Kingdom of Holland
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Kingdom of Holland | |||||||||
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1806–1810 | |||||||||
Motto: Eendragt maakt magt ( King of Holland | | ||||||||
• 1806–1810 | Louis I | ||||||||
• 1810 | Louis II | ||||||||
Establishment | |||||||||
Historical era | Napoleonic era | ||||||||
• Kingdom proclaimed | 5 June 1806 | ||||||||
• Annexed by the First French Empire | 9 July 1810 | ||||||||
Currency | Dutch guilder | ||||||||
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Today part of |
The Kingdom of Holland (
In 1809, after the Walcheren Campaign, Holland had to surrender all territories south of the River Rhine to France. Also in 1809, Dutch forces fighting on the French side participated in defeating the anti-Bonapartist German rebellion led by Ferdinand von Schill, at the battle 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-day Netherlands, with the exception of Limburg, and parts of Zeeland, which were French territory, and with the addition of East Frisia. It was the first formal monarchy in the Netherlands since 1581.
The long-term result of the country having been a monarchy was to facilitate the
Coat of arms
Napoléon's brother
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 Dutch Order 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 as Connétable de France.
History
History of the Netherlands |
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Netherlands portal |
Preface
The
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 from succumbing to British pressure, or the Dutch continuing to long for a return to the old federal 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. The
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.[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]
Louis Bonaparte assumes office
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 primarly 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.[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 the Council of State to draft a new constitution for the new monarchy.[7]
With Louis Napoleon on the Dutch throne the Kingdom of Holland the country participated in the
Louis the Good
During his reign Louis Bonaparte introduced the Napoleonic politics of centralisation and standardisation in the Netherlands.
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
Downfall
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 of conscription.[9] The king refused to do this but to help his brother at least he ordered that the Dutch orphanes would 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.[13]
Louis Napoleon also did not have a strict policy on maintaining the
Administrative division
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]
- Department Amstelland
- Department Brabant
- Department Drenthe
- Department East-Friesland
- Department Friesland
- Department Gelderland
- Department Groningen
- Department Maasland
- Department Overijssel
- Department Utrecht
- Department Zeeland
Footnotes
- ^ In modern day Dutch this would be Koninkrijk Holland. Using the Siegenbeek spelling used at the time the official spelling was Koningrijk.
- ^ Eendracht maakt macht in modern Dutch
References
- ^ File:Design of the royal coat of arms of Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, by Alphonse Pierre Giraud, 1808.jpg Alphonse Pierre Giraud (Parijs 1786 - Amsterdam 2-jun-1863), Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, permalink.
- ^ Jonathan Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995, 1128.
- ^ a b c Van der Burg 2010, pp. 156.
- ^ Van der Burg 2010, pp. 157.
- ^ Aerts 2010, pp. 48.
- ^ Jourdan 2006, pp. 134.
- ^ Van der Burg 2010, pp. 160.
- ^ Jourdan 2006, pp. 138.
- ^ a b c d Aerts 2010, pp. 50.
- ^ De Cleen, Marjolein. "A French King in Holland". M For Amsterdam. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ a b c Aerts 2010, pp. 49.
- ^ Meijer 2020, pp. 190.
- ^ Van Meeteren, Aries. "Rotterdamse weeskinderen grepen naar de stenen". Vergeten Verhalen. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ Aerts 2010, pp. 51.
Bibliography
- Aerts, R (2010). Land van Kleine gebaren: Een politieke geschiedenis van Nederland 1780-1990 (in Dutch). Nijmegen: SUN.
- Jourdan, A. (2006). "Staats- en natievorming in de tijd van Lodewijk Napoleon: Nederland als 'objet de désir'". De Negentiende eeuw. 30 (3–4): 132–146.
- Kossmann, E.H. (1978). The Low Countries, 1780–1940.
- 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. S2CID 141711721.
- 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. S2CID 217530502.
- 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.
External links
- History of the Kingdom of Nederlands at royal-house.nl