The Departments of The French Period
During the Batavian Republic, the Netherlands was from 1798 to 1801 completely reorganised into eight new departments, most named after rivers, inspired by the French revolutionary example, in an attempt to do away with the old semi-autonomous status of the provinces. They are listed below, with their capitals and the territory of the former provinces that they mostly incorporated:
English name | Dutch name | Capital | Contained the territory of |
---|---|---|---|
Department of the Ems | Departement van de Eems | Leeuwarden | Northern Friesland, Groningen |
Department of the Old IJssel | Departement van de Oude IJssel | Zwolle | Southern Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel, Northern Gelderland |
Department of the Rhine | Departement van de Rijn | Arnhem | Central Gelderland, eastern Utrecht |
Department of the Amstel | Departement van de Amstel | Amsterdam | The area around Amsterdam |
Department of Texel | Departement van Texel | Alkmaar | Northern Holland minus Amsterdam, northwestern Utrecht |
Department of the Delft | Departement van de Delft | Delft | Southern Holland up to the Meuse, southwestern Utrecht |
Department of the Dommel | Departement van de Dommel | 's-Hertogenbosch | The eastern part of Batavian Brabant, southern Gelderland |
Department of the Scheldt and Meuse | Departement van de Schelde en Maas | Middelburg | Zeeland, Holland south of the Meuse and the western part of Batavian Brabant |
After only three years, following a coup d'etat, the borders of the former provinces were restored, though not their autonomous status. They were now also called "departments" and Drenthe was added to Overijssel. In 1806 the Kingdom of Holland replaced the republic to further French interests. It was during this administration that Holland was first split in two, with the department of Amstelland to the north and that of Maasland to the south. East Frisia, then as now in Germany, was added to the kingdom as a department in 1807 and Drenthe split off again making a total of 11 departments.
When the Netherlands finally did become fully part of France in 1810, the departments of the kingdom and their borders were largely maintained, with some joined together. They were however nearly all renamed, again mainly after rivers, though the names differed from their Batavian counterparts. Following are their names and the modern day province they corresponded for the most part to:
English name | French name | Dutch name | Modern province(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Department of the Zuiderzee | Département du Zuyderzée | Departement van de Zuiderzee | North Holland & Utrecht |
Department of the Mouths of the Meuse | Département des Bouches-de-la-Meuse | Departement van de Monden van de Maas | South Holland |
Department of the Mouths of the Scheldt | Département des Bouches-de-l'Escaut | Departement van de Monden van de Schelde | Zeeland |
Department of the Two Nethes | Département des Deux-Nèthes | Departement van de Twee Nethen | Western North Brabant & Antwerp |
Department of the Mouths of the Rhine | Département des Bouches-du-Rhin | Departement van de Monden van de Rijn | Eastern North Brabant & southern Gelderland |
Department of the Upper IJssel | Département de l'Yssel-Supérieur | Departement van de Boven IJssel | Northern Gelderland |
Department of the Mouths of the IJssel | Département des Bouches-de-l'Yssel | Departement van de Monden van de IJssel | Overijssel |
Department of Frisia | Département de la Frise | Departement Friesland | Friesland |
Department of the Western Ems | Département de l'Ems-Occidental | Departement van de Wester Eems | Groningen & Drenthe |
Department of the Eastern Ems | Département de l'Ems-Oriental | Departement van de Ooster Eems | (East-Frisia) |
With the defeat and withdrawal of the French in 1813, the old provinces and their names were re-established, Holland was reunited and East-Frisia went its separate way. The 17 provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands were for a significant part based on the former French departments and their borders, in particular in what would later become Belgium.
Read more about this topic: Provinces Of The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the words departments, french and/or period:
“Some of these men had become abstrusely entangled with the spying departments of other nations and would give an amusing jump if you came from behind and tapped them on the shoulder.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (18991977)
“Are ye right there, Michael? are ye right?
Do you think that well be there before the night?
Yeve been so long in startin,
That ye couldnt say for sartin
Still ye might now, Michael, so ye might!”
—William Percy French (18541920)
“Not only do our wives need support, but our children need our deep involvement in their lives. If this period [the early years] of primitive needs and primitive caretaking passes without us, it is lost forever. We can be involved in other ways, but never again on this profoundly intimate level.”
—Augustus Y. Napier (20th century)