Government of the Dutch Republic in exile

The Government of the Dutch Republic spent nearly twenty years in exile in London between 1795 and 1814 in opposition successively to the French-backed governments of the Netherlands, initially the Batavian Republic up to 1806 and from then on the Kingdom of Holland. It was led first by the stadholder, William V, Prince of Orange until his death. The Dutch Republic was never restored, but a replacement Kingdom of the Netherlands was set up by the Orangists in 1813-14.
Establishment
Following the Fall of the Dutch Republic in 1795 William V, Prince of Orange fled to England taking with him a large number of supporters, troops and ships. There he established a Government in Exile , in London which was housed at various residences during the initial few years.
Military Campaigns
William began to lobby the British government to launch a major military operation to drive the French out of the Netherlands and restore his government.
In the meantime the Royal Navy had sent a number of expeditions to take control of Dutch colonial possessions fearing that they might be used by the French. As one naval Captain put it to Henry Dundas, a British minister, "What was a feather in the hands of Holland will become a sword in the hands of France". These expeditions met with varying success, a British force captured Trincomalee, Malacca, Colombo and much of the Spice Islands, but a mixed Anglo-Dutch force failed to capture the Cape Colony.
In 1799 the British and Russians agreed to launch an invasion of Holland convinced by the Orangists that the population would rise up against the French. They were soon disabused of this notion when they landed, and most of the population was indifferent or openly hostile. French military resistance was tougher than expected, and in late 1799 the Allies were forced to withdraw under the terms of the Convention of Alkmaar.
New Leadership
The British now remained pessimistic about any future military expeditions to the Low Countries, instead preferring to direct their efforts against the French in the West Indies, Denmark and later in the Iberian Peninsula. In 1806 William V died, and leadership of the exiled government fell to his son. During his time William V had been criticised for his lacklustre role in promoting the cause of the Dutch Republic, and he was satirised by the British press as an amoral dilettante.
The new Prince of Orange William had already spent time on the continent ruling a small principality. To neutralise him Napoleon gave him a pension and recognised him as Prince of Orange, through this gave him little real standing in the Kingdom of Holland which was governed by Napoleon's brother, Louis Bonaparte. The Orangists still looked to him as the Stadholder, although the actual leadership of the opposition shifted to other figures. His son William II was sent to Oxford and was regarded as a great hope for the future by British political leaders such as Lord Castelreagh and Lord Liverpool. He later served as an aide to the Duke of Wellington in Spain.
The only military action in these years taken on behalf of the Dutch was the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, ostensibly in the name of the Republic, but actually because of its use as a naval base to the British.
1813
In 1813 William VI, Prince of Orange returned to London where he embarked on talks with Castelreagh who was planning to launch an uprising in the Netherlands. A military unit the Orange Legion was formed, mainly from French prisoners of Dutch nationality, to support this goal. To further strengthen the bond between Britain and the Dutch, a marriage was proposed between the younger William and Princess Charlotte, daughter of the George IV of Great Britain (then the Prince of Wales) - although it subsequently fell through.
This renewed interest in the Dutch cause delighted Orangists, many of who had spent nearly twenty years in exile. By late 1813 a rising had been started, and Anglo-Dutch troops committed - helped by the fact that the French were retreating on all fronts. The British wanted to have Orange declared King, something which went against the political traditions of the old Dutch Republic, which had largely adhered to the principles of Republicanism since its foundation. However, according to reports sent to Castelreagh by William's chief minister Gijsbert van Hogendorp the Prince was greeted everywhere as a 'Sovereign'. Soon the French had been driven out of the Netherlands, and the new Dutch authorities annexed Belgium. Most of the last refugees and members of the Government in Exile, some of whom had been born in England and never set foot in the Netherlands, arrived in Amsterdam.
Congress of Vienna
The new status of the Netherlands was confirmed in the 1815 Congress of Vienna. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands was fully recognised and its governance over Belgium was confirmed. All Dutch colonies seized by the Royal Navy were returned except the Cape which was annexed by Britain in exchange for a payment of £2 million.
The reinstated Dutch government helped enforce these peace terms during the Hundred Days campaign when France briefly invaded Belgium before being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
Aftermath
Although the Dutch Republic was not restored, there proved to be opposition to the imposition of a monarchist form of government rather than a Republic. The Dutch adopted a form of constitutional monarchy which was more palatable than the years of absolutism they had recently experienced.
A number of blue plaques today mark where prominent members of the Dutch government were housed.
A later Dutch government in exile was sheltered in London between 1940 and 1945 during the Second World War.

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