View source for Batavian Revolution

{{Short description|1781–1795 period in Dutch history}}
{{distinguish|Revolt of the Batavi}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title        = Batavian Revolution
| subtitle     = 
| partof       = the [[Atlantic Revolutions]]
| image        = Krayenhoff Daendels 1795.jpeg
| caption      = Patriot troops, 18 January 1795
| date         = 1781–1795
| place        = [[Dutch Republic]]
| coordinates  = 
| causes       = [[Authoritarianism]] of [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]]
| goals        = *Abolition of the position of ''[[Stadtholder]]''
*Establishment of a [[democratic republic]]
| methods      = 
| status       = 
| result       = [[Batavian Republic]] established
| side1        = {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic}} [[Patriottentijd|Patriots]]
| side2        = {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic|prins}} [[Orangism (Dutch Republic)|Orangists]]
| side3        = 
| side4 = 
| leadfigures1 = {{plainlist |
* {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic}} [[Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck|R. Schimmelpenninck]]
* {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic}} [[Herman Willem Daendels|Herman W. Daendels]]
* {{flagicon|French First Republic|1794}} [[Jean-Charles Pichegru]]
}}
| leadfigures2 = {{plainlist |
* {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic|prins}} [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]]
* {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic|prins}} [[Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange|Wilhelmina]]
* {{flagdeco|Dutch Republic|prins}} [[Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel|Laurens Pieter]]
* {{flagdeco|Kingdom of Prussia|1750}} [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William II]]
* {{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury|James Harris]]
}}
}}
{{History of the Netherlands}}

The '''Batavian Revolution''' ({{langx|nl|De Bataafse Revolutie}}) was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the [[Dutch Republic]] and saw the proclamation of the [[Batavian Republic]].

The initial period, from about 1780 to 1787, is known as the [[Patriottentijd]] or "Time of the Patriots".  The power of the [[Patriots (Dutch Republic)|"Patriots"]] grew until the [[stadtholder]], [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]] felt he had to flee the country in 1785. He asked his brother-in-law [[Frederick William II of Prussia]] for help, and in 1787 a relatively small Prussian army restored the [[Orangism (Netherlands)|Orangists]] to power with little fighting.

After the [[French Revolution]] began in 1789, "Patriot" dissent grew, and in the severe winter of 1794/95 a French army with some "Patriot" Dutch units invaded over the frozen frontier rivers, leading to the Batavian Revolution and the proclamation of the [[Batavian Republic]] in 1795.  The period of Dutch history that followed the revolution is also referred to as the "Batavian-French era" (1795&ndash;1813) even though the time spanned was only 20 years, of which three were under French occupation under [[Napoleon Bonaparte]].

==Background==
{{Main|Patriottentijd}}
[[File:Exercitiegenootschap Sneek by Hermanus van der Velde.jpg|thumb|left|The [[exercitiegenootschap]] of [[Sneek]]]]
By the end of the 18th century, the Netherlands found themselves in a deep economic crisis, caused by the devastating [[Fourth Anglo-Dutch War]].<ref>De Vries and Van der Woude, p. 126</ref> During this time, the banks of the Dutch Republic held much of the world's [[Capital (economics)|capital]]. The government-sponsored banks owned up to 40% of Great Britain's [[national debt]]. The people of the Netherlands grew increasingly discontent with the authoritarian regime of the [[stadtholder]], [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]]. This concentration of wealth led to the formation of the [[Dutch Patriots]] by a minor Dutch noble named [[Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol]], who were seeking to reduce the amount of power held by the stadtholder.

Thus, a division emerged between the [[Orangism (Netherlands)|Orangists]], who supported the stadtholder, and the [[Patriots (Dutch Republic)|Patriots]] who, inspired by the ideals of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], desired a more democratic government and a more equal society. The Patriots built support from most of the middle-class, and founded militias (''[[Exercitiegenootschap]]pen'') of armed civilians which between 1783 and 1787 managed to take over several cities and regions in an effort to force new elections which would oust the old government officials.<ref>Schama, pp. 77, 131</ref> The Patriots held [[County of Holland|Holland]] and the city of [[Utrecht]], while the Orangists held the states of [[Guelders]] and [[Lordship of Utrecht|Utrecht]] (outside of its capital city).

In 1785, stadtholder [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]] fled his palace in the west of the country for [[Nijmegen]] in the east, as the [[States of Holland]] were not willing to send their troops to fight the Patriots. In May 1787, the stadholder's troops were defeated by the militia of Utrecht near [[Vreeswijk]]. When [[Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange|Princess Wilhelmina]] was stopped by patriot militia near [[Goejanverwellesluis]] on June 28, 1787, she applied to her brother [[Frederick William II of Prussia]] for help. On September 13 a Prussian army of 20,000 men under the command of [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel|Duke of Brunswick]] [[Prussian invasion of Holland|crossed the border]]. The fortress of [[Vianen]] was deserted, and the city of Utrecht opened its gates. At the fortress of [[Woerden]] preparations for defense were made, but there was no actual resistance when the Prussians arrived. In [[Amsterdam]] several houses of patriot regents were plundered by mobs. The stadholder returned to [[The Hague]], and Amsterdam, the last city to hold out, surrendered on October 10.

The Patriots continued urging citizens to resist the government by distributing pamphlets, creating "Patriot Clubs" and holding public [[Demonstration (people)|demonstration]]s. The government responded by pillaging the towns where the opposition was concentrated. Most Patriots went into exile in France, while [[Orangism (Netherlands)|Orangist]]s strengthened their grip on Dutch government chiefly through the [[Grand Pensionary]] [[Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel]].

==Proclamation of the Republic==
{{See also|Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition{{!}}Flanders Campaign}}
[[File:Beginning of the revolution in Amsterdam, 19 January, 1795.jpg|thumb|Beginning of the revolution in Amsterdam, 19 January 1795]]
 [[File:Feest_der_Vrijheid_op_de_Dam_te_Amsterdam,_4_maart_1795_Vreugde-Feest,_ter_inwyding_van_de_Vryheids-boom_in_Amsterdam,_Gevierd_den_4.den_Maart_1795._het_eerste_Jaar_der_Bataafsche_Vrijheid_(titel_op_object),_RP-P-OB-86.446.jpg|thumb|Solumn inauguration of a liberty tree on [[Dam Square]] in [[Amsterdam]] on 4 March 1795<ref>From mid January 1795 the weather was extremely cold with a lot of snow according to J. Buisman, deel, 6, p. 844</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2024}}]]
The restoration was temporary, however. Only two years later, the [[French Revolution]] began, which embraced many of the political ideas that the Patriots had espoused in their own revolt.<ref>Schama, ch. 3 and 4</ref> The Patriots enthusiastically supported the Revolution, and when the French revolutionary armies started spreading it, the Patriots joined in, hoping to liberate their own country from its authoritarian yoke. The Stadtholder joined the ill-fated [[First Coalition]] of countries in their attempt to subdue the suddenly anti-Austrian [[French First Republic]]. This [[War of the First Coalition]] also proceeded disastrously for the Stadtholder's forces, and in the severe winter of 1794/95 a French army under general [[Charles Pichegru]], with a Dutch contingent under general [[Herman Willem Daendels]], crossed the great frozen rivers that traditionally protected the Netherlands from invasion. Aided by the fact that a substantial proportion of the Dutch population looked favourably upon the French incursion, and often considered it a liberation,<ref>Schama, p. 187</ref><ref>Israel, p. 1120</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2023}} the French were quickly able to break the resistance of the forces of the Stadtholder, and his Austrian and British allies. However, in many cities revolution broke out even before the French arrived and [[Revolutionary Committee of the Batavian Republic|Revolutionary Committees]] took over the city governments, and (provisionally) the national government also. The [[States of Holland and West Friesland]], for instance, were abolished and replaced with the [[Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland]].<ref>Schama, pp.188–190</ref>

==Aftermath==
The Batavian Revolution ended with the proclamation of the [[Batavian Republic]] in 1795. William was forced to flee to England,<ref>Schama, p. 191</ref> from where he issued the [[Kew Letters]] ordering all Dutch colonies to cooperate with British efforts to occupy them. Several coups followed in 1798, 1801 and 1805 which brought different groups of Patriots to power. Though the French presented themselves as liberators,<ref>Schama, p. 195</ref> many disagreed. The Batavian Republic saw its end in 1806, when the [[Kingdom of Holland]] was founded, with [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]'s brother, [[Louis Bonaparte|Louis Napoleon]] as King of Holland. In 1810, the area was annexed into the [[First French Empire]]. In 1813, the Netherlands regained their independence, with William's son [[William I of the Netherlands|William Frederick]] as sovereign prince.

==See also==
* [[Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

*[[Simon Schama|Schama, Simon]], ''Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands 1780–1813'', 1977
*De Vries, Jan and Ad van der Woude, The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500-1815. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211628/http://www1.umassd.edu/euro/2007papers/aucoin.pdf Danielle Aucoin. The Dutch Patriot Revolution 1780 – 1787:Continuity or Change?]
*[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/patriots.html The Patriots, 1787]
*[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/18cen/patriotcrushing.html The Prussian Invasion of the Netherlands in 1787]

==Further reading==
* Klein, S. R. E. (1995) Patriots Republikanisme. Politieke cultuur in Nederland (1766–1787).
* Leeb, I. L. (1973) The Ideological Origins of the Batavian Revolution.
* Verweij, G. (1996) Geschiedenis van Nederland. Levensverhaal van zijn bevolking.

{{Netherlands topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batavian Revolution}}
[[Category:Patriottentijd]]
[[Category:18th-century revolutions]]
[[Category:Batavian Republic]]
[[Category:Atlantic Revolutions]]
[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]