THE KINGDOM OF HOLLAND AND THE FRENCH ANNEXATION, 1806-1814
Louis Bonaparte was but 28 years old, and of a kindly, gentle character
very unlike his self-willed, domineering brother. He was weakly, and his
ill-health made him at times restless and moody. He had given great
satisfaction by his declaration that "as soon as he set foot on the soil
of his kingdom he became a Hollander," and he was well received. The
constitution of the new kingdom differed little from that it superseded.
The Secretaries of State became Ministers, and the number of members of
the Legislative Body was raised to thirty-nine. The king had power to
conclude treaties with foreign States without consulting the Legislative
Body. The partition of the country was somewhat changed, Holland being
divided into two departments, Amstelland and Maasland. Drente became a
separate department; and in 1807 East Friesland with Jever was made into
an eleventh department, as compensation for Flushing, which was annexed
to France.
Louis came to the Hague with the best intentions of doing his utmost to
promote the welfare of his kingdom, but from the first he was thwarted
by the deplorable condition of the national finances. Out of a total
income of fifty million florins the interest on the national debt
absorbed thirty-five millions. The balance was not nearly sufficient to
defray the costs of administration, much less to meet the heavy demands
of Napoleon for contributions to war expenditure. All the efforts of the
finance minister Gogel to reduce the charges and increase the income
were of small avail. The king was naturally lavish, and he spent
considerable sums in the maintenance of a brilliant court, and in adding
to the number of royal residences. Dissatisfied with the Hague, he moved
first to Utrecht, then to Amsterdam, where the Stadhuis was converted
into a palace; and he bought the Pavilion at Haarlem as a summer abode.
All this meant great expenditure. 'Louis was vain, and was only
prevented from creating marshals of his army and orders of chivalry by
Napoleon's stern refusal to permit it. He had to be reminded that by the
Bonaparte family-law he was but a vassal king, owning allegiance to the
emperor.
Despite these weaknesses Louis did much for the land of his adoption.
The old Rhine at Leyden, which lost itself in the dunes, was connected
by a canal with Katwijk on the sea, where a harbour was created. The
dykes and waterways were repaired and improved, and high-roads
constructed from the Hague to Leyden, and from Utrecht to Het Loo. Dutch
literature found in Louis a generous patron. He took pains to learn the
language from the instruction of Bilderdijk, the foremost writer of his
day. The foundation in 1808 of the "Royal Netherland Institute for
Science, Letters and the Fine Arts" was a signal mark of his desire to
raise the standard of culture in Holland on a national basis. The
introduction of the _Code Napoléon,_ with some necessary modifications,
replaced a confused medley of local laws and customs, varying from
province to province, by a general unified legal system. As a statesman
and administrator Louis had no marked ability, but the ministers to whom
he entrusted the conduct of affairs, Verhuell, minister of marine,
Roëll, of foreign affairs, Kragenhoff, of war, Van Maanen, of justice,
and more especially the experienced Gogel, in control of the embarrassed
finances, were capable men.
The state of the finances indeed was the despair of the Dutch
government. The imperious demands of Napoleon for the maintenance of an
army of 40,000 men, to be employed by him on foreign campaigns, and also
of a considerable navy, made all attempts at economy and re-organisation
of the finances almost hopeless. By the war with England the Dutch had
lost their colonies and most of their great sea-borne trade; and the
situation was rendered more difficult by the Decree of Berlin in 1806
and the establishment of the "Continental System" by the emperor, as a
reply to the British blockade. All trade and even correspondence with
England were forbidden. He hoped thus to bring England to her knees;
but, though the decree did not achieve this object, it did succeed in
bringing utter ruin upon the Dutch commercial classes. In vain Louis
protested; he was not heard and only met with angry rebukes from his
brother for not taking more vigorous steps to stop smuggling, which the
character of the Dutch coast rendered a comparatively easy and, at the
same time, lucrative pursuit.
The overthrow of Austria and Prussia by Napoleon in 1805 and 1806,
followed in 1807 by the Peace of Tilsit with Russia, made the emperor
once more turn his attention to the project of an invasion of his hated
enemy, England. A great French fleet was to be concentrated on the
Scheldt, with Antwerp and Flushing for its bases. For this purpose large
sums of money were expended in converting Antwerp into a formidable
naval arsenal. But the British government were well aware of "the pistol
that was being aimed at England's breast"; and in 1809 a powerful
expedition under the command of Lord Chatham was despatched, consisting
of more than 100 warships and transports, with the object of destroying
these growing dockyards and arsenals, and with them the threat of
invasion. The attack was planned at a favourable moment, for the
defensive force was very small, the bulk of the Dutch army having been
sent to fight in the Austrian and Spanish campaigns, and the French
garrisons greatly reduced. Chatham landed on the island of Walcheren,
captured Middelburg and Veere and on August 15 compelled Flushing to
surrender after such a furious bombardment that scarcely any houses
remained standing. The islands of Schouwen, Duiveland and Zuid-Beveland
were overrun; and, had the British general pushed on without delay,
Antwerp might have fallen. But this he failed to do; and meanwhile Louis
had collected, for the defence of the town, a force of 20,000 men,
which, to his deep chagrin, Napoleon did not allow him to command. No
attack however was made on Antwerp by the British, who had suffered
severely from the fevers of Walcheren; and on the news of Wagram and the
Treaty of Schönbrunn they slowly evacuated their conquests. Before the
end of the year the whole force had returned to England.
This invasion, though successfully repelled, only accentuated the
dissensions between the two brothers. French troops remained in
occupation of Zeeland; and the French army of the north at Antwerp, now
placed under the command of Marshal Oudinot, lay ready to enforce the
demands of the emperor should the Dutch government prove recalcitrant.
Those demands included the absolute suppression of smuggling, the
strictest enforcement of the decrees against trading with England,
conscription, and a repudiation of a portion of the State debt. Napoleon
overwhelmed his brother with bitter gibes and angry threats, declaring
that he wished to make Holland an English colony, and that the whole
land, even his own palace, was full of smuggled goods. At last, though
unwillingly, Louis consented to go in person to Paris and try to bring
about an amicable settlement of the questions at issue. He arrived on
December 26, intending to return at the New Year, meanwhile leaving the
Council of Ministers in charge of the affairs of the kingdom. He soon
found not only that his mission was in vain, but that he was regarded
virtually as a prisoner. For three months he remained in Paris under
police _surveillance_; and his interviews with his brother were of the
most stormy description. The Dutch Council, alarmed by the constant
threat of French invasion, at first thought of putting Amsterdam into a
state of defence, but finally abandoned the idea as hopeless. The king
did his utmost to appease Napoleon by the offer of concessions, but his
efforts were scornfully rejected, and at last he was compelled (March
16, 1810) to sign a treaty embodying the terms dictated by the emperor.
"I must," he said, "at any price get out of this den of murderers." By
this treaty Brabant and Zeeland and the land between the Maas and the
Waal, with Nijmwegen, were ceded to France. All commerce with England
was forbidden. French custom-house officers were placed at the mouths of
the rivers and at every port. Further, the Dutch were required to
deliver up fifteen men-of-war and one hundred gunboats.
Louis was compelled to remain at Paris for the marriage of Napoleon with
Marie Louise, but was then allowed to depart. Discouraged and
humiliated, he found himself, with the title of king, practically
reduced to the position of administrative governor of some French
departments. Oudinot's troops were in occupation of the Hague, Utrecht
and Leyden; and, when the emperor and his bride paid a state visit to
Antwerp, Louis had to do him homage. The relations between the two
brothers had for some time been strained, Napoleon having taken the part
of his step-daughter Hortense, who preferred the gaiety of Paris to the
dull court of her husband, reproached the injured man for not treating
better the best of wives. Matters were now to reach their climax. The
coachman of the French ambassador, Rochefoucault, having met with
maltreatment in the streets of Amsterdam, the emperor angrily ordered
Rochefoucault to quit the Dutch capital (May 29), leaving only a chargé
d'affaires, and at the same time dismissed Verhuell, the Dutch envoy,
from Paris. This was practically a declaration of war. The Council of
Ministers, on being consulted, determined that it was useless to attempt
the defence of Amsterdam; and, when the king learned towards the end of
June that Oudinot had orders to occupy the city, he resolved to
forestall this final humiliation by abdication. On July 1, 1810, he
signed the deed by which he laid down his crown in favour of his elder
son, Napoleon Louis, under the guardianship of Queen Hortense. He then
left the country, and retired into Bohemia.
To this disposition of the kingdom Napoleon, who had already made up his
mind, paid not the slightest heed. On July 9 an Imperial Decree
incorporated Holland in the French empire. "Holland," said the emperor,
"being formed by the deposits of three French rivers, the Rhine, the
Meuse and the Scheldt, was by nature a part of France." Not till January
1, 1811, was the complete incorporation to take place; meanwhile Le
Brun, Duke of Piacenza, a man of 72 years of age, was sent to Amsterdam
to be governor-general during the period of transition. It was a wise
appointment, as Le Brun was a man of kindly disposition, ready to listen
to grievances and with an earnest desire to carry out the transformation
of the government in a conciliatory spirit. With him was associated, as
Intendant of Home Affairs, Baron D'Alphonse, like himself of moderate
views, and a Council of Ministers. A deputation of twenty-two persons
from the Legislative Assembly was summoned to Paris for consultation
with the Imperial Government. To Amsterdam was given the position of the
third city in the empire, Paris being the first and Rome the second. The
country was divided into nine departments--Bouches de l'Escaut, Bouches
de la Meuse, Bouches du Rhin, Zuiderzee, Issel supérieur, Bouches de
Issel, Frise, Ems Occidental and Ems Oriental. Over the departments, as
in France, were placed _préfets_ and under them _sous-préfets_ and
_maires_. All the _préfets_ now appointed were native Dutchmen with the
exception of two, De Celles at Amsterdam and De Standaart at the Hague;
both were Belgians and both rendered themselves unpopular by their
efforts to gain Napoleon's favour by a stringent enforcement of his
orders. The Dutch representation in the Legislative Assembly at Paris
was fixed at twenty-five members; in the Senate at six members. When
these took their seats, the Council of Affairs at Amsterdam was
dissolved and at the same time the _Code Napoléon_ unmodified became
the law of the land.
Napoleon's demands upon Holland had always been met with the reply that
the land's finances were unequal to the strain. The debt amounted to
40,000,000 fl.; and, despite heavy taxation, there was a large annual
deficit in the budget. The emperor at once took action to remedy this
state of things by a decree reducing the interest on the debt to
one-third. This was a heavy blow to those persons whose limited incomes
were mainly or entirely derived from investments in the State
Funds--including many widows, and also hospitals, orphanages and other
charitable institutions. At the same time this step should not be
regarded as a mere arbitrary and dishonest repudiation of debt. The
State was practically bankrupt. For some years only a portion of the
interest or nothing at all had been paid; and the reduction in 1810 was
intended to be but a temporary measure. The capital amount was left
untouched, and the arrears of 1808 and 1809 were paid up at the new
rate. That financial opinion was favourably impressed by this drastic
action was shown by a considerable rise in the quotation of the Stock on
the Bourse.
A far more unpopular measure was the introduction of military and naval
conscription in 1811. There never had been any but voluntary service in
Holland. Indeed during the whole period of the Republic, though the
fleet was wholly manned by Dutch seamen, the army always included a
large proportion of foreign mercenaries. By the law of 1811 all youths
of twenty were liable to serve for five years either on land or sea; and
the contingent required was filled by the drawing of lots. Deep and
strong resentment was felt throughout the country, the more so that the
law was made retrospective to all who had reached the age of twenty in
the three preceding years. The battalions thus raised were treated as
French troops, and were sent to take part in distant campaigns--in Spain
and in Russia. Of the 15,000 men who marched with Napoleon into Russia
in 1812 only a few hundreds returned.
The strict enforcement of the Continental System entailed great
hardships upon the population. To such an extent was the embargo carried
that all English manufactured goods found in Holland were condemned to
be burnt; and the value of what was actually consumed amounted to
millions of florins. A whole army of custom-house officers watched
the coast, and every fishing smack that put to sea had one on board. At
the same time not till 1812 was the customs barrier with France removed.
In consequence of this prices rose enormously, industries were ruined,
houses were given up and remained unoccupied, and thousands upon
thousands were reduced to abject poverty. Such was the state of the
treasury that in 1812 the reformed preachers received no stipends, and
officials of all kinds had to be content with reduced salaries.
Nor were these the only causes of discontent. The police regulations and
the censorship of the press were of the severest description, and the
land swarmed with spies. No newspaper was permitted to publish any
article upon matters of State or any political news except such as was
sanctioned by the government, and with a French translation of the Dutch
original. This applied even to advertisements. All books had to be
submitted for the censor's _imprimatur_. Every household was subject to
the regular visitation of the police, who made the most minute
inquisition into the character, the opinions, the occupations and means
of subsistence of every member of the household.
Nevertheless the French domination, however oppressive, had good results
in that for the first time in their history the Dutch provinces acquired
a real unity. All the old particularism disappeared with the
burgher-aristocracies, and the party feuds of Orangists and patriots. A
true sense of nationality was developed. All classes of the population
enjoyed the same political rights and equality before the law. Napoleon
himself was not unpopular. In the autumn of 1811 he, accompanied by
Marie Louise, made a state-progress through this latest addition to his
empire. Almost every important place was visited, and in all parts of
the country he was received with outward demonstrations of enthusiasm
and almost servile obsequiency. It is perhaps not surprising, as the
great emperor was now at the very topmost height of his dazzling
fortunes.
But for Holland Napoleon's triumphs had their dark side, for his chief
and most determined enemy, England, was mistress of the seas; and the
last and the richest of the Dutch colonies, Java, surrendered to the
English almost on the very day that the Imperial progress began. Hearing
of the activity of the British squadron in the Eastern seas, King Louis
had, shortly after his acceptance of the crown, taken steps for the
defence of Java by appointing Daendels, a man of proved vigour and
initiative, governor-general. The difficulties of reaching Java in face
of British vigilance were however well-nigh insurmountable, and it was
not until a year after his nomination to the governorship that Daendels
reached Batavia, on January 1, 1808. His measures for the defence of the
island, including the construction of important highways, were most
energetic, but so oppressive and high-handed as to arouse hostility and
alienate the native chiefs. Napoleon, informed of Daendels' harsh rule,
sent out Janssens with a body of troops to replace him. The new
governor-general landed on April 27, 1811, but he could make no
effective resistance to a powerful British expedition under General
Auchmuty, which took possession of Batavia on August 4, and after some
severe fighting compelled (September 17) the whole of the Dutch forces
to capitulate.
The year of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, 1812, was a year of passive
endurance. The safety of the remnant of the Grand Army was secured
(November 28) by the courage and staunchness of the Dutch
pontoon-engineers, who, standing in the ice-cold water of the Beresina,
completed the bridge over which, after a desperate battle, the French
troops effected their escape. The Moscow catastrophe was followed in
1813 by a general uprising of the oppressed peoples of Europe against
the Napoleonic tyranny. In this uprising the Dutch people, although
hopes of freedom were beginning to dawn upon them, did not for some time
venture to take any part. The Prince of Orange however had been in
London since April, trying to secure a promise of assistance from the
British government in case of a rising; and he was working in
collaboration with a number of patriotic men in Holland, who saw in an
Orange restoration the best hopes for their country's independence. The
news of Leipzig (October 14-16) roused them to action.
Foremost among these leaders was Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp. He had
been one of the Orangist leaders at the time of the restoration of 1787
and had filled the post of pensionary of Rotterdam. After the French
conquest he had withdrawn from public life. With him were associated
Count Van Limburg-Stirum and Baron Van der Duyn van Maasdam, like
himself residents at the Hague. Van Hogendorp could also count on a
number of active helpers outside the Hague, prominent among whom were
Falck, Captain of the National Guard at Amsterdam, and Kemper, a
professor at Leyden. Plans were made for restoring the independence of
the country under the rule of the Prince of Orange; but, in order to
escape the vigilance of the French police, great care was taken to
maintain secrecy, and nothing was committed to writing. The rapid march
of allied troops, Russians and Prussians, towards the Dutch frontiers
after Leipzig necessitated rapid action.
Van Hogendorp and his friends wished that Holland should free herself by
her own exertions, for they were aware that reconquest by the allied
forces might imperil their claims to independence. Their opportunity
came when General Melliton, by order of the governor-general Le Brun,
withdrew on November 14 from Amsterdam to Utrecht. One of the Orangist
confederates, a sea-captain, named Job May, on the following day stirred
up a popular rising in the city; and some custom-houses were burnt. Le
Brun himself on this retreated to Utrecht and, on the 16th, after
transferring the government of the country to Melliton, returned to
France. Falck at the head of the National Guard had meanwhile
re-established order at Amsterdam, and placed the town in charge of a
provisional government. No sooner did this news reach the Hague than Van
Hogendorp and Van Limburg-Stirum determined upon instant action
(November 17). With a proclamation drawn up by Van Hogendorp, and at the
head of a body of the National Guard wearing Orange colours, Van
Limburg-Stirum marched through the streets to the Town Hall, where he
read the proclamation declaring the Prince of Orange "eminent head of
the State." No opposition being offered, after discussion with their
chief supporters, the triumvirate, Van Hogendorp, Van Limburg-Stirum and
Van der Duyn van Maasdam, took upon themselves provisionally the
government of the country, until the arrival of the Prince. Emissaries
were at once sent to Amsterdam to announce what had taken place at the
Hague. At first the Amsterdammers showed some hesitation; and it was not
until the arrival of a body of Cossacks at their gates (November 24),
that the city openly threw in its lot with the Orangist movement, which
now rapidly spread throughout the country. Without delay the provisional
government despatched two envoys, Fagel and De Perponcher, to London, to
inform the Prince of Orange of what had occurred and to invite him to
Holland.
William had been in England since April and had met with a
favourable reception. In an interview with the British Foreign
Secretary, Lord Castlereagh, support had been promised him
(April 27, 1813) on the following conditions: (1) the frontiers of
Holland should be extended "either by a sort of new Barrier, more
effective than the old one, or by the union of some portions of
territory adjacent to the ancient Republic; (2) Holland must wait
until such time as Great Britain should deem convenient in her
own interests for the restoration of the Dutch colonies, which she
had conquered during the war; (3) a system of government must
be set up which would reconcile the wishes of Holland with those
of the Powers called to exercise so powerful an influence upon her
future." William had gone to London knowing that he could rely
on the active assistance of his brother-in-law, Frederick William
of Prussia, and of the Emperor Alexander I, and that the goodwill
of England was assured by the projected marriage of his son (now
serving under Wellington in Spain) with the Princess Charlotte,
heiress-presumptive to the British throne. He now therefore
without hesitation accepted the invitation, and landed at
Scheveningen, November 30. He was received with unspeakable
enthusiasm. At first there was some doubt as to what title William
should bear and as to what should be the form of the new government.
Van Hogendorp had drawn up a draft of a constitution on
the old lines with an hereditary stadholder, a council-pensionary
and a privileged aristocracy, but with large and necessary amendments,
and the prince was himself inclined to a restoration of the
stadholdership with enlarged powers. To the arguments of Kemper
is the credit due of having persuaded him that a return to the old
system, however amended, had now become impossible. The prince
visited Amsterdam, December 2, and was there proclaimed by the
title and quality of William I, Sovereign-Prince of the Netherlands.
He refused the title of king, but the position he thus accepted with
general approval was that of a constitutional monarch, and the
promise was given that as soon as possible a Commission should
be appointed to draw up a Fundamental Law _(Grondwet)_ for the
Dutch State.
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