biography
pronunciation:
[powlus]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1754–96)
|
| biography:
| Dutch politician, born in Axel, SW Netherlands. In 1785 he was appointed ‘advocate fiscal’ in the Admiralty of the Maas. He tried to achieve co-operation between democrats and stadtholder in 1785, and as a Patriot was dismissed in 1787, after the Prussian intervention. In 1795, under the Batavian Republic, he became chairman of the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland and the Naval Committee, replacing the Admiralty Colleges. One of his mistakes was the simultaneous retirement of the whole officer corps. He took the view that the Assembly should replace the States-General, and with French military support forced this through, himself becoming the first chairman of the National Assembly in 1796, although he still supported the idea of rule by a democratic Prince of Orange. |
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