The country now known as the Netherlands had declared independence as the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (Dutch: Republiek der Zeeven Vereenigde Provinciën) in 1581.
Each province was governed by the Provincial States; the main executive official was a stadtholder (stadhouder in Dutch).
The infighting between the regents and the Orangists was one of the causes of the downturn of the Netherlands as a global economic and military power throughout the 18th century.
In the 1780s, the tensions came to a head in the Batavian Revolution, a struggle between republican Patriots and royalist Orangists.
The Patriots, aided by French troops, eventually managed to drive stadtholder William V out of the country in late 1794.