Editing Christian Democratic Appeal (section)

==== Predecessor parties ====
{{Main|Christian democracy in the Netherlands}}
Since 1880, Catholics and the Protestant [[Anti-Revolutionary Party]] (ARP) collaborated in the so-called [[Coalition (Netherlands)|Coalition]]. They shared a common goal of securing [[School struggle (Netherlands)|public funding for religious schools]], which was achieved through the [[Pacification of 1917]]. In 1888, they established the first Christian democratic cabinet, the [[Mackay cabinet]].{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=28-29}} This cooperation, however, was not without challenges, and in 1894, more [[anti-Catholic]] and aristocratic [[conservatives]] split from the ARP to form what would become the [[Christian Historical Union]] (CHU) in 1908.{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|p=31}} Within both parties, there remained a desire to reunite.{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=33-35}} Meanwhile, in 1904, the [[General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses]] was formed, eventually evolving into the [[Roman Catholic State Party]] (RKSP) in 1926 and later the [[Catholic People's Party]] (KVP) in 1945.{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=25-28}}

During the [[Interwar period]], all three parties remained continuously in government. After [[World War II]], however, the KVP distanced itself from the CHU and especially the ARP, refraining from governing with them until 1952 and 1958, respectively, instead forming [[Roman/Red]] cabinets with the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] (PvdA).{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=41-42}} Meanwhile, the parties began collaborating at the European level, with the CHU and ARP joining the KVP in the [[Nouvelles Equipes Internationale]] in 1953.{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=52-55}}{{sfn|Gradus|Harinck|Hoentjen|Van Kessel|2012|p=21}} Due to [[secularisation]] and [[Pillarisation#Depillarisation|depillarisation]], the three parties lost their combined majority{{efn|They held a total of 75 of the 150 seats.}} in the [[1959 Dutch general election|1959 general election]] for the first time since 1918.{{sfn|Ten Napel|1992|pp=79-86}}