Socialism between Jesus and Marx: life and work of F. Domela Nieuwenhuis

In comparison with other countries, the rise of Dutch socialism was slow and difficult, and it would be impossible to explain this without exploring the movement′s early history. Such an exploration immediately leads to the somewhat singular character of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (1846‐1919), who led the Dutch socialist movement in the nineteenth century. Gives a sketch of Domela Nieuwenhuis′ life and work; the political and social conditions under which Dutch socialism emerged; and the specific character of socialism in The Netherlands. Concludes by suggesting that the late industrialization and the opposing interests of confessionalism and modernism meant that the socialists were not able to organize a power structure for the workers on the basis of the conflicting interests of “capital” and “labour”. By the time the socialist power structure finally achieved significance, large parts of the total labour force had been assimilated into confessional cadres and, in this sense, socialism came too late to The Netherlands.