Uitvoerend Bewind

The Uitvoerend Bewind was the name of the government of the Batavian Republic between 1798 and 1801. The president of the Uitvoerend Bewind was head of state of the Batavian Republic.

Unitarian Democrats

Following the French Revolution, the Patriots brought an end to the rule of stadtholder William V with support from the French army. They proclaimed the Batavian Republic, and founded the National Assembly to draft a constitution. Its members disagreed about the extent of suffrage and about whether to organise the republic as a federal or unitary state. The Patriots had originally supported a federal state with autonomy for the provinces, but some wanted to emulate the unitary model of the French First Republic with a strong central government. A compromised constitution was rejected by the electorate in August 1797.
The political group of unitarian democrats was dissatisfied with the prolonged debates, caused by the opposition to their ideas of the conservatives and moderates. Under the leadership of Pieter Vreede, the unitarian democrats engineered a coup d'état on 22 January 1798, with the help of general Herman Willem Daendels. National Assembly members favouring a unitary state were escorted to the chamber by the military, and they appointed the five-member executive Uitvoerend Bewind. This is considered to be the first Dutch government. It soon became highly unpopular among their own supporters in the country.

A second coup followed on 12 June 1798, with the goal of removing the impopular rule. An interim government was installed, which would reign until new elections would bring a new Representative Assembly, still under universal suffrage. After the elections, a new Uitvoerend Bewind was installed.
Between 1798 and 1801, the president of the Uitvoerend Bewind was the head of state of the Batavian Republic, and not as previously, the president of the Assembly. On 6 October 1801, the 1801 Batavian Republic constitutional referendum was held.