Second Drees cabinet

The Second Drees cabinet, also called the Third Drees cabinet[1] was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 2 September 1952 until 13 October 1956. The cabinet was formed by the political parties Labour Party (PvdA), Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) after the election of 1952. The grand coalition (Roman/Red) cabinet was a majority cabinet in the House of Representatives.[2]

Second Drees cabinet Third Drees cabinet
45th Cabinet of the Netherlands
The first meeting of the Second Drees cabinet on 2 September 1952
Date formed	2 September 1952 (1952-09-02)
Date dissolved	13 October 1956 (1956-10-13) (Demissionary from 13 June 1956 (1956-06-13))
People and organisations
Head of state	Queen Juliana
Head of government	Willem Drees
Deputy head of government	Louis Beel
No. of ministers	17
Total no. of members	16
Member party	Labour Party (PvdA) Catholic People's Party (KVP) Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) Christian Historical Union (CHU)
Status in legislature	Grand coalition (Roman/Red)
Opposition party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Opposition leader	Pieter Oud
History
Election(s)	1952 election
Outgoing election	1956 election
Legislature term(s)	1952–1956
Incoming formation	1952 formation
Outgoing formation	1956 formation
Predecessor	First Drees cabinet
Successor	Third Drees cabinet

Term

The economic recovery after World War II continued. This made further expansion of social security possible, of which the best example is the institution of the state pension AOW in 1956. Also, a major housing scheme was executed, building 80 000 houses per year.

A major setback was the North Sea flood of 1953, which resulted in damage equivalent to 5% of the GDP. An emergency law was made to recover the dykes and plans were made for the Delta Works, the world's largest flood protection project, which should protect the South West Netherlands against another such combination of storm and spring tide.

An episcopal 'mandement' called for Catholics to give up their PvdA-membership, but without result.

The 29 December 1952 Statute for the kingdom granted Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles a certain degree of independence within the kingdom.

On 15 February 1956 the Dutch-Indonesian Union officially ended. Relationships between the two countries continued to deteriorate.

When the PvdA voted with the opposition over a combined law to lower taxes and raise rents on 17 May 1955, this led to a crisis. The cabinet fell, but returned after 17 days when PvdA chairman Burger had reconciled the parties.

Cabinet Members

Ministers			Title/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Dr. Willem Drees (1886–1988)	Prime Minister	General Affairs	7 August 1948 – 22 December 1958 ^[Retained]	Labour Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)	Deputy Prime Minister	Interior	2 September 1952 – 7 July 1956 ^[Res]	Catholic People's Party
			Minister		6 December 1951 – 7 July 1956 ^[Retained] ^[Res]
		Dr. Julius Christiaan van Oven (1881–1963)			7 July 1956 – 13 October 1956 ^[Ad interim]	Labour Party
		Johan Beyen (1897–1976)	Minister	Foreign Affairs	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Independent Liberal (Conservative Liberal)
		Jo van de Kieft (1884–1970)	Minister	Finance	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Labour Party
		Leendert Antonie Donker (1899–1956)	Minister	Justice	2 September 1952 – 4 February 1956 ^[Died]	Labour Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)			4 February 1956 – 15 February 1956 ^[Ad interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Julius Christiaan van Oven (1881–1963)			15 February 1956 – 13 October 1956	Labour Party
		Dr. Jelle Zijlstra (1918–2001)	Minister	Economic Affairs	2 September 1952 – 19 May 1959	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)	Minister	War	15 March 1951 – 19 May 1959 ^[Retained]	Christian Historical Union
				Navy
		Ko Suurhoff (1905–1967)	Minister	Social Affairs and Health	2 September 1952 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Jo Cals (1914–1971)	Minister	Education, Arts and Sciences	2 September 1952 – 7 November 1961	Catholic People's Party
		Jacob Algera (1902–1966)	Minister	Transport and Water Management	2 September 1952 – 10 October 1958	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Dr. Sicco Mansholt (1908–1995)	Minister	Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies	25 June 1945 – 1 January 1958 ^[Retained]	Labour Party
		Herman Witte (1909–1973)	Minister	Reconstruction and Housing	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Louis Beel (1902–1977)	Minister	Social Work	2 September 1952 – 9 September 1952 ^[Ad interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Frans-Jozef van Thiel (1906–1993)			9 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Willem Kernkamp (1899–1956)	Minister	Colonial Affairs	2 September 1952 – 18 July 1956 ^[Died]	Christian Historical Union
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)			18 July 1956 – 16 February 1957 ^[Ad interim]	Christian Historical Union
Ministers without portfolio			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		A. C. de Bruijn (1887–1968)	Minister	• Economic Policy (within Interior)	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Joseph Luns (1911–2002)	Minister	• Foreign Policy (within Foreign Affairs)	2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956	Catholic People's Party
State Secretaries			Title/Portfolio/Ministry		Term of office	Party
		Dr. Willem Hendrik van den Berge (1905–1987)	State Secretary	• Fiscal Affairs • Tax and Customs Administration (within Finance)	2 February 1953 – 13 October 1956	Independent Social Democrat
		Dr. Gerard Veldkamp (1921–1990)	State Secretary	• Small Business Policy • Retail Policy • Competition Policy • Tourism Affairs (within Economic Affairs)	10 October 1952 – 17 July 1961	Catholic People's Party
		Ferdinand Kranenburg (1911–1994)	State Secretary	• Army • Air Force (within Defence)	1 June 1951 – 1 June 1958 ^[Retained]	Labour Party
		Harry Moorman (1899–1971)		• Navy (within Navy)	1 May 1949 – 19 May 1959 ^[Retained]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Aat van Rhijn (1892–1986)	State Secretary	• Social Security • Unemployment Affairs • Occupational Safety • Social Services • Poverty Policy (within Social Affairs and Health)	15 September 1951 – 22 December 1958 ^[Retained]	Labour Party
		Dr. Piet Muntendam (1901–1986)	State Secretary	• Elderly Policy • Disability Affairs • Veteran Affairs • Minority Affairs • Medical Ethics Policy (within Social Affairs and Health)	15 September 1951 – 1 October 1953 ^[Retained] ^[Res]	Labour Party
		Dr. Anna de Waal (1906–1981)	State Secretary	• Primary Education • Secondary Education • Special Education (within Education, Arts and Sciences)	2 February 1953 – 16 March 1957 ^[Res]	Catholic People's Party
Source: (in Dutch) Rijksoverheid

^Retained Retained this position from the previous cabinet.

^Res Resigned.

^{Ad interim} Served ad interim.

^Died Died in office.

References

1. According to a different numbering this was the Fourth Drees cabinet because it was the third cabinet with Willem Drees as Prime Minister.
2. "Coalities tussen sociaaldemocraten en confessionelen" (in Dutch). Historisch Nieuwsblad. 10 August 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees III Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Drees II Rijksoverheid