Editing Batavian Republic (section)

===Revolutionary States-General===
{{main|States-General of the Batavian Republic |National Assembly of the Batavian Republic}}
[[File:Flag of the navy of the Batavian Republic.svg|thumb|upright=0.6|left|[[Ensign (flag)|Ensign]] of the [[Batavian Navy]] ("''Bataafsche vlag''").]]
[[File:Marine Vlaggen van de Bataafse Republiek (Navy Flags of the Batavian Republic) 1796 Hendrik Roosing.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Flag of the Netherlands#Flag of the Batavian Republic|Naval flag]] and pennants of the Batavian Republic. The [[Flag terminology|canton]] features the [[Dutch Maiden|Netherlands Maiden]].]]

At first, the revolutionaries used the constitutional machinery of the old confederal republic. They resumed where they had left off after the purge in 1787 of Patriot [[Regenten|regents]], taking over the offices of the Orangist regents that were now purged in their turn. (For instance, the [[States of Holland and West Friesland]] were replaced by having the 18 cities that formally were represented in those States send representatives to a [[constituent assembly]] that formally abolished the States and founded a new body, the [[Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland]], that took over the functions of the States of Holland as long as the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] continued to exist<ref>Schama, pp. 190–191, 212.</ref>).  Though the political make-up of the States General changed appreciably because of this change in personnel, it retained a number of defenders of the old [[Political particularism|particularist]] interests. The first order of business of the revolutionaries therefore was to strive for the reform of the confederal state, with its discrimination of the [[Generality Lands]], and of particular minorities (Catholics, Jews), in the direction of a [[unitary state]], in which the minorities would be [[Emancipation|emancipated]], and the old entrenched interests superseded by a more [[Democracy|democratic]] political order.<ref>The revolutionary States-General had already proclaimed its own version of the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] in March 1795; Schama, p. 262.</ref> As a first step the representatives of [[North Brabant|Brabant]] were admitted to the States General.<ref>Schama, pp. 215–221.</ref>

However, a grass-roots democratic movement began to form in the Summer of 1795, consisting of popular societies (clubs) and ''wijkvergaderingen'' (precinct meetings), demanding popular influence on the government. A kind of parallel government in the form of "general assemblies" sprang up next to the city governments and the provincial States that repeatedly came into conflict with the established order. In the Fall of 1795 the States General started to work on a procedure to peacefully replace itself, "by constitutional means", with a [[National Assembly of the Batavian Republic|National Assembly]] that would possess full executive, legislative and constituent powers.<ref>Schama, p. 237.</ref> This project at first met with sharp resistance  from the conservatives. In some cases even force was used (as in [[Friesland]] and [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]])<ref>Schama, p. 243.</ref> to overcome this opposition. The new National Assembly convened in The Hague on 1 March 1796.<ref>Schama, p. 245.</ref>