Kingdom of Holland

The Kingdom of Holland was a short-lived client state created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806 as the successor of the Batavian Republic. Napoleon wanted a monarchy in the Netherlands that would be a more reliable ally against Britain, and he placed his brother Louis Bonaparte on the throne. The kingdom covered most of the present-day Netherlands and, after 1807, East Frisia and Jever in Germany. Amsterdam was its capital, while the government sat at The Hague. Louis tried to pursue Dutch interests rather than obey his brother: he refused to enforce the Continental System strictly and maintained trade with Britain. In 1809, after the Walcheren Campaign, the kingdom lost its territories south of the Rhine to France. Napoleon grew impatient with Louis and annexed the kingdom outright in July 1810. The Netherlands remained part of the French Empire until 1813. The episode marked the first formal monarchy in the northern Netherlands since 1581.