The Batavian Republic (Dutch: Bataafse Republiek) is the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands.
It is proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ends on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland.The new Republic enjoys widespread support from the Dutch population and is the product of a genuine popular revolution.
Nevertheless, it clearly is founded with the armed support of the revolutionary French Republic.
The Batavian Republic becomes a client state, first of the "sister-republics", and later of the French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, and its politics are deeply influenced by the French, who support no fewer than three coups d'état to bring the different political factions to power that France favors at different moments in her own historical development.
Nevertheless, the process of creating a written Dutch constitution is mainly driven by internal political factors, not by French influence—until Napoleon forces the Dutch government to accept his brother as monarch.The political, economic and social reforms that are brought about during the relatively short duration of the Batavian Republic have had a lasting impact.
The confederal structure of the old Dutch Republic is permanently replaced by a unitary state.
For the first time in Dutch history, the constitution that is adopted in 1798 has a genuinely democratic character (despite the fact that it is pushed through after a coup d'état).
For a while, the Republic is governed democratically, though the coup d'état of 1801 puts an authoritarian regime in power, after another change in constitution.
Nevertheless, the memory of this brief experiment with democracy helps smooth the transition to a more democratic government in 1848 (the constitutional revision by Thorbecke, limiting the power of the King).
A type of ministerial government is introduced for the first time in Dutch history and many of the current government departments date their history back to this period.Though the Batavian Republic is a client state, its successive governments try their best to maintain a modicum of independence and to serve Dutch interests even where those clash with those of their French overseers.
This perceived obduracy leads to the eventual demise of the Republic when the short-lived experiment with the (again authoritarian) regime of "Grand Pensionary" Schimmelpenninck produces insufficient docility in the eyes of Napoleon.
The new king, Louis Napoleon - Napoleon's own brother - surprisingly does not slavishly follow French dictates either, leading to his downfall.
