High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! At the beginning of the 20th century socialism began to develop in the Netherlands. Although the first socialist party, (the Social Democratic League) was founded in the 19th century, the electoral system, combined with a policy of containment and repression, prevented the development of the socialist movement. In the 1901 election the Social Democratic Workers` Party increased its representation from two to six seats in the lower house of parliament, to the great unease of the confessional and liberal elite. This unease became even greater during the railway strike of 1903, which disrupted the functioning of Dutch society. The railway strike was followed by a general strike in protest at the harsh treatment of the railway workers by the confessional government. After the 1913 elections, in which the social democrats doubled their number of seats (from 7 to 15), the Liberal Union tried to form a coalition government with the social democrats but the social democrats refused to cooperate with what they perceived as bourgeois parties.