TheKingdom of Holland (Dutch:Koningrijk Holland (contemporary),Koninkrijk Holland (modern);French:Royaume de Hollande) was thesuccessor state of theBatavian Republic. It was created byNapoleon Bonaparte in March 1806 in order to strengthen control over the Netherlands by replacing the republican government with a monarchy. Since becoming emperor in 1804, Napoleon sought to extirpate republican tendencies in territoriesFrance controlled, and placed his third brother,Louis Bonaparte, on the throne of thepuppet kingdom.[2] The name of the leading province,Holland, now designated the whole country. In 1807,East Frisia andJever were added to the kingdom.
In 1809, after theWalcheren Campaign, Holland had to surrender all territories south of the RiverRhine toFrance. Also in 1809, Dutch forces fighting on the French side participated in defeating the anti-Bonapartist German rebellion led byFerdinand von Schill, at theBattle of Stralsund.
King Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations – he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's – and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810, after which the Netherlands were annexed by France until 1813. Holland covered the area of the present-dayNetherlands, with the exception ofLimburg, and parts ofZeeland, which were French territory, and with the addition of East Frisia. It was the first formal monarchy in the Netherlandssince 1581.
The long-term result of the country having been a monarchy was to facilitate theHouse of Orange in assuming the status of full-fledged Monarchs, ending their centuries-long ambiguous status asStadholders, which had been the source of unending instability and conflict throughout the history of theDutch Republic.[citation needed]
Napoléon's brotherLouis Bonaparte was installed asKing of Holland on 5 June 1806. Originally the arms of the new kingdom were to be like those of theKingdom of Italy: aneagle bearing ashield, with the arms of the United Netherlands, thelion, now royally crowned. In December 1806, in Paris, A. Renodi designed arms quartering theNapoléonic eagle with the lion of the United Netherlands. Around the shield was the French Order of the Grand Eagle. Behind the shield are crossedsceptres, typical for Napoleonic heraldry, and above the shield, Napoleon's star.[citation needed]
A few months later, on 20 May 1807, King Louis – now called "Lodewijk" – altered these arms, adding a helmet, leaving out his brother's star, and replacing the Grand Eagle with his own DutchOrder of the Union and the old Dutch devise "Unity makes strength" around the shield. Exemplary for the innovation in Napoleon's heraldry are the two hands coming out of clouds from behind the shield holding swords, designating King Louis asConnétable de France.[citation needed]
TheBatavian Republic adopted in 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 inThe Hague and aStaatsbewind of twelve persons was installed to govern the country. At that timeNapoleon Bonaparte was already criticizing the lack of executive authority in the Dutch state. A new constitution was drafted byRutger Jan Schimmelpenninck in 1805 which reinstated the unity state. Schimmelpenninck was installed asGrand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic. With these changes, the republic became more centralised than before and maintained its republican character.[3]
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.[3]
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. TheItalian Republic was transformed into theKingdom of Italy with Napoleon as its king.Joachim Murat becameGrand Duke of Berg andJoseph Bonaparte received the establishedKingdom of Naples. In early 1806 theSwiss Confederation and the Batavian Republic were the last remaining Sister Republics.[3]
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 acceptLouis Bonaparte as their king. The majority of the members of the government ratified the treaty without popular consultation.[4] 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.[5]
The arrival of king Louis Bonaparte inAmsterdam on 20 April 1808
In May 1806 theTreaty 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 inThe Hague.[6] 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 theCouncil of State to draft a new constitution for the new monarchy.[7]
The destruction of the gunpowder disaster in Leiden. Louis Napoleon is on this etching visuable as the man in the white clothing.
During his reign Louis Bonaparte introduced the Napoleonic politics of centralisation and standardisation in the Netherlands.[9] 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 theFrench criminal codel, but which respected the Dutch customs and law.[10] Louis Napoleon also replaced the provincial mints with a national one.[11] During his reign he also promoted the equality of Jews, Catholics, and dissenters in the Netherlands.[9] The centralism Louis Bonaparte promoted also led to the foundation or reorganisation of several cultural institutions. TheRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Museum (precursor ofRijksmuseum Amsterdam) were founded during his reign.[11]
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 theLeiden gunpowder disaster. To help the affected people in Leiden he started a national collection, donated 30.000 guilders and openedHuis ten Bosch as a hospital. He showed the same affection to his people at the floodings inZeeland (1808) and theBetuwe (1809). Because of these actions, the Dutch started to see their king as a good and a rightful king.[12]
Despite Louis Napoleon'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 Napoleon 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 Napoleon should also contribute to the French war effort by the introduction ofconscription.[9] 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 inRotterdam when the army came to pick up the orphan boys.[13]
Louis Napoleon also did not have a strict policy on maintaining theContinental 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.[9] Napoleon saw his brother as a slacker and after theWalcheren Campaign he called Louis back to Paris. Napoleon incorporated the Dutch territories between theMeuse and theScheldt. 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 Napoleon abdicated on 1 July in favour of his son. By Imperial Decree the Kingdom of Holland was abolished andincorporated in the French Empire.[14]
Map of the Kingdom of Holland with the division of the departments
In 1807 the Kingdom of Holland was divided into eleven departments. Each of them where divided into quarters, districts and cities. With this division the Dutch government followed the French centralization politics.[11]
Meijer, F. (2020). "Nederlandse vorsten in tijden van ramspoed sinds Lodewijk Napoleon".Napoleons nalatenschap: Sporen in de Nederlandse samenleving.
Prak, M. (1997). "Burghers into citizens: Urban and national citizenship in the Netherlands during the revolutionary era".Theory and Society.26 (4):403–420.doi:10.1023/A:1006886401627.S2CID141711721.
Schama, S. (1977).Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780–1813. London, UK: Collins.
Van der Burg, M. (2010). "Transforming the Dutch Republic into the Kingdom of Holland: The Netherlands between republicanism and monarchy".European Review of History.17 (2):151–170.doi:10.1080/13507481003660811.S2CID217530502.
Van der Burg, M.; Lok, M. (2012). "The Netherlands under Napoleonic rule: A new regime or a revived order?".The Napoleonic Empire and the new European Political Culture.
![Coat of arms[1] of Holland](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoat_of_Arms_of_the_Kingdom_of_Holland_(1808).svg)
