There is a general consensus among historians and political scientists that fascism has never had much popular appeal in the Netherlands. The reasons put forward for this view centre on the stability of a Dutch political system epitomized by relatively unchanging voter allegiances and cabinet formation through coalitions of two or more parties. Traditionally, these allegiances were defined primarily by confessional or established ideological positions: Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Calvinism, liberalism, and Social Democracy. More recently, a fear of immigrants and of an increased presence of Islamic culture has helped spawn movements that, if not openly fascist, certainly contain some of the attributes associated with mainstream fascism. The first forms of fascism emerged in the Netherlands during the 1920s, inspired by a small minority who were motivated by admiration for what Mussolini had achieved in Italy.
