Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck explained

Honorific-Prefix:

His Excellency
Dutch; Flemish: [[Jonkheer]]

Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck

Office:

Chairman of the Council of Ministers

Term Start:

10 August 1929

Term End:

26 May 1933

Predecessor:

Dirk Jan de Geer

Successor:

Hendrikus Colijn

Term Start1:

9 September 1918

Term End1:

4 August 1925

Monarch1:

Wilhelmina

Predecessor1:

Pieter Cort van der Linden

Successor1:

Hendrikus Colijn

Office3:

Leader of the Roman Catholic State Party

Term Start3:

27 August 1931

Term End3:

17 April 1936

Predecessor3:

Willem Hubert Nolens

Successor3:

Piet Aalberse

Office4:

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Term Start4:

31 May 1933

Term End4:

17 April 1936

Predecessor4:

Josef van Schaik

Successor4:

Piet Aalberse

Term Start5:

17 September 1925

Term End5:

10 August 1929

Predecessor5:

Dionysius Koolen

Successor5:

Josef van Schaik

Office6:

Chairman of the Roman Catholic State Party

Term Start6:

4 August 1925

Term End6:

10 August 1929

Leader6:

Willem Hubert Nolens

Predecessor6:

Antonius van Wijnbergen

Successor6:

Carel Goseling

Office16:

Queen's Commissioner of Limburg

Term Start16:

7 May 1918

Term End16:

9 September 1918

Monarch16:

Wilhelmina

Predecessor16:

Gustave Ruijs de Beerenbrouck

Successor16:

Eduard van Hövell tot Westerflier

Embed:	yes
Office2:	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term Start2:	20 April 1933
Term End2:	26 May 1933 Ad interim
Primeminister2:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Successor2:	Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff
Office7:	Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry
Term Start7:	13 September 1922
Term End7:	1 January 1923 Ad interim
Primeminister7:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Successor7:	Piet Aalberse as Minister of Labour, Commerce and Industry
Office8:	Minister of the Interior and Agriculture
Term Start8:	10 August 1929
Term End8:	1 May 1932
Primeminister8:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor8:	Jan Kan
Successor8:	Himself as Minister of the Interior
Term Start9:	1 January 1923
Term End9:	4 August 1925
Primeminister9:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor9:	Himself as Minister of the Interior
Successor9:	Dirk Jan de Geer
Office10:	Minister of War
Term Start10:	5 January 1920
Term End10:	31 March 1920 Ad interim
Primeminister10:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor10:	George Alting von Geusau
Successor10:	Willem Frederik Pop
Office11:	Minister of Colonial Affairs
Term Start11:	13 August 1919
Term End11:	13 November 1919 Ad interim
Primeminister11:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor11:	Alexander Idenburg
Successor11:	Simon de Graaff
Office12:	Minister of the Navy
Term Start12:	19 February 1919
Term End12:	19 April 1919 Ad interim
Primeminister12:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor12:	Willem Naudin ten Cate
Successor12:	Hendrik Bijleveld
Term Start13:	1 May 1932
Term End13:	26 May 1933
Primeminister13:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor13:	Himself as Minister of the Interior and Agriculture
Successor13:	Jacob Adriaan de Wilde
Term Start14:	9 September 1918
Term End14:	1 January 1923
Primeminister14:	Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck
Predecessor14:	Pieter Cort van der Linden
Successor15:	Himself as Minister of the Interior and Agriculture

Embed:	yes
Office:	Member of the House of Representatives
Term Start:	9 May 1933
Term End:	17 April 1936
Term Start1:	15 September 1925
Term End1:	10 August 1929
Term Start2:	25 July 1922
Term End2:	18 September 1922
Term Start3:	7 December 1909
Term End3:	16 May 1918
Constituency3:	Gulpen
Term Start4:	19 September 1905
Term End4:	21 September 1909
Constituency4:	Gulpen

Birthname:

Charles Joseph Marie Ruijs de Beerenbrouck

Birth Date:

1873 12, df=y

Birth Place:

Roermond, Netherlands

Death Place:

Utrecht, Netherlands

Death Cause:

Addison's disease

Party:

Roman Catholic State Party (from 1926)

Otherparty:

General League (until 1926)

Children:

Father:

Gustave Ruijs de Beerenbrouck (1842–1926)

Relatives:

Godfried van Voorst tot Voorst (son in law)

Alma Mater:

Utrecht University (LLB)
Leiden University (LLM)

Occupation:

Politician · Civil servant · Jurist · Lawyer · Prosecutor

Signature:

Signature RuysDeBeerenbrouck.jpg

Dutch; Flemish: [[Jonkheer]] Charles Joseph Marie Ruijs de Beerenbrouck (1 December 1873 – 17 April 1936) was a Dutch politician of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP). He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 9 September 1918 until 4 August 1925 and from 10 August 1929 until 26 May 1933.

Early life

Charles Joseph Maria Ruijs de Beerenbrouck was born on 1 December 1873 in Roermond, a town with a Bishop's see in the province of Limburg, in the very south of the Netherlands. Born into an aristocratic family, he grew up in a predominantly Catholic community and went to school in Maastricht and in The Hague. He attended the Utrecht University and in 1895, he obtained his master's degree in law at the Leiden University.

He was the son of Gustave Ruijs de Beerenbrouck (1842–1926), Minister of Justice in the Mackay cabinet (founder of the labour and social laws first) and later governor of Limburg (1918).

Career

He started his career in 1896 as a lawyer in Maastricht. In 1899 Ruijs de Beerenbrouck became a member of the Maastricht municipal council and in 1905 he was elected to the House of Representatives. Ruijs de Beerenbrouck remained a councillor and a member of parliament until 16 May 1918, when he became Queen's Commissioner of the province of Limburg (in the province of Limburg usually called Gouverneur, or Governor).

Ruijs de Beerenbrouck did not stay in office as Queen's Commissioner for long, as on 9 September 1918 he was appointed as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

As Chairman of the Council of Ministers he had to deal with the aftermath of World War I. Although the Netherlands had remained neutral during the conflict, Ruijs de Beerenbrouck nevertheless faced several problems, particularly the return of German troops through the province of Limburg and the exile of the German emperor Wilhelm II.

In November 1918 the leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), Pieter Jelles Troelstra, inspired by the Russian Revolution and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, called for a socialist revolution among the working class. However, the revolution attempt of Troelstra met with little enthusiasm. Despite this, Ruijs de Beerenbrouck enacted several social reforms in order to satisfy the working class.

From 1925 to 1929 Ruijs de Beerenbrouck was Speaker of the House of Representatives.

During his third cabinet Ruijs de Beerenbrouck had to deal with the worldwide Great Depression of 1929 and the early 1930s, which had crippling effects on the Dutch economy, effects which lasted longer than they did in most European countries. The depression led to high unemployment and poverty, as well as increasing social unrest. Ruijs de Beerenbrouck was forced to cut government expenses and to devalue the national currency, the Guilder, but these measures only worsened the effects of the economic crisis.

In February 1933 the third Ruijs de Beerenbrouck cabinet ordered the bombing of the navy cruiser De Zeven Provinciën, when sailors aboard the cruiser, cruising near Sumatra, mutinied because of the cutting of their wages. Twenty three mutineers were killed, resulting in a prolonged controversy and recriminations.

In 1933 Ruijs de Beerenbrouck became Speaker of the House of Representatives again. He remained in office until his death.

Personal life

On 15 April 1902, Ruijs de Beerenbrouck married Maria van der Heyden (19 August 1877 – 17 January 1948).^[1] Ruijs de Beerenbrouck died on 17 April 1936 at the age of 62 in Utrecht.

Decorations

Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
Honours
	Grand Officer of the Order of the House of Orange	Netherlands	1 December 1918
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown	Belgium	5 July 1922
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	4 August 1925	Elevated from Grand Officer (31 August 1923)
	Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold	Belgium	25 August 1925
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	25 July 1927	Elevated from Commander (1 August 1924)
	Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre	Holy See	10 December 1929
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Minister of State	Netherlands	25 July 1927	Style of Excellency

External links

Moeyes, Paul: Beerenbrouck, Charkes Ruijs de, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.

Notes and References

Web site: Alexander Amandus Josephus Baron van der Heyden (1841-1933) en Nazaten.