Five Brothers and a War

History—1700 to 1800 AD

In 1747, Willem was appointed Stadhouder in the remaining provinces, thereby recombining them. However, he died four years later, in 1751. This, of course, led to his three-year-old son, Willem V, inheriting the position. He only assumed the formal position in 1766, when he reached the age of 18. He married Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia. He led the Dutch through the Fourth Anglo-Dutch war in 1780, but that war left Holland essentially impoverished. This left Willem V very unpopular in Holland, and moves were made against him at various times. About this time, France was engulfed by its revolution. Willem V sided with the French monarchy, which then resulted in an attack by the French Republicans. Willem V fled to England, at which point the Dutch Republic was replaced with the Bataafse Republiek (“ Batavian Republic”), a client-state of France. By way of background, “Batavia” was the name of a section of Holland, around Nijmegen, given by the Romans. There was a movement in Holland to recognize Batavians as the forefathers of the nation. This resulted in the name Batavia being given to areas within Dutch colonies in both Indonesia (present-day Jakarta) and Suriname. While this Batavian republic was short-lived, the changes brought about during its tenure were permanent and profound. It combined the provinces into a united whole, a constitution was adopted for the first time, and it planted the seeds of a democracy, though this was interrupted by Napoleon. It also ended the concept of Stadhouders governing the confederation of provinces. One other change was that it brought forward the concept of ministerial government, where departments were formed and run.

holland

Prins Willem V van Oranje

Five Brothers and a War

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