Why did Dutch society become divided into religious and political pillars?

The division of Dutch society into religious and political "pillars" (verzuiling) was a process that emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in a system where the population was organized into self-contained ideological and denominational groups.1

This structure developed primarily as a response to the "school conflict" (schoolstrijd), a major political controversy in which liberal and socialist advocates of state-funded public schools were pitted against Calvinist and Catholic parties. The latter groups demanded state support for private, faith-based schools equivalent to that provided to public institutions.1

As these ideological struggles intensified, the country split into distinct "pillars"—principally Calvinist, Roman Catholic, socialist, and liberal—each maintaining its own separate institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and periodicals. This system, often called the "politics of accommodation," allowed these groups to live largely separate lives while their leaders cooperated to ensure public life functioned smoothly. This pillarization remained a defining feature of Dutch society until the 1960s, when rapid secularization and social changes led to the system's gradual disintegration.123