Editing Stadtholder (section)

=== Abolition and transition to sovereign kingdom ===
The exiles returned with French armies in the winter of 1795 and overcame the frozen [[Dutch Water Line]]. William V fled to England, and the office of stadtholder was abolished that year,{{sfn|Ward|1922|p=258}} when the [[France|French]] revolutionary forces installed the [[Batavian Republic]]. Similarly, while from 1572 in the [[Southern Netherlands]] the Habsburg lords continued to appoint provincial stadtholders for the region, this ceased when they were annexed by France in 1794. In 1806, [[Napoleon]] established the [[Kingdom of Holland]], putting his younger brother [[Louis Bonaparte|Louis]] on the throne. He abdicated his throne in 1810 in favour of his son [[Napoléon Louis Bonaparte|Louis II]]. He ruled for nine days, until his uncle Napoleon took charge himself, annexing the kingdom to the French Empire, until its fall in 1813.

Soon after the French army withdrew from the Netherlands, [[William I of the Netherlands|William Frederick]], the son of [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]], was invited by the [[Triumvirate of 1813]] to become the first 'Sovereign Prince'. William had been living in exile in London during the French occupation. On 13 November 1813 he returned to the Netherlands to accept the invitation. On 16 March 1815 he assumed the title of King of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]].