Preface The
Batavian Republic adopted in October 1801 a new constitution which was more moderate than its predecessor and the Republic was renamed to the Batavian Commonwealth, to make it less revolutionary. In the Commonwealth, the old provinces received more autonomy at the expense of the central government in
The Hague and a
Staatsbewind of twelve persons was installed to govern the country. At that time
Napoleon Bonaparte was already criticizing the lack of executive authority in the Dutch state. A new constitution was drafted by
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck in March 1805 which reinstated the unity state. Schimmelpenninck was installed as
Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic. With these changes, the republic became more centralised than before and maintained its republican character. Napoleon remained troubled by the instability of the Batavian regime. He attributed this to its political organization and the weak position of the Grand Pensionary. In his eyes, only a monarchy could "prevent either the country succumbing to British pressure, or the Dutch continuing to long for a return to the old regime." Besides this, the Dutch did not live up to their military duties and Schimmelpennick was not a very docile ally. In February 1806 it became clear Schimmelpenninck's days were numbered. In the years before 1806, Napoleon had transformed the former Sister Republics of the French Republic into kingdoms for his family. The
Italian Republic was transformed into the
Kingdom of Italy with Napoleon as its king.
Joachim Murat became
Grand Duke of Berg and
Joseph Bonaparte received the established
Kingdom of Naples. In early 1806 the
Swiss Confederation and the Batavian Republic were the last remaining Sister Republics. Schimmelpenninck objected to the idea of a regime change. According to him a hereditary head of state was incompatible with the Dutch national character. Napoleon presented on 28 April 1806 an ultimatum to the Dutch diplomats: they had eight days to accept
Louis Bonaparte as their king. The majority of the members of the government ratified the treaty without popular consultation. With this Napoleon created a facade of legitimacy. The transition of a republic to a monarchy had actually already been prepared by the one-man rule of Schimmelpenninck.
Louis Bonaparte assumes office on 20 April 1808 In May 1806 the
Treaty of Paris was written and it stipulated that it became time to strengthen the weak Dutch nation. For this, the country gained a hereditary prince who had the primary task of promoting national reconciliation and flourishing national prosperity. In the treaty, Napoleon also confirmed the country's independence. On 23 June 1806 Louis Napoleon made his entrance in
The Hague. Louis Napoleon was never crowned as king of Holland and problems with his sovereignty would haunt him during his entire reign. Shortly after his arrival, Louis Napoleon appointed three members of the
Council of State to draft a new constitution for the new monarchy. With Louis Napoleon on the Dutch throne the Kingdom of Holland the country participated in the
War of the Fourth Coalition. After the victory of the
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt Louis hoped he could enlarge his kingdom with parts of
Westphalia and the
Grand Duchy of Berg. The kingdom only gained the territories of
East Frisia and
Jever in North Germany.
Louis the Good Napoleon had intended for Louis to be little more than a
French prefect of Holland. However, Louis had his own mind, and tried to be as independent of his older brother as possible. He made a sincere effort to learn the
Dutch language, adopted the Dutch spelling of his name,
Lodewijk, and declared himself Dutch rather than French. Louis's court and ministers had mostly been provided by Napoleon, but Louis insisted that they follow his example and declare themselves Dutch. At the same time, Louis introduced the Napoleonic politics of centralisation and standardisation in the Netherlands. In the new centralised state of the Kingdom of Napoleon the king was able to appoint the mayors of the larger Dutch cities. In 1806 a new country-wide tax system was implemented that ended the widespread
corruption. Louis also introduced the Civil Registry, Land Registry, and a Guarantee Act. In 1809 the king introduced a revised Penal Code and Civil Code which was based on the
French criminal code, but which respected the Dutch customs and law. Louis Napoleon also replaced the provincial mints with a national one. During his reign he also promoted the equality of Jews, Catholics, and dissenters in the Netherlands. The centralism Louis Bonaparte promoted also led to the foundation or reorganisation of several cultural institutions. The
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Museum (precursor of
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) were founded during his reign. Aside from the politics of centralisation Louis Bonaparte showed himself as a king who was
a concerned father of his country. In 1807 he was present at the site of the
Leiden gunpowder disaster. To help the affected people in Leiden he started a national collection, donated 30.000 guilders and opened
Huis ten Bosch as a hospital. He showed the same affection to his people at the floodings in
Zeeland (1808) and the
Betuwe (1809). Because of these actions, the Dutch started to see Louis as a good and a rightful king.
Downfall Despite Louis Bonaparte's success in the Netherlands he got into conflict with the emperor. The conflicts between Napoleon and the king of Holland centered on three topics. The first was the tiering of the national debt, which Louis Bonaparte refused to do because the Dutch administration believed it would lead to damage to financial confidence and would be a blow to Dutch investors. Louis Bonaparte should also contribute to the French war effort by the introduction of
conscription. The king refused to do this, but to help his brother at least, he ordered that the Dutch orphans enlist for the army. This was also not a popular measure. On 14 July 1809, a riot broke out in
Rotterdam when the army came to pick up the
orphan boys. Louis Bonaparte also did not have a strict policy on maintaining the
Continental System.
Smuggling continued to exist, and only after great pressure from Paris did he take measures to combat this. However, he did not want to pursue a harsh coercive policy because this would be disastrous for Dutch maritime trade. Napoleon saw his brother as a slacker, and after the
Walcheren Campaign (1809), he called Louis back to Paris. Napoleon incorporated the Dutch territories between the
Meuse and the
Scheldt. Louis Napoleon accepted the decisions of his older brother, but the treaty of March 1810 was only the beginning of the end. On 4 July, French troops captured Amsterdam. Louis Bonaparte abdicated on 1 July in favour of his son. By Imperial Decree the Kingdom of Holland was abolished and
incorporated into the French Empire. == Administrative division ==