In the history of theDutch Republic,Orangism orprinsgezindheid ("pro-prince stance") was a political force opposing theStaatsgezinde (pro-Republic) party. Orangists supported thePrinces of Orange asStadtholders (a position held by members of theHouse of Orange) and military commanders of the Republic, as a check on the power of theregenten.[1]: 12 The Orangist party drew its adherents largely fromtraditionalists – mostly farmers, soldiers,noblemen and orthodox Protestant preachers, though its support fluctuated heavily over the course of the Republic's history and there were never clear-cut socioeconomic divisions.[1]: 13
Orangism can be seen as a continuation of the political opposition between theremonstrants andcounter-remonstrants during theTwelve Years' Truce (1609-1621). The Remonstrants were tolerant and republican, with a liberal view on biblical interpretation, no belief inpredestination and were led by men likeJohan van Oldenbarnevelt andHugo Grotius.StadtholderMaurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange relied on the counter-remonstrants to oppose van Oldenbarnevelt and support his own policies, and things got so bad that civil war threatened. Oldenbarnevelt was executed after a sham trial in 1619 and Grotius sentenced to life in prison, and for a number of years the Orangists were in charge under Maurice and later his brotherFrederick Henry, Prince of Orange.[2]
Orangists such as theVice-AdmiralJohan Evertsen backed the appointment ofWilliam, Prince of Orange, the posthumously-born son ofWilliam II, Prince of Orange, to the office of stadtholder of the Holland and Zeeland. The office had been vacant since the death of William II in 1650. The pro-RepublicDutch States Party was marked by caution (especially in all matters that could harm trade), led byGrand pensionaryJohan de Witt and had supporters among the ruling class, theregenten which included his relative from Amsterdam,Cornelis de Graeff. It was de Witt who, in the1654 peace with England and its leaderOliver Cromwell, agreed to include the secretAct of Seclusion barring the infant William III from the stadtholderate. De Witt then put pressure on all seven of the Republic's provinces to uphold this ban. The Orangist party was eventually led by the young Prince of Orange himself and by men such asCornelis Tromp. It played an important part in the expulsion of the de Witt brothers (Cornelis de Witt and Johan de Witt), which culminated during theRampjaar with William III's appointment as stadtholder on 28 June 1672 followed by an organisedlynching of the brothers at theGevangenpoort in the Hague on 20 August.[3]
After the death of William III in 1702 his Dutch ministers decided again to keep the office of stadtholder vacant, mainly because there was no clear successor available (the claim ofJohn William Friso, Prince of Orange, a minor at this time, to the title of Prince of Orange was disputed by his cousinFrederick I of Prussia), though Friso was recognised by theStates of Friesland as their stadtholder. Friso died in 1711, and his sonWilliam IV, Prince of Orange also was born posthumously. William IV was appointed stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Gelderland at his majority in 1731, but the other provinces kept the office vacant, until in 1747a popular revolt by Orangists forced the States of the other four provinces to follow suit and appoint him their stadtholder also. This was the first time that all stadtholder's offices in the Dutch Republic were in the same hand. William IV received almost dictatorial powers under the so-called Government Regulations of 1748. Hopes of democratic political reform were, however, dashed. After his early death, at age 40, in 1751, the stadtholderate (that had been declared hereditary) passed to his infant sonWilliam V, Prince of Orange, but actual power was exercised byRegents, like his motherAnne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange until his majority in 1766.[4]
In the second half of the 18th century the anti-Orangist party became known as thePatriots. These Patriots strongly opposed both the Prince of Orange and the Dutch alliance withGreat Britain. Many of their numbers were drawn from those with commercial and maritime interests who saw Britain as a natural rival of the Dutch, and generally supported the French. At various times the Princes of Orange tried to counter this by moving closer or further away from the alliance with Britain. Events came to a head in the period 1785–1787, when most of the dictatorial powers of the stadtholder were taken away by the Patriots. However, thePrussian invasion of Holland in 1787 gave the upper hand to the Orangists, who drove their Patriot opponents into exile. The powers of the stadtholder were now enshrined in the so-calledAct of Guarantee of 1788, and guaranteed by Britain and Prussia "in perpetuity."[5]
FollowingFrance's invasion of theDutch Republic and theBatavian Revolution in 1795, resulting in the founding of theBatavian Republic,William V, Prince of Orange fled to England, where he issued theKew Letters, ordering allDutch colonies to accept temporary British occupations to prevent them from falling into French hands. During theAnglo-Russian invasion of Holland of 1799, a large portion of theBatavian Navy surrendered to the British, with help from the youngErfprinsWillem Frederik, in theVlieter incident. But the invasion itself was unsuccessful, because the hoped-for Orangist insurrection failed to materialize. At theTreaty of Amiens of 1802, William V gave up his claims to the stadtholderate in exchange for thePrincipality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda. This so discouraged his followers in the Batavian Republic that many made their peace with the new regime, and some, likeCarel Hendrik Ver Huell, went over to the French emperorNapoleon completely, becoming staunch supporters of his autocratic regime, during the period 1810-1813 during which the Netherlands was annexed to theFirst French Empire.
In 1813, when the French retreated from the Netherlands, old Orangist partisans, led byGijsbert Karel van Hogendorp, managed to put the son of William V on a newly-invented throne, first of a principality, and soon of the newly-foundedKingdom of the Netherlands.
The stadtholderate was never a well-defined concept in theconstitution of the Dutch Republic, instead being a patchwork of responsibilities. Likewise, Orangism never became a consistent political theory.[6]: 120 In particular, the Orangists never formulated a desire for absolute sovereignty in the hands of the princes, even though they "lean[ed] heavily on the concept ofmonarchy", since this would have been problematic in the Republic that wrested its independence from the kings of Spain underWilliam of Orange.[1]: 12 Instead, they stated their views in terms ofrepublican liberty, sharing the idiom of their States Party opponents.[7]: 47
Attempts to introduce elements ofJohn Locke'snatural law andMontesquieu'sseparation of powers (byElie Luzac) failed when these same theories were taken over by the opposingPatriot faction in the 1780s.[6]: 120