Editing Willem Drees (section)

=== House of Representatives ===
Drees was elected to the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]] in the [[1933 Dutch general election|1933 general election]], taking office on 9 May 1933 and simultaneously resigning as alderman of The Hague. He served as a [[frontbencher]] and spokesperson for social affairs. In the context of the [[Great Depression]], he was a proponent of an active crisis policy of industrial planning and the execution of large-scale public works; he saw industrialisation as the structural solution to mass unemployment. Sooner than other prominent SDAP members, he advocated the devolution of the [[Dutch guilder]]. He also strongly opposed the activities of the [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands]] and other anti-democratic movements, stating in 1935 that fascists are not opponents but enemies. He likewise rejected cooperation with the [[Communist Party of the Netherlands]].<ref name="Biography Willem Drees"/><ref name="Van der Steen"/> After the SDAP's parliamentary leader [[Willem Albarda]] was appointed [[List of Ministers of Infrastructure of the Netherlands|Minister of Water Management]] in the [[second De Geer cabinet]], Drees was selected to succeed him, becoming parliamentary leader on 10 August 1939.