Anti-monarchism was abundant in the early socialist movement, and King William III, who was inaugurated in 1849, was an easy target. The socialist newspaper Recht voor Allen (Justice for All) agitated against him by publishing weekly reports containing depreciating accounts of his doings and deeds and income. In January 1885, socialists chalked “For Rent” signs on the Royal Palace on Dam Square.
On May 21, 1885, a false announcement of abdication (IISH call no BG B18/623) was glued to various walls in the country. There was a great deal of uproar in Amsterdam when the anarchist Bart van Ommeren was seized on the spot and sentenced to prison for lese majesty.
In 1886, King William’s annual drive in the capital was greeted as “a silly display.” The chief editor of Recht voor Allen, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, was sentenced to a year prison because of this article.
Read the notice about the Palace for rent
Recht voor Allen 17 Januari 1885
IISH call no Microfilm 980
Read the article De koning komt (the king is on his way)
Recht voor Allen 24 April 1886
IISH call no Microfilm 982
The “weekly report of the deeds of William' is blank
Recht voor Allen 29 May 1886
IISG call no Microfilm 982