Third Drees cabinet Fourth Drees cabinet
46th Cabinet of the Netherlands
The first meeting of the incoming Third Drees cabinet on 12 October 1956
Date formed	13 October 1956 (1956-10-13)
Date dissolved	22 December 1958 (1958-12-22) 2 years, 70 days in office (Demissionary from 11 December 1958 (1958-12-11))
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Juliana
Prime Minister	Willem Drees
Deputy Prime Minister	Teun Struycken
No. of ministers	14
Ministers removed	2
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	Centre-left[1] Majority government (Grand coalition/Roman-Red)
History
Election(s)	1956 election
Outgoing election	1959 election
Legislature term(s)	1956–1959
Incoming formation	1956 formation
Outgoing formation	1958 formation
Predecessor	Second Drees cabinet
Successor	Second Beel cabinet

Part of the Politics series
Politics of the Netherlands
Constitution Charter Wet Algemene Bepalingen Human rights
Monarchy King Willem-Alexander Council of Ministers Ministers Plenipotentiary Aruba Curaçao St. Maarten
Cabinet Prime Minister (list) Mark Rutte Deputy Prime Ministers Sigrid Kaag Karien van Gennip Carola Schouten Ministries
States General Senate President: Jan Anthonie Bruijn Current membership Historic composition House of Representatives Speaker: Martin Bosma Current membership Historic composition Parliamentary committees
Judiciary Supreme Court High Councils of State Council of State Court of Audit National Ombudsman
Elections Recent elections General: 2010 2012 2017 2021 2023 Next Provincial: 2011 2015 2019 2023 Municipal: 2010 2014 2018 2022 European: 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024 Referendums Referendums: 2005 2016 2018 Political parties Politicians
Local government Provincial politics Water boards Municipal politics BES islands
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Hanke Bruins Slot Diplomatic missions of / in the Netherlands Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy of the Schengen Area Visa policy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean
Related topics Corruption in the Netherlands De Nederlandsche Bank Law of the Netherlands Modern history Republicanism in the Netherlands Social Economic Council
Politics portal
v t e

The Third Drees cabinet, also called the Fourth Drees cabinet,^[2] was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 13 October 1956 until 22 December 1958. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous Second Drees cabinet and was formed by the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) and the christian-democratic Catholic People's Party (KVP), Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) and the Christian Historical Union (CHU) after the election of 1956. The cabinet was a Centre-left^[3] grand coalition and had a substantial majority in the House of Representatives, with Labour Leader Willem Drees serving as Prime Minister. Prominent KVP politician Teun Struycken (a former Governor of the Netherlands Antilles) served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Property and Public Organisations.

The cabinet served during the middle years of the turbulent 1950s. Domestically, the recovery and rebuilding following World War II continued with the assistance of the Marshall Plan, it also able to finalize several major social reforms to social security, welfare, child benefits and education from the previous cabinet. Internationally the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies continued. After suffering several major internal and external conflicts, including multiple cabinet resignations, the cabinet fell two years into its term, on 11 December 1958, following a disagreement in the coalition over a proposed tax increase; the cabinet continued in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced with the caretaker Second Beel cabinet on 22 December 1958.^[4]

Formation

The cabinet formation took four months. This was the longest and most difficult formation the Netherlands had ever seen, partly as a result of the rising tensions between the Labour Party and the Catholic People's Party. After the formation these tensions kept rising, leading to the fall of the cabinet in December 1958. The root of the tensions was the decision of the Roman Catholic Church to excommunicate Catholic socialists from the church. Nearly 100% of the south of the Netherlands used to vote for the Catholic People's Party for decades, but in the 1950s secular political parties got an increase in votes. The excommunication had the result of social exclusion in cities and villages which used to be solidly Catholic blocks. Protestants in the north supported the Catholics.

Term

After considerable growth after World War II, the rising wages, combined with lowered taxes, now led to overspending, which endangered the export. In reaction, wages and government spending were both lowered.

Rising tension with Indonesia, mostly about New Guinea, came to a climax when Indonesia nationalised Dutch properties in the country. The Dutch were supposed to leave entirely.

Other international problems were the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian revolt, which led to monetary and economic problems. The threat of an oil crisis as a result of the Suez crisis led to the installation of car-free Sundays. The suppression of the Hungarian revolution by the USSR led to plundering of communist institutions. Several thousands of Hungarian refugees were accepted into the Netherlands and welcomed in Dutch homes.

On 1 January 1957, the state pension AOW after the age of 65, that was proposed during the former cabinet Drees II, was installed. This resulted from a previous emergency law by Drees, and is the one thing he is remembered for most.

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 [Retained]	Labour Party
		Ko Suurhoff (1905–1967)	Minister	Interior		13 October 1956 – 29 October 1956 [Ad Interim]	Labour Party
		Teun Struycken (1906–1977)		Interior, Property and Public Organisations		29 October 1956 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
			Deputy Prime Minister
		Joseph Luns (1911–2002)	Minister	Foreign Affairs		13 October 1956 – 6 July 1971 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Henk Hofstra (1904–1999)	Minister	Finance		13 October 1956 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Dr. Ivo Samkalden (1912–1995)	Minister	Justice		13 October 1956 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Dr. Jelle Zijlstra (1918–2001)	Minister	Economic Affairs		2 September 1952 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Anti- Revolutionary Party
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)	Minister	War and Navy		15 March 1951 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Christian Historical Union
		Ko Suurhoff (1905–1967)	Minister	Social Affairs and Health		2 September 1952 – 22 December 1958 [Retained]	Labour Party
		Jo Cals (1914–1971)	Minister	Education, Arts and Sciences		2 September 1952 – 24 July 1963 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Jacob Algera (1902–1966)	Minister	Transport and Water Management		2 September 1952 – 10 October 1958 [Retained] [App]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Herman Witte (1909–1973)				10 October 1958 – 1 November 1958 [Ad Interim]	Catholic People's Party
		Jan van Aartsen (1909–1992)				1 November 1958 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Anti-Revolutionary Party
		Sicco Mansholt (1908–1995)	Minister	Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies		25 June 1945 – 1 January 1958 [Retained] [App]	Labour Party
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)				1 January 1958 – 13 January 1958 [Ad Interim]	Christian Historical Union
		Dr. Anne Vondeling (1916–1979)				13 January 1958 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Herman Witte (1909–1973)	Minister	Housing and Construction		2 September 1952 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Marga Klompé (1912–1986)	Minister	Social Work		13 October 1956 – 24 July 1963 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Kees Staf (1905–1973)	Minister	Colonial Affairs		18 July 1956 – 16 February 1957 [Retained] [Acting]	Christian Historical Union
		Gerard Helders (1905–2013)				16 February 1957 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Christian Historical Union
State Secretaries			Title/Ministry/Portfolio(s)			Term of office	Party
		Norbert Schmelzer (1921–2008)	State Secretary	Interior, Property and Public Organisations	• Public Organisations	29 October 1956 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Ernst van der Beugel (1918–2004)	State Secretary	Foreign Affairs	• European Economic Community • European Union • Benelux	8 January 1957 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Dr. Gerard Veldkamp (1921–1990)	State Secretary	Economic Affairs	• Small and Medium-sized Businesses • Consumer Protection • Tourism	10 October 1952 – 17 July 1961 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Ferdinand Kranenburg (1911–1994)	State Secretary	War and Navy	• Army • Air Force	1 June 1951 – 1 June 1958 [Retained] [Res]	Labour Party
		Meine van Veen (1893–1970)				25 October 1958 – 22 December 1958	Labour Party
		Vice admiral Harry Moorman (1899–1971)			• Navy	1 May 1949 – 19 May 1959 [Retained] [Continued]	Catholic People's Party
		Dr. Aat van Rhijn (1892–1986)	State Secretary	Social Affairs and Health	• Social Security • Unemployment • Occupational Safety • Social Services	15 February 1950 – 22 December 1958 [Retained]	Labour Party
		Dr. Anna de Waal (1906–1981)	State Secretary	Education, Arts and Sciences	• Primary Education • Secondary Education • Special Education • Youth Care	2 February 1953 – 16 March 1957 [Retained] [Res]}	Catholic People's Party
		René Höppener (1903–1983)			• Youth Care • Nature • Media • Culture • Art • Recreation • Sport	12 November 1956 – 19 May 1959 [Continued]	Catholic People's Party

^Resigned

^{Retained from the previous cabinet}

^{Continued in the next cabinet}

^Acting

^{Ad Interim}

^{Appointed as Member of the Council of State}

^{Appointed as European Commissioner}

Trivia

• Eight cabinet members had previous experience as scholars and professors: Henk Hofstra (Fiscal Law), Ivo Samkalden (Agricultural Law), Jelle Zijlstra (Public Economics), Anne Vondeling (Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering), Marga Klompé (Chemistry), Gerard Veldkamp (Microeconomics), Aat van Rhijn (Fiscal Law) and Anna de Waal (Geography).
• Five cabinet members would later be granted the honorary title of Minister of State: Willem Drees (1958), Ivo Samkalden (1985), Jelle Zijlstra (1983), Jo Cals (1966) and Marga Klompé (1971).
• Four 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, Anne Vondeling (1962–1966) of the Labour Party, Jelle Zijlstra (1956, 1958–1959) of the Anti-Revolutionary Party and Norbert Schmelzer (1963–1971) of the Catholic People's Party.
• Two cabinet members lived to centenarian age: Willem Drees (1886–1988) lived to 101 years, 314 days and Gerard Helders (1905–2013) lived to 107 years, 303 days.