The Netherlands was not exactly the liveliest country in Europe. It did not play a leading international role in the development of the social movement. Nevertheless, there are many achievements to report concerning the social movement in the Netherlands.

The development of the industrial society in the Netherlands, which was segregated along ideological and denominational lines (known as ‘verzuiling’, or pillarization), led to a richly patterned social movement. In the discussion on the organization of labour, the government’s tool was the parliamentary inquiry.

All discussions, developments and incidents related to the social question in those days were reflected in the press.

Government inquiries, prints made by Albert Hahn and his colleagues, organizational credentials and many more forms of expression of the Dutch labour movement up to 1918 can be found in the collection presented here.