Drees–Van Schaik cabinet

The Drees–Van Schaik cabinet, also called the First Drees cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 7 August 1948 until 15 March 1951. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP) and Christian Historical Union (CHU), the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) and the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) after the election of 1948. The cabinet was a centre-left grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives with Labour Leader Willem Drees serving as Prime Minister. Prominent Catholic politician Josef van Schaik a former Minister of Justice served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without portfolio for the Interior.

Drees–Van Schaik cabinet First Drees cabinet
Cabinet of the Netherlands
The members of the Drees–Van Schaik cabinet in the House of Representatives on 10 December 1948
Date formed	7 August 1948 (1948-08-07)
Date dissolved	15 March 1951 (1951-03-15) 2 years, 220 days in office (Demissionary from 24 January 1951 (1951-01-24))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Wilhelmina (1948) Queen Juliana (1948–1951)
Head of government	Willem Drees
Deputy head of government	Josef van Schaik
No. of ministers	15
Ministers removed	3
Total no. of members	18
Member party	Catholic People's Party (KVP) Labour Party (PvdA) Christian Historical Union (CHU) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)
Status in legislature	Centre-left Majority government (Grand coalition/Roman-Red)
History
Election	1948 election
Legislature terms	1948–1952
Incoming formation	1948 formation
Outgoing formation	1951 formation
Predecessor	First Beel cabinet
Successor	First Drees cabinet

The cabinet served during final years of the post-war 1940s and the first years of the turbulent 1950s. Domestically the beginning of the recovery and rebuilding following World War II started with the Marshall Plan, it was also to implement several major social reforms to social security, welfare, child benefits and education. Internationally the beginning of the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies started following the Indonesian National Revolution and the forming of the Netherlands New Guinea following the West New Guinea dispute. The cabinet suffered several major internal and external conflicts including multiple cabinet resignations, the cabinet fell 29 months into its term on 24 January 1951 following a disagreement in the coalition over the handling of the New Guinea policy and the cabinet continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced with the First Drees cabinet on 15 March 1951.

Term

This coalition had a 76% representation in the second chamber of parliament. It had to have a broad basis for the change in constitution that was required to make the Dutch East Indies independent, resulting in the new country Indonesia (in December 1949). In 1948 a second politionele actie (litt: politional action, but actually a military intervention) was embarked upon, but ended under international pressure. The rejection of a VVD-motion over New Guinea in 1951 led to the fall of the cabinet. However, no elections were held and a new cabinet was formed with the same parties, Drees I.

In 1949, the Netherlands entered the NATO. In the same year several alterations of the German border took place.

Prime Minister of Belgium Paul-Henri Spaak and Prime Minister Willem Drees at a Benelux conference in The Hague on 10 March 1949.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Willem Drees at the Ministry of Defence on 11 January 1951.

Cabinet Members

Ministers			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Willem Drees (1886–1988)	Prime Minister	General Affairs		7 August 1948 – 22 December 1958 [Continued]	Labour Party
		Josef van Schaik (1882–1962)	Deputy Prime Minister	Interior	• Civil Reform • Decolonization Policy	7 August 1948 – 15 March 1951	Catholic People's Party
			Minister
		Johan van Maarseveen (1894–1951)	Minister	Interior		7 August 1948 – 15 June 1949 [App]	Catholic People's Party
		Josef van Schaik (1882–1962)				15 June 1949 – 20 September 1949 [Acting]	Catholic People's Party
		Frans Teulings (1891–1966)				20 September 1949 – 15 March 1951	Catholic People's Party
		Dirk Stikker (1897–1979)	Minister	Foreign Affairs		7 August 1948 – 2 September 1952 [Continued]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Dr. Piet Lieftinck (1902–1989)	Minister	Finance		25 June 1945 – 1 July 1952 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		René Wijers (1891–1973)	Minister	Justice		7 August 1948 – 15 May 1950 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Johan van Maarseveen (1894–1951)				15 May 1950 – 10 July 1950 [Ad Interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Teun Struycken (1906–1977)				10 July 1950 – 15 March 1951	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Jan van den Brink (1915–2006)	Minister	Economic Affairs		20 January 1948 – 2 September 1952 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Captain Wim Schokking (1900–1960)	Minister	War and Navy		7 August 1948 – 16 October 1950 [Res]	Christian Historical Union
		Hans s'Jacob (1906–1967)				16 October 1950 – 15 March 1951	Independent Christian Democratic Protestant
		Dr. Dolf Joekes (1885–1962)	Minister	Social Affairs		7 August 1948 – 15 September 1951 [Continued]	Labour Party
		Dr. Theo Rutten (1899–1980)	Minister	Education, Arts and Sciences		7 August 1948 – 2 September 1952 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Josef van Schaik (1882–1962)	Minister	Transport and Water Management		7 August 1948 – 1 November 1948 [Acting]	Catholic People's Party
		Derk Spitzen (1896–1957)				1 November 1948 – 15 March 1951	Independent Christian Democratic Protestant
		Sicco Mansholt (1908–1995)	Minister	Food Supplies, Agriculture and Fisheries		25 June 1945 – 1 January 1958 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Dr. Joris in 't Veld (1895–1981)	Minister	Reconstruction and Housing		1 March 1948 – 2 September 1952 [Retained] [Continued]	Labour Party
		Maan Sassen (1911–1995)	Minister	Colonial Affairs		7 August 1948 – 14 February 1949 [Res]	Catholic People's Party
		Johan van Maarseveen (1894–1951)				14 February 1949 – 15 March 1951	Catholic People's Party
Minister without portfolio			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Lubbertus Götzen (1894–1979)	Minister	Colonial Affairs	• Colonial Fiscal Policy	11 November 1947 – 15 March 1951 [Retained]	Independent Christian Democratic Protestant
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Nico Blom (1899–1972)	State Secretary	Foreign Affairs	• Dutch East Indies	16 February 1950 – 2 September 1952 [Continued]	Independent Conservative Liberal
		Dr. Wim van der Grinten (1913–1994)	State Secretary	Economic Affairs	• Public Organisations • Small and Medium-sized Businesses	29 January 1949 – 15 March 1951	Catholic People's Party
		Wim Fockema Andreae (1909–1996)	State Secretary	War and Navy	• Army • Air Force	1 May 1949 – 27 November 1950 [Res]	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
		Vice admiral Harry Moorman (1899–1971)				27 November 1950 – 1 June 1951 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
					• Navy	1 May 1949 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]
		Dr. Piet Muntendam (1901–1986)	State Secretary	Social Affairs	• Primary Healthcare • Elderly Care • Disability Policy	1 April 1950 – 15 September 1951 [Continued]	Labour Party
		Dr. Aat van Rhijn (1892–1986)			• Social Security • Unemployment • Occupational Safety • Social Services	15 February 1950 – 15 September 1951 [Continued]	Labour Party
		Jo Cals (1914–1971)	State Secretary	Education, Arts and Sciences	• Youth Care • Nature • Media • Culture • Art • Recreation • Sport	15 March 1950 – 2 September 1952 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^Acting

^{Ad Interim}

^{Appointed as Minister of Colonial Affairs}

Trivia

• Eight cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors: Piet Lieftinck (Financial and Business Economics), Jan van den Brink (Public Economics and Economical Statistics), Dolf Joekes (Labour Law), Theo Rutten (Applied Psychology), Joris in 't Veld (Public Administration), Wim van der Grinten (Fiscal Law), Piet Muntendam (Social Medicine) and Aat van Rhijn (Fiscal Law).
• Three cabinet members (later) served as Party Leaders and Lijsttrekkers: Willem Drees (1946–1946) of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and (1946–1958) of the Labour Party, Dirk Stikker (1946–1948) of the Freedom Party and Dolf Joekes (1938–1946) of the Free-thinking Democratic League.
• Three cabinet members would later be granted the honorary title of Minister of State: Willem Drees (1958), Josef van Schaik (1951) and Jo Cals (1966).
• Four cabinet members later served as in high-profile international functions: Dirk Stikker (Secretary General of NATO), Piet Lieftinck (Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank), Sicco Mansholt (European Commissioner and President of the European Commission) and Maan Sassen (European Commissioner).
• The age difference between oldest cabinet member Josef van Schaik (born 1882) and the youngest cabinet member Jan van den Brink (born 1915) was 33 years, 71 days.

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees I Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees-Van Schaik Rijksoverheid