Dutch prime minister Willem Drees (1886 – 1988)
The early years
Willem Drees was born in
Amsterdam on July 5, 1886. His father died when he was 5, which caused the family to live in
sobriety. Although the Drees family was
protestant, young Willem's sympathy went out to the socialists. As 18-year-old he attended the Socialist International congress in Amsterdam in 1904. Particularly in these days,
socialism was a
revolutionary, anti-Christian movement. Drees did not favour the fanatics and he opposed the
Troelstra (socialist chairman) attempt for revolution in 1918. Willem Drees thought the socialist society would be achieved through
electoral victory. Cooperation with other political parties was necessary for that.
Angel of mercy
He made a steady political career in
The Hague. Because of his battle for aid to the poor, sick and elderly, Drees was soon known as
't Engeltje van Barmhartigheid (the
angel of mercy). In 1939 he became leader of the
SDAP (
Sociaal Democratische Arbeiderspartij or Social Democratic Labour Party) in the Dutch
Lower House.
Resistance
During the German occupation Drees laid the foundation for his political leadership in the fifties. He was against all kinds of compromise with the
nazi's. Together with other well-known Dutchmen he was sent to the
Buchenwald concentration camp in October 1940. After his release in 1941, he immediately joined the
resistance.
Social Affairs and Prime Minister
In May
1945 Queen Wilhelmina asked Willem Drees to form a new government. He would be minister of
Social Affairs until 1948, during which he won popularity because of his
pension arrangements for the elderly. From '48 to '58, Drees was
prime minister four times in a row. Under his spell,
the Netherlands managed to recover from the crisis. On the other hand, he was the man who led the controversial colonial war in
Dutch East India.
Crisis after colonial warfare
Socialist Drees was against any form of
colonialism. He favoured a slow development of Dutch East India towards independence, but the declaration of the Republic of
Indonesia by
Sukarno changed this.
Bung Karno was considered a
collaborator and he was held responsible for thousands of casualties in the Japanese camps. Negotiations and two so-called
police actions led to Indonesian
sovereignty in December 1949. Especially for the second police action Drees was blamed heavily, because world now turned his back towards the Netherlands for its colonial warfare.
Greet Hofmans affair
The prime-minister managed to solve a national crisis in 1956, known as the
Greet Hofmans affair. This faith healing woman had become a
Rasputin-like advisor of
Queen Juliana. The queen was close to
abdication and divorce from her husband
Prince Bernhard, but Drees intervened successfully.
Resignation
In the years after his
resignation from Dutch politics, he was still often asked as advisor or commentator on important issues. He continued to be the
social conscience in the Netherlands, regularly disagreeing with his successors in the socialist party, such as
Joop den Uyl. Only well past the magical age of
100, he died.