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Lot Essay
William V (1748-1806) assumed the position of stadtholder (chief executive) and Captain-General of the Dutch States Army in 1766. On 4 October 1767 in Berlin, Prince William married Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the daughter of Augustus William of Prussia, niece of Frederick the Great and a cousin of George III.
The position of the Dutch during the American War of Independence was one of neutrality. William V, leading the pro-British faction within the government, blocked attempts by pro-independence, and later pro-French, elements to drag the government to war. The United Provinces recognized the United States in February 1782.
After the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the impoverished nation grew restless under William's rule. In the meantime, a band of young revolutionaries, called Patriots, was challenging his authority more and more. In June 1787 his energetic wife Wilhelmina tried to travel to the Hague. Outside Schoonhoven, she was stopped by militia, taken to a farm near Goejanverwellesluis. To Wilhelmina and her brother, Frederick William II of Prussia, this was an insult. Frederick sent in an army to attack the dissidents. Many patriots, supported by King Louis XVI, fled to France.
With the coming of the French Revolution William V joined the First Coalition against Republican France in 1793. The year 1795 was a disastrous one for the ancien regime of the Netherlands. Supported by the French Army, the revolutionaries returned from Paris to fight in the Netherlands, and in 1795 William V fled to the safety of England. From 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. A few days later the Fall of Amsterdam occurred, and the Dutch Republic was abolished by the French.
In 1813, his son, King William I returned to the Netherlands and became the first Dutch monarch from the House of Orange.
The position of the Dutch during the American War of Independence was one of neutrality. William V, leading the pro-British faction within the government, blocked attempts by pro-independence, and later pro-French, elements to drag the government to war. The United Provinces recognized the United States in February 1782.
After the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the impoverished nation grew restless under William's rule. In the meantime, a band of young revolutionaries, called Patriots, was challenging his authority more and more. In June 1787 his energetic wife Wilhelmina tried to travel to the Hague. Outside Schoonhoven, she was stopped by militia, taken to a farm near Goejanverwellesluis. To Wilhelmina and her brother, Frederick William II of Prussia, this was an insult. Frederick sent in an army to attack the dissidents. Many patriots, supported by King Louis XVI, fled to France.
With the coming of the French Revolution William V joined the First Coalition against Republican France in 1793. The year 1795 was a disastrous one for the ancien regime of the Netherlands. Supported by the French Army, the revolutionaries returned from Paris to fight in the Netherlands, and in 1795 William V fled to the safety of England. From 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. A few days later the Fall of Amsterdam occurred, and the Dutch Republic was abolished by the French.
In 1813, his son, King William I returned to the Netherlands and became the first Dutch monarch from the House of Orange.