Editing House of Orange-Nassau (section)

== 18th century ==
=== Second Stadtholderless period ===
{{Further|Second Stadtholderless period}}
The regents found that they had suffered under the powerful leadership of William III as the ruler of the Netherlands and king in the British Isles and they left the stadtholdership vacant for the second time. As William III died childless in 1702 the principality became a matter of dispute between Prince [[John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz]] of the Frisian Nassaus and King [[Frederick I of Prussia]], who both claimed the title [[Prince of Orange]]. Both descended from [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange]]. The King of Prussia was his grandson through his mother, [[Countess Luise Henriette of Nassau]]. Frederick Henry in his will had appointed this line as successor in case the main House of Orange-Nassau were to die out. John William Friso was a great-grandson of Frederick Henry (through [[Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau]], another daughter) and was appointed heir in William III's will. The principality was captured by the forces of [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV of France]] under [[Comte de Grignan|François Adhémar de Monteil, Count of Grignan]], in the [[Franco-Dutch War]] in 1672, and again in August 1682. With the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] that ended the wars of Louis XIV, the territory was formally ceded to [[Kingdom of France|France]] by Frederick I in 1713.<ref name=Grew/>{{rp|1}} John William Friso drowned in 1711 in the [[Hollands Diep]] near [[Moerdijk]], and he left his posthumously born son [[William IV, Prince of Orange]]. That son succeeded at that time his father as stadtholder in [[Friesland]] (as the stadtholdership had been hereditary in that province since 1664), and [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]]. William IV was proclaimed the stadtholder of [[Guelders]], [[Overijssel]], and [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]] in 1722. When the French invaded Holland in 1747, William IV was appointed stadtholder in [[Holland]] and [[Zeeland]] as well in the [[Orangist revolution]]. The position of stadtholder was made hereditary in both the male and the female lines in all provinces at the same time.<ref name=Rowen/>{{rp|148–151,170}}

=== Hereditary territories in Germany ===
[[File:Nassau-Oranien-map.png|thumb|Hereditary possessions of the House of Orange-Nassau in Germany in 1789]]
After the Nassau-Dietz branch took over, the House of Orange-Nassau had acquired the following territories by the end of the 18th century in the Holy Roman Empire, located in present-day Germany:{{cn|date=October 2022}}
* [[Nassau-Dillenburg|County of Nassau-Dillenburg]], elevated to principality in 1654
* [[Nassau-Siegen|County of Nassau-Siegen]], elevated to principality
* County of Nassau-Dietz, elevated to principality
* [[Hadamar|County of Nassau-Hadamar]], elevated to principality
* [[Beilstein, Hesse|Fief Beilstein]]
* [[Spiegelberg|Fief Spiegelberg]]
* [[Nassau, Germany|Amt Nassau]] (shared with [[Nassau-Usingen]])
* [[Kirrberg (Saar)|Amt Kirrberg]] (shared with Nassau-Usingen)
* Grund Seel and [[Burbach, North Rhine-Westphalia|Burbach]] (shared with Nassau-Weilburg)
* [[Camberg|Amt Camberg]] (shared with the [[Electorate of Trier]])
* [[Wehrheim|Amt Wehrheim]] (shared with the Electorate of Trier)
* [[Bad Ems|Ems]] custody (shared with [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt|Hesse-Darmstadt]])

Around 1742, William IV of Orange established the Hochdeutsche Hofdepartement, an administrative centre located in The Hague inside the Dutch Republic, which looked after the family's possessions in Germany.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xmZAwAAQBAJ |title='Wachse hoch, Oranien!': Auf dem Weg zum ersten König der Niederlande: Wilhelm Friedrich Prinz von Oranien-Nassau als regierender deutscher Fürst 1802-1806: Fulda + Corvey + Dortmund + Weingarten |chapter=Eine Republik und viele Fürsten |first=Simon |last=Groenveld |publisher=Waxmann Verlag |location=Münster |date=2013 |pages=19 |access-date=23 October 2022 |isbn=9783830979692 |lang=de}}</ref>

=== End of the stadtholdership ===
William IV died in 1751, leaving his three-year-old son, [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]], as the stadtholder. Since William V was still a minor, the regents reigned for him. He grew up to be an indecisive person, a character defect which would come to haunt William V his whole life.
His marriage to Wilhelmina of Prussia relieved this defect to some degree. In 1787, Willem V survived an attempt to depose him by the [[Patriottentijd|Patriots]] (anti-Orangist revolutionaries) after the [[Prussian invasion of Holland|Kingdom of Prussia intervened]]. When the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|French invaded Holland]] in 1795, William V was forced into exile, and he was never to return alive to Holland.<ref name=Rowen/>{{rp|228–229}}<ref name=Blok/>{{rp|vol5,289}}

After 1795, the House of Orange-Nassau faced a difficult period, surviving in exile at other European courts, especially those of Prussia and Britain. Following the recognition of the [[Batavian Republic]] by the 1801 [[Oranienstein Letters]], William V's son William VI renounced the stadtholdership in 1802. In return, he received a few territories like the [[Dortmund|Free Imperial City of Dortmund]], [[Imperial Abbey of Corvey|Corvey Abbey]] and [[Fulda monastery|Diocese of Fulda]] from First Consul [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] of the [[French First Republic|French Republic]] ([[Treaty of Amiens]]), which was established as the [[Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda]].<ref>He acquired Fulda, Corvey, Weingarten and Dortmund. He lost the possessions again after changing sides from France to Prussia in 1806 when he refused to join the [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. Cf. J. and A. Romein 'Erflaters van onze beschaving', Querido, 1979</ref> William V died in 1806.<ref name="Hay2016">{{cite journal|last1=Hay|first1=Mark Edward|title=The House of Nassau between France and Independence, 1795–1814: Lesser Powers, Strategies of Conflict Resolution, Dynastic Networks|journal=The International History Review|date=1 June 2016|volume=38|issue=3|pages=482–504|doi=10.1080/07075332.2015.1046387|s2cid=155502574|url=https://www.academia.edu/25907933}}</ref>