General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 July 1918.[1] They were the first elections held after a series of reforms that introduced universal male suffrage and pure proportional representation, replacing the previous system using first-past-the-post voting in single member constituencies.[2] This change was known as the Great Pacification, which also included the introduction of state financing of religious schools, and led to the start of consociational democracy.[3]
The liberal parties lost the most seats. While in 1917, two of the liberal parties, the Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals, had won 31 seats, they were now reduced to 10 seats. Together with three smaller liberal parties, liberals now held only 15 seats in the House of representatives.