Finance minister Dirk Jan de Geer's resignation is presented as a cause of the naval-law crisis. The government was a coalition of three confessional parties, each organized around religious affiliation. De Geer had opposed the program since 1922 but remained in office until 1923; July is suggested as an uncertain date for his resignation. The naval program had belonged to the coalition's agreed agenda from the government's formation. Prime minister Ruijs de Beerenbrouck might therefore have treated de Geer's opposition as political talk and underestimated his willingness to act on it.
Chapter · 6:50-8:16
A coalition split turns naval planning into a crisis
The finance minister's resignation shows how opposition inside the governing coalition destabilized a force plan the parties had previously accepted.