatively low, at just over half of 1% of the vote. Consequently the BCS was elected with only 8000 votes (that is 0.6% of vote).

In parliament the party worked together with Socialist Party

Socialist Party (Netherlands, interbellum)

The Socialist Party was a Dutch revolutionary syndicalist libertarian socialist political party. The SP played only a minor role in Dutch political history.-Party History:...

 and the Social Democrat Party

Communist Party of the Netherlands

The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist political party. The CPN is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft.- Foundation :...

 (later Communist Party Holland) in the revolutionary parliamentary party. In 1919 the SP MP had left the parliamentary party, disaffected with the cooperation. The BCS representative however embraced the cooperation and left his own party with to join the Communist Party Holland. Some members joined him, while others joined the social-democratic SDAP, a third group continued separately and founded the Christian Democratic Union

Christian Democratic Union (Netherlands)

The Christian-Democratic Union was a minor Christian left party in the Netherlands in the interbellum.-History:...

 with the Christian Social Party

Christian Social Party (Netherlands)

The Christian Social Party was a Dutch Christian socialist political party. The CSP played only a minor role in Dutch politics and is historically linked to the Labour Party.-Party History:...

 and the Christian Democratic Party

Christian Democratic Party (Netherlands)

The Christian Democratic Party was a Dutch left-wing Christian-democratic political party. The CDP played only a minor role in parliament...

 in 1926.

Ideology & Issues

The BCS was both a Marxist

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

and a Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 party. In its manifesto of principles called "God, Thyself, Thy neighbour", the BCS took the second commandment of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

 from the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

, "Thou shall love thy neighbour like thyself", as its leading principle.

The party had a traditional socialist program, including the abolition of monarchy and the Senate, equal rights for men and women, free education, the implementation of better labour laws, a minimum wage

Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...

 and social security

Social security

Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

, disarmament

Disarmament

Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...

, legalisation of conscientious objection against military service and independence of the Dutch Indies.

Representation

This table shows the BCS'S results in elections to the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker, the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Year	HoR	S	Lijsttrekker Lijsttrekker Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...	Fractievoorzitter
1918 Dutch general election, 1918 A general election of the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament was held in the Netherlands on July 3, 1918. It was the first election in which universal male suffrage was applied, and the first in which a system of proportional representation was used...	1	0	Willy Kruyt	Willy Kruyt

Electorate

The BCS had only limited support, which it drew primarily from lower-class Protestants.

International Comparison

The BCS was a Christian socialist party comparable to the members of the International League of Religious Socialists

International League of Religious Socialists

The International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. Founded in the 1920s, it has member groups in 21 countries totalling 200,000 members...

.