Kingdom of Holland - History

History

Napoleon felt he did not have enough control over the Netherlands, thus he sent his brother, Louis Napoleon, and made him king. Many citizens were very happy with his arrival; they had feared that the Republic would be incorporated into the French Empire. But there was also opposition, because many feared the new King would introduce the dreaded conscription. This he would not do, much to the dismay of Napoleon, who demanded that Louis would raise a large army to guard the North from British invasion, and to aid the French armies in Germany and Spain. Apart from the lavishly uniformed Royal Guard, the army of the Kingdom of Holland would always be short of recruits, leading to units being disbanded or amalgamated. Acts to recruit more troops, for instance by raising a Jewish regiment or by adding all male orphans to the army as Velites were of little effect, the latter leading to public riots and accusations of introducing the conscription. Louis introduced the Guilder, founded several major institutions (some of which exist to this day) and had a Penal Law Code compiled, largely modeled on French law. Due to the economic blockade enforced by Napoleon, the economy of the Kingdom of Holland was further ruined; the smuggling of British goods increased. Louis hesitated to oppose this, which lead France sending units of Douanes Imperiales to Holland. After British troops invaded Walcheren in 1809, Napoleon was fed up with his hesitant brother. After annexing the southern provinces of Holland into the Empire, Napoleon convinced Louis to abdicate and in 1810 annexed the kingdom into the French Empire making the Netherlands, in effect, an integral part of France itself.