The Incorporation is a period in Dutch history where the country was part of the First French Empire. This period lasted from July 9, 1810, until November 21, 1813.
The Incorporation is a period in Dutch history where the country was part of the First French Empire. This period lasted from July 9, 1810, until November 21, 1813.
The Batavian Republic which existed from 1795 was made into a kingdom by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. He placed his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, in The Netherlands known as Louis Napoleon, on the throne of the newly formed Kingdom of Holland. During his kingship Louis tried to maintain an independent course from his brother, but his brother grew tired of the military weakness of his brother. After the Walcheren Campaign in the summer of 1809 he summoned his brother to Paris and incorporated the island of Walcheren later that year. Next year, the Dutch territories south of the Rhine were added into the growing empire of Napoleon. With this sacrifices Louis Bonaparte hoped he could please his brother and he could remain king of this reduced kingdom. [1]
Louis Napoleon abdicated and fled his kingdom on 2 July 1810. Immediately marshal Nicolas Oudinot took control of the capital of the kingdom, Amsterdam. A week later Napoleon officially incorporated the Kingdom of Holland into his empire. He gave the order to his confidant Charles-François Lebrun to oversee the transition of the French rule in the former kingdom as a Lieutenant General. After a few days Lebrun arrived in Amsterdam. [2] In August 1810 a committee of 15 Dutch notables went to Paris to give the French government proposals for the efficiently integration of the Netherlands into the French Empire.
In the Decree of Rambouillet of November 9, 1810, the official incorporation act, the structure of the Kingdom of Holland was largely kept intact. Louis Bonaparte's ministers stayed at their positions until 1811. The city of Amsterdam became the third capital of the First French Empire, after Paris and Rome. In the Dutch departments the French language became the official language. [3] Napoleon also formed seven Dutch departments and at the top of the Dutch departments was the governor general: Lebrun. He was assisted with some intendants, ministers, for governing the Dutch departments. François Dalphonse was made intendant de l'interieur and Alexander Gogel became intendant des finances. [4]
The introduction of the imperial conscription in the former Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1811 became the most unpopular measure of the government. The conscription led to civil unrest in different parts of the incorporated territories and it was the most sincere form of unrest during the Incorporation. [5] Besides the conscription several other French institutions were introduced in the Netherlands. The civil marriage, status, the land registry and the chamber of commerce were all introduced during the Incorporation. [6]
When Napoleon lost the Battle of Leipzig in the autumn of 1813, the Dutch departments were, a month later, invaded by Russian Cossacks and Prussian troops. Within weeks, the French administration in the Netherlands crumbled and Lebrun and the army fled to France. The Dutch politician Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp issued a proclamation for the independence of The Netherlands and making an end to the Incorporation. The son of the last stadtholder, William Frederick, returned to the Netherlands to become the first sovereign of the country. [7] After the Congress of Vienna, he became the first king of the Netherlands.
The government of the Dutch departments during the Incorporation consisted of:
Holland is a geographical region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the counts of Holland. By the 17th century, the province of Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic.
The Batavian Republic was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis I to the Dutch throne. From October 1801 onward, it was known as the Batavian Commonwealth. Both names refer to the Germanic tribe of the Batavi, representing both the Dutch ancestry and their ancient quest for liberty in their nationalistic lore.
The Kingdom of Holland was set up by Napoléon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country. In 1807, East Frisia and Jever were added to the kingdom.
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland. In that capacity he was known as Louis I.
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam, opposite the War Memorial and next to the Nieuwe Kerk.
Charles-François Lebrun, 1st duc de Plaisance, was a French statesman who served as Third Consul of the French Republic and was later created Arch-Treasurer and Prince of the Empire by Napoleon I.
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Isaac Jan Alexander Gogel was a Dutch politician, who was the first minister of finance of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland. He married Catharina van Hasselt in 1800, and had three children.
Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte was King of Holland for less than two weeks in July 1810 as Louis II. He was a son of Louis Bonaparte and Queen Hortense. His father was the younger brother of Napoleon I of France who ruled the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland from 1806 to 1810. His mother was the daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife. His younger brother, Louis-Napoléon, became Emperor of the French in 1852 as Napoleon III.
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch jurist, ambassador and politician who served as Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic from 1805 to 1806.
Jonkheer Jan Willem Janssens GCMWO was a Dutch nobleman, soldier and statesman who served both as the governor of the Dutch Cape Colony and governor-general of the Dutch East Indies.
Corneli(u)s Rudolphus Theodorus, Baron Krayenhoff was a physicist, artist, general, hydraulic engineer, cartographer and – against his will and for only a short time – Dutch Minister of War.
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Holland, a client state of Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire which encompassed most of the modern-day state of the Netherlands, was instituted in 1806.
The Coronation of Napoleon is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon, depicting the coronation of Napoleon at Notre-Dame de Paris. The oil painting has imposing dimensions – it is almost 10 metres (33 ft) wide by a little over 6 metres (20 ft) tall. The work is on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Count Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendal was a general from the Southern Netherlands, in the service of France and the Netherlands.
PhilipJulius van Zuylen van Nijevelt was a Dutch general, nobleman and politician. He was appointed Marshal of Holland in the Kingdom of Holland and served as French senator following the annexation of Holland by the Napoleonic Empire. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt was also an amateur scientist and became known for his treatise on chess.
The Order of the Reunion was an order of merit of the First French Empire, set up to be awarded to Frenchmen and foreigners to reward services in the civil service, magistracy and army, particularly those from areas newly annexed to France, such as the Kingdom of Holland. It was established in 1811 and abolished in 1815. There were similar orders in the other states annexed by France, such as the Palatinate, Papal States, Tuscany and Piedmont, including the Order of the Lion of the Palatinate, the Order of the Golden Spur, the Cross of St John Lateran, the Cross of St Stephen, the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation and the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.
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Marshal of Holland was an honorary title bestowed on military leaders of the Kingdom of Holland, a client state of Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire which encompassed most of the modern-day state of the Netherlands. The title was based on Marshal of the Empire, installed by Napoleon in 1804 to replace the previous title Marshal of France.