Medri Bahri (Tigrinya:  ?) was a medieval kingdom in the Horn of Africa. Situated in modern-day Eritrea, it was ruled by the Bahri Negus (also called the Bahri Negasi), whose capital was located at Debarwa. The state's main provinces were Hamasien, Serae and Akele Guzai, all of which are today predominantly inhabited by the Tigrinya (who constitute over 50% of Eritrea's population). In 1890, Medri Bahri was conquered by the Kingdom of Italy.
Bahri Negassi Yeshaq (died 1578) was Bahri Negassi, or ruler of the province of Medri Bahri (Bahr Midir in Ge'ez) in present-day Eritrea during the mid to late 16th century. His support of the Emperor of Ethiopia during the invasion of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (also known as Ahmed Gragn), when so many of the local aristocrats had switched their support, helped to preserve Abyssinia from extinction. Bahr negus Yeshaq first appears in history about the time the Portuguese fleet arrived at Massawa in 1541. When Christovão da Gama marched inland with his 400 matchlockmen, Yeshaq not only provided him provisions and places to camp in his realm, but also about 500 soldiers and information about the land. The Bahr negus also joined Emperor Gelawdewos in the decisive Battle of Wayna Daga, where Imam Ahmad was killed and his forces scattered (1543). When the Ottoman general Özdemir Pasha, who had been made governor of the Ottoman province of Habesh, crossed over from Jeddah in 1557 and occupied Massawa, Arqiqo and finally Debarwa, capital of the Bahri negassi, Yeshaq led the local peasantry against the invaders, recapturing Debarwa and seizing the "immense treasure" the invaders piled up within. Although he enjoyed good relations with Emperor Galawdewos, his relations with his successors were not as positive. In 1560, the year after Menas became emperor, Bahri negassi Yeshaq revolted against the new Emperor. While he was successful at first, eventually Menas drove Yeshaq out of Tigray, and the noble was forced to seek refuge at the court of his former enemy. In return for ceding the town of Debarwa, Ozdemur Pasha extended military support to the exiled Bahri negassi, and Yeshaq led an army into Tigray and the other northern provinces. Emperor Menas campaigned against the forces of this alliance again in 1562, but was not able to decisively defeat Yeshaq. When Sarsa Dengel was made emperor, Yeshaq at first pledged his loyalty, but within a few years he once more went into rebellion, and found another ally in the ruler of Harar, Sultan Mohammed IV Mansur. Despite these alliances, Emperor Sarsa Dengel defeated and killed
 Yeshaq in battle (1578). Richard Pankhurst concurs with the judgement of James Bruce on Yeshaq, who points out that the status of the Bahri negassi "was much diminished by Yeshaq's treachery. From then onwards the governor of the provinces beyond the Tekezé was not allowed the sandaq (Banner) and nagarit (War Drum), and no longer had a place in Council unless especially called on by the Emperor". This could also mean that the Bahr neguses' kingdom was no longer part of the "Empire" per se. ...
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Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 10.  
  
The Emishi or Ebisu () constituted a group of people who lived in northeastern Honsh  in the Thoku region which was referred to as michi no oku () in contemporary sources. The original date of the Emishi is unknown, but they definitely occurred sometime in the B.C. era, as they are believed to have advanced the Jmon. The first mention of them in literature was in 400 A.D.,[citation needed] mentioned as 'the hairy people' from the Chinese records. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during the late Nara and early Heian periods (7th –10th centuries CE). More recently, scholars believe that they were natives of northern Honsh and were descendants of those who developed the Jmon culture. They are thought to have been related to the Ainu. The separate ethnic status of the Emishi is not in doubt; this understanding is based upon a language that is separate from Japanese, which scholars have been unable to reconstruct.
 Aterui ( ) (died, AD 802 in Enryaku) was the most prominent chief of the Isawa () band of Emishi in northern Japan.[citation needed] The Emishi were an indigenous people of North Japan, who were considered hirsute barbarians by the Yamato Japanese.[citation needed] Aterui was born in Isawa[disambiguation needed], Hitakami-no-kuni, what is now Mizusawa Ward of sh City in southern Iwate Prefecture. Nothing is known of his life until the battle of Sufuse Village in 787. In 786 Ki no Asami Kosami was appointed by the Japanese emperor Emperor Kammu as the new General of Eastern Conquest and given a commission to conquer Aterui. In June 787 Kosami split his army in two and sent them north from Koromogawa on each s ide of the Kitakami River hoping to surprise Aterui at his home in Mizusawa. Burning houses and crops as they went they were surprised when Emishi cavalry swept down from the hills to the East and pushed them into the river. Over 1,000 armored infantry drowned in the river weighed down by their heavy armor. In September Kosami returned to Kyoto where he was rebuked by the emperor Kammu for his failure. Another attack in 795 was unsuccessful as well and it was not until 801 that any Japanese general could claim success against the Emishi. In that year Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, who had previously been appointed to the positions of Supervisory Delegate of Michinoku and Ideha and Governor of Michinoku, General of the Peace Guard and Grand General of Conquering East-Barbarians (Seii Tai Shogun), was given a commission by Emperor Kammu to subjugate the Emishi. He and his 40,000 troops were somewhat successful as he reported back to the emperor on September 27, "We conquered the Emishi rebels." But still the Emishi leaders Aterui and More eluded capture. In 802 Tamuramaro returned to Michinoku and built Fort Isawa in the heart of Isawa territory. Then on April 15 he reported the most important success of all in this campaign: The Emishi leaders Aterui and More surrendered with more than 500 warriors. General Sakanoue delivered Aterui and More to the capital on July 10. Despite General Sakanoue's pleadings the government, "...cut them down at Moriyama in Kawachi province." This was an epic moment in the history of the Emishi conquest. Before this time the Japanese had adhered to a policy of deporting captured women and children to Western Japan then enticing their warrior husbands and fathers to join their families in their new homes. Captured warriors had not been killed either. The executions of Aterui and More are thought[by whom?] to have been responsible for the fierce resistance by the Emishi over the next hundred years or so. For many Japanese, he was long demonized as the "Lord of the Bad Road" (   Akuro-o). Aterui folklore has been made into many plays and an anime (Aterui the Second). In January 2013 dramatization of Aterui's life, Fiery Enmity: Hero of the North ( ), starring Takao Osawa in the title role, which was broadcast on NHK.[1] Aterui is also a supporting character in Shin Teito Monogatari, the prequel to the bestselling historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari (Hiroshi Aramata). 7590 Aterui (1992 UP4) is an asteroid discovered on October 26, 1992 by K. Endate and K. Watanabe.
The Kumaso () were a people of ancient Japan, believed to have lived in the south of Ky sh until at least the Nara period. William George Aston, in his translation of the Nihongi, says Kumaso refers to two separate tribes, Kuma (meaning "bear") and So (written with the character for "attack" or "layer on"). In his translation of the Kojiki, Basil Hall Chamberlain records that the region is also known simply as So, and elaborates on the Yamato-centric description of a "bear- like" people, based on their violent interactions or physical distinctiveness. (The people called tsuchigumo by the Yamato people provide a better-known example of the transformation of other tribes into legendary monsters. Tsuchigumo--the monstrous "ground spider" of legend—is speculated to refer originally to the native pit dwellings of that people.) As the Yamato pushed southward, the Kumaso people were either assimilated or exterminated. The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya, aka Brave of Kahakami, was assassinated in the winter of 397 by Prince Yamato Takeru of Yamato, who was disguised for this as a woman at a banquet. Geographically, Aston records that the Kumaso domain encompassed the historical provinces of Hy ga, sumi, and Satsuma (contemporaneous with Aston's translation), or present-day Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures. The word Kuma ('Bear') survives today as Kumamoto Prefecture ('source of the bear'), and Kuma District, Kumamoto. Kuma District is known for a distinct dialect, Kuma Dialect.
Torishi-Kaya (aka Brave of Kahakami) was a leader of the Kumaso people in late 4th century AD. Torishi-Kaya, aka Brave of Kahakami, was assassinated in the  winter of AD 397 by Prince Yamato Takeru of Yamato, who was disguised for this as a woman at a banquet.
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Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 14.  
  
Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 16.  
  
Haider Al-Abadi (or al-'Ibadi; Arabic:
 ) is an Iraqi politician, spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party and Prime Minister of Iraq on August 11, 2014 by President Fuad Masum. Al-Abadi was also Minister of Communications in the Iraqi Governing Council from September 1, 2003 until June 1, 2004 . A Shia Muslim and electronic consultant engineer by training with a PhD degree from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, in 1980. Al-Abadi lived in exile in London during the time of Saddam Hussein. After studying at the University of Manchester, Al-Abadi remained in the UK in voluntary exile until 2003. His positions during this time included: DG of a small high tech vertical and horizontal transportation design and development firm in London, (1993–2003), a top London Consultant to the industry in matters relating to people movers, (1987–2003), Research Leader for a major modernization contract in London, (1981– 1986). He was registered a patent in London in rapid transit system, (2001). He was awarded a smart grant from the UK Department of Trade and Industry, (1998). Politically, he is one of the leaders of the popular Islamic Dawa Party, the head of its political office and a spokesman for the party. He became a member of the party in 1967 and a member of its executive leadership in 1979. The Baath regime executed two of his brothers and imprisoned a third brother for ten
 years. In 2003, Al-Abadi became sceptical of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) privatization plan, proposing to Paul Bremer that they had to wait for a legitimate government to be formed. In October 2003, Al-Abadi with all 25 of the Governing Council interim ministers protested to Paul Bremer and rejected the CPA's demand to privatize the state-owned companies and infrastructure prior to forming a legitimate government. The CPA, led by Bremer, fell out with Al -
 Abadi and the Governing Council. The CPA worked around the Governing Council, forming a new government that remained beholden to the CPA until general elections had been completed, prompting more aggressive armed actions by insurgents against U.S.-led coalition personnel. While Al-Abadi was Minister of Communications, the CPA awarded licenses to three mobile operators to cover all parts of Iraq. Despite being rendered nearly powerless by the CPA,[6] Al-
 Abadi was not prepared to be a rubber stamp and he introduced more conditions in the licenses. Among them stated that a sovereign Iraqi government has the power to amend or terminate the licenses and introduce a fourth national license, which caused some frictions with the CPA. In 2003, press reports indicated Iraqi officials under investigation over a questionable deal involving Orascom, an Egypt-based telecoms company, which in late 2003 was awarded a contract to provide a mobile network to central Iraq. Al-Abadi asserted that there was no illicit dealing in the completed awards. In 2004, it was revealed that these al legations
 were fabrications, and a US Defense Department review found that telecommunications contracting had been illegally influenced in an unsuccessful effort led by disgraced U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw, not by Iraqis. In 2005, he served as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq in the first elected government. He was elected member of Iraqi Parliament in 2005 and chaired the parliamentary committee for Economy, Investment and Reconstruction. Al-
 Abadi was re-elected as member of Iraqi Parliament representing Baghdad in the general election held on March 2010. In 2013, he chaired the Finance Committee and was at the center of a parliamentary dispute over the allocation of the 2013 Iraqi budget. Al-Abadi's name was circulated as a prime ministerial candidate during the formation of the Iraqi government in 2006 during which Ibrahim al-Jaafari was replaced by Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister. In 2008, Al-
 Abadi remained steadfast in his support of Iraqi sovereignty, insisting on specific conditions to the agreement with the U.S. regarding presence in Iraq. In 2009,  Al-Abadi was identified by the Middle East Economic Digest as a key person to watch in Iraq's reconstruction. He is an active member of the Iraq Petroleum  Advisory Committee, participating in the Iraq Petroleum Conferences of 2009–2012. He was one of several Iraqi politicians supporting a suit against Blackwater as a result of the 2010 dismissal of criminal charges against Blackwater personnel involved the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians. Al-Abadi was again tipped as a possible Prime Minister during the tough negotiations between Iraqi political blocs after the elections of 2010 to choose a replacement to incumbent PM Nouri
 Al-Maliki. Again in 2014, he was nominated by Shia political parties as an alternative candidate for Prime Minister. On July 24, 2014, Fuad Masum became the new president of Iraq. He, in turn, nominated Al-Abadi for prime minister on August 11, 2014. However, for the appointment to take effect, Al -Abadi must form a government and be confirmed by Parliament, within 30 days. Al-Maliki however refused to give up his post and referred the matter to the federal court claiming the president's nomination was a "constitutional violation." He said: "The insistence on this until the end is to protect the state." On August 14, 2014, however in the face of growing calls from world leaders and members of his own party the embattled prime minister announced he was stepping down to make way for Al-
 Abadi. ...
Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 16.  
  
The Islamic State (IS) (Arabic:      ad-Dawlah al- Islmiyyah), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS / a ss/),[a] is a jihadist group, widely regarded as a terrorist organisation. In its self-proclaimed status as a caliphate, it claims religious authority over all Muslims across the world and aspires to bring much of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its direct political control, beginning
 with territory in the Levant region, which includes Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and an area in southern Turkey that includes Hatay. The group has been officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia, and has been widely described as a terrorist group by Western and Middle Eastern media sources. The group, in its original form, was composed of and supported by a
 variety of Sunni Arab terrorist insurgent groups, including its predecessor organizations, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) (2003–2006), Mujahideen Shura Council (2006– 2006) and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) (2006–2013), other insurgent groups such as Jeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, Jaysh al-Fatiheen, Jund al-Sahaba and Katbiyan
 Ansar Al-Tawhid wal Sunnah, and a number of Iraqi tribes that profess Sunni Islam. ISIS grew significantly as an organization owing to its participation in the
 
Syrian Civil War and the strength of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Economic and political discrimination against Arab Iraqi Sunnis since the fall of the secular Saddam Hussein also helped it to gain support. At the height of the 2003–2011 Iraq War, its forerunners enjoyed a significant presence in the Iraqi governorates of Al Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil, Diyala and Baghdad, and claimed Baqubah as a capital city. In the ongoing Syrian Civil War, ISIS has a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib and Aleppo. ISIS is known for its extreme and brutally harsh interpretation of the Islamic faith and sharia law and has a record of horrifying violence, which is directed at Shia Muslims, indigenous Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christians and Armenian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Shabakis and Mandeans in particular. It has at least 4,000 fighters in its ranks in Iraq who, in addition to attacks on government and military targets, have claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed thousands of civilians. ISIS had close links with al-Qaeda until 2014, but in February of that year, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, reportedly for its brutality and "notorious intractability". ISIS‘s original aim was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni-majority regions of Iraq. Following its involvement in the Syrian Civil War, this expanded to include controlling Sunni-majority areas of Syria. A caliphate was proclaimed on June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—now known as Amir al- Mu'minin Caliph Ibrahim— was named as its caliph, and the group was renamed the Islamic State.
Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai (Arabic:                             , born 1971), formerly also known as Dr Ibrahim and Abu Du'a (   ) most commonly known by the nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (        ) and in an attempt to claim him as a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, more recently as Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi (                    ) and now as Amir al-Mu'minin Caliph Ibrahim (            ), has been named the Caliph—head of state and theocratic absolute monarch—of the self- proclaimed Islamic State located in western Iraq and north-eastern Syria since June 29, 2014. He is the former leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), alternatively translated as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On October 4, 2011, the US State Department listed al-Baghdadi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and announced a reward of up to US$10 million for information leading to his capture or death. Only Ayman al-Zawahiri, chief of the global al-Qaeda organization, merits a larger reward (US$25 million). Al-Baghdadi is believed to have been born near Samarra, Iraq, in 1971. Reports suggest that he was a cleric at the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Mosque in Samarra at around the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He earned a master's degree and a PhD in Islamic studies from the University of Islamic Sciences in the Baghdad suburb of Adhamiya. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, al-Baghdadi helped to found the militant group, Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah (JJASJ), in which he served as head of the group's sharia committee. Al-Baghdadi and his group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in 2006, in which he served as a member of the MSC's sharia committee. Following the renaming of the MSC as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006, al-Baghdadi became the general supervisor of the ISI's sharia committee and a member of the group's senior consultative council. According to US Department of Defense records, al-Baghdadi was held at Camp Bucca as a "civilian internee" by US Forces-Iraq from February until December 2004, when he was released. A Combined Review and Release Board recommended an "unconditional release" of al-Baghdadi and there is no record of him being held at any other time. A number of newspapers, in contrast, have stated that al-Baghdadi was interned from 2005 to 2009. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)—also known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq or AQI— was the Iraqi division of the international Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda. Al- Baghdadi was announced as leader of the ISI on May 16, 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in a raid the month before. As leader of the ISI, al-Baghdadi was responsible for managing and directing large-scale operations such as the August 28, 2011 attack on the Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad which killed prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi. Between March and April 2011, the ISI claimed 23 attacks south of Baghdad, all of
 which were alleged to have been carried out under al-Baghdadi's command. Following the US commando raid on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda supreme leader Osama bin Laden, al-Baghdadi released a statement eulogizing bin Laden and threatened violent retaliation for his death. On May 5, 2011, al-Baghdadi claimed responsibility for an attack in Hilla that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others. On August 15, 2011, a wave of ISI suicide attacks beginning in Mosul resulted in 70 deaths. Shortly thereafter, the ISI pledged on its website to carry out 100 attacks across Iraq in retaliation for bin Laden's death. It stated that this campaign would feature various methods of attack, including raids, suicide attacks, roadside bombs and small arms attacks, in all cities and rural areas across the country. On December 22, 2011, a series of coordinated car bombings and IED attacks struck over a dozen neighborhoods across Baghdad, killing at least 63 people and wounding 180; the assault came just days after the US completed its troop withdrawal from the country. On December 26, 2011 the ISI released a statement on jihadist internet forums claiming credit for the operation, stating that the targets of the Baghdad attack were
"accurately surveyed and explored" and that the "operations were distributed between targeting security headquarters, military patrols and gatherings of the filthy ones of the al-Dajjal Army", referring to the Mahdi Army of Shia warlord Muqtada al-Sadr. On December 2, 2012, Iraqi officials claimed that they had captured al-Baghdadi in Baghdad following a two-month tracking operation. Officials claimed that they had also seized a list containing the names and locations of other al- Qaeda operatives. However, this claim was rejected by the ISI. In an interview with Al Jazeera on December 7, 2012, Iraq's Acting Interior Minister said that the arrested man was not al-Baghdadi, but rather a section commander in charge of an area stretching from the northern outskirts of Baghdad to Taji. Al-Baghdadi remained leader of the ISI until its formal expansion into Syria in 2013, when in a statement on April 8, 2013, he announced the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)—alternatively translated from the Arabic as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). As the leader of ISIS, al -Baghdadi took charge of running all ISIS activity in Iraq and Syria. When announcing the formation of ISIS, al-Baghdadi stated that the Syrian Civil War jihadist faction, Jabhat al-Nusra — also known as Al-Nusra Front —had been an extension of the ISI in Syria and was now to be merged with ISIS.[29][30] The leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani, disputed this merging of the two groups and appealed to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, who issued a statement that ISIS should be abolished and that al-Baghdadi should confine his group's activities to Iraq. Al-Baghdadi, however, dismissed al-Zawahiri's ruling and took control of a reported 80% of Jabhat al-Nusra's foreign fighters. In January 2014, ISIS expelled Jabhat al-Nusra from the Syrian city of Raqqa, and in the same month clashes between the two in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate killed hundreds of fighters and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. In February 2014, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIS. According to several Western sources, al-Baghdadi and ISIS have received private financing from citizens in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and enlisted fighters from recruitment drives in Saudi Arabia in particular. On June 29, 2014, ISIS announced the establishment of a caliphate, al-Baghdadi was named its caliph, to be known as Caliph Ibrahim, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was renamed the Islamic State (IS). There has been much debate across the Muslim world about the legitimacy of these moves. The declaration of a caliphate has been heavily criticized by Middle Eastern governments and other
 jihadist groups, and by Sunni Muslim theologians and historians. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a prominent scholar living in Qatar stated: "[The] declaration issued by the Islamic State is void under sharia and has dangerous consequences for the Sunnis in Iraq and for the revolt in Syria", adding that the title of caliph can "only be given by the entire Muslim nation", not by a single group. In an audio-taped message, al-Baghdadi announced that ISIS would march on Rome in its quest to establish an Islamic State from the Middle East across Europe, saying that he would conquer both Rome and Spain in this endeavor. He also urged Muslims across the world to emigrate to the new Islamic State. On July 5, 2014, a video was released apparently showing al-Baghdadi making a speech at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, northern Iraq. A representative of the Iraqi government denied that the video was of al -Baghdadi, calling it a "farce". However, both the BBC and the Associated Press quoted unnamed Iraqi officials as saying that the man in the video was believed to be al-Baghdadi. In the video, al-Baghdadi declared himself the world leader of Muslims and called on Muslims everywhere to support him. ...
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Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 16.  
  
Ethel Ana del Rosario Jara Velásquez (born May 11, 1968) is a Peruvian lawyer and politician who has been Prime Minister since July 22, 2014. In 2011, she  was elected congresswoman, representing to the Peruvian Nationalist Party. Was Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populat ions from 2011 to 2014. Currently she is the President of Council of Ministers of Peru, from July 22, 2014. Ana Jara was born in Ica. She studied law and political science at the Saint Aloysius Gonzaga National University located in the same city. In the Graduate School of the university studies culminated LL.M., majoring in civil and commercial matters, and started her PhD in Law. In 1998, he began working as a notary public in Ica. In 2011, she was elected Congresswoman of the Republic of Peru, representing the Peruvian Nationalist Party in Ica, the same party won the presidential election. In December 11, 2011 Ana Jara sworn in as Minister of Women
 
and Social Development. She remained in front of this Ministry until February 24, 2014, when sworn in as Minister of Labour and Employment Promotion. Following the resignation of Premier René Cornejo went on to chair the Council of Ministers. Her swearing ceremony was held on July 22, 2014.
 Anastase Murekezi (born 1961) is a Rwandan politician and Prime Minister of Rwanda since July 24, 2014. He was the minister of Public service and labor until  July 2014 when he was nominated by President Paul Kagame as the Prime Minister of Rwanda.
 Aguila Saleh Issa (Arabic :        born 1944) is a Libyan jurist and politician who has been President of the Libyan House of Representatives since ;  August 5, 2014. He is also a representative of the town of Al Qubbah, in the east of the country.
Georgi Bliznashki (Bulgarian:  ; born October 4, 1956 in Skravena, Sofia Oblast) is a Bulgarian politician, former Member of the European Parliament and Acting Prime Minister of Bulgaria since August 6, 2014. He was a member of the Coalition for Bulgaria, part of the Party of European Socialists, and became and was an MEP from 1 January 2007 to June 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union. He was expelled from BSP in the March 2014. On August 6, 2014 he was appointed to serve as a caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria and currently holds this position.
Mahamat Kamoun (born November 13, 1961) is a Central African politician who is the Acting Prime Minister of the Central African Republic since August 10, 2014. He is the country's first Muslim Prime Minister. A specialist in finance, Kamoun previously served as the Director-General of the Treasury under President Francois Bozize. He subsequently served as the head of the cabinet of President Michel Djotodia and served as an advisor to interim President Catherine Samba- Panza before his appointment as Prime Minister. Kamoun's appointment as Prime Minister sparked discontent and astonishment among the Muslim Séléka rebel group, as the group does not consider Kamoun as a member of Séléka, despite Kamoun being a Muslim. The group subsequently boycotted the National Unity Government as they were not consulted about the choice of Prime Minister, and even threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire agreement signed in Brazzaville last month as a result of Kamoun's appointment.
Miroslav Cerar Jr. (known as Miro Cerar; born on August 25, 1963 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian lawyer, politician and Prime Minister of Slovenia since August 2014. Cerar is the son of Miroslav Cerar Sr., Olympic gymnastics champion and lawyer, and Zdenka Cerar, former Minister of Justice and chief prosecutor. Cerar was a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana and a legal adviser to parliament. Following the resignation of Alenka Bratušek‘s government in May 2014, Cerar announced that he would enter national politics. On June 2, 2014, he formed a new political party called Stranka Mira Cerarja (Party of Miro Cerar). In the July election, Cerar's party won a leading total 36 of 90 seats in the parliament.
 Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (Pashto:    
 
 , Persian:   ) is an Afghan politician and a candidate in the 2014 presidential election. He is   usually referred to as Ashraf Ghani, while ahmadzai is the name of his tribe. Ghani previously served as Finance Minister and as a chancellor of Kabul University. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002, Ghani was a leading scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan from July 2, 2002 until December 14, 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery after the collapse of the Taliban government. He is the co-founder of the Insti tute for State Effectiveness, an organization set up in 2005 to improve the ability of states to serve their citizens. He was also Chancellor of Kabul University from December 22, 2004 until December 21, 2008. In 2005 he gave a TED talk, in which he discussed how to rebuild a broken state such as Afghanistan. Ghani is a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, an independent initiative hosted by the United Nations Development Programme. In 2013 he was ranked second in an online poll to name the world's top 100 intellectuals conducted by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines, ranking just behind Richard Dawkins. He previously was named in the same poll in 2010. Ghani came in fourth in the 2009 presidential election, behind Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, and Ramazan Bashardost. In the 2014 presidential election, Ghani placed second in the first round, qualifying for the run-off election against Abdullah. The official run-off results show Ghani in the lead, though accused of mass fraud in which President Karzai was allegedly complicit in and the UNAMA has warned it would be "premature" for either side to claim victory. His brother is Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, Grand Council Chieftain of the Kuchis. Ghani was born in 1949 in the Logar Province of Afghanistan. He completed his primary and secondary education in Habibia High School in Kabul. He escaped to Lebanon to attend the American University in Beirut, getting a degree in 1973, where he also met his future wife, Rula Ghani. He returned to Afghanistan in 1977 to teach anthropology at Kabul University before being given a scholarship by the government in 1977 to study for a Master's degree in anthropology at Columbia University in the United States. When the People's Democratic Party of
 Afghanistan (PDPA) communist party came to power in 1978, most of the male members of his family were imprisoned and Ghani was stranded in the United States. He stayed at Columbia University and earned his PhD in Cultural Anthropology. He was invited to teach at University of California, Berkeley in 1983, and then at Johns Hopkins University from 1983 to 1991. During this period he became a frequent commentator on the BBC Farsi/Persian and Pashto services, broadcast in Afghanistan. He has a lso attended the Harvard-INSEAD and World Bank-Stanford Graduate School of Business's leadership training program. He served on the faculty of Kabul University (1973–77), Aarhus University in Denmark (1977), University of California, Berkeley (1983), and Johns Hopkins University (1983–1991). His academic research was on state-building and social transformation. In 1985 he completed a year of fieldwork researching Pakistani Madrasas as a Fulbright Scholar. He also studied comparative religion. He joined the World Bank in 1991, working on projects in East and South Asia through the mid-1990s. In 1996, he pioneered the application of institutional and organizational analysis to macro processes of change and reform, working directly on the adjustment program of the Russian coal industry and carrying out reviews of the Bank‘s country assistance strategies and structural adjustment programs globally. He spent five years each in China, India, and Russia managing large-scale development and institutional transformation projects. He worked intensively
 with the media during the fi rst Gulf War, commenting on radio and television and in newspaper interviews. After the September 11 at tacks in the United Sta tes in 2001, he took leave without pay from the World Bank and engaged in intensive interaction with the media, appearing regularly on PBS's NewsHour, BBC, CNN, US National Public Radio, and other broadcasters, and writing for major newspapers. In November 2002, he accepted an appointment as a Special
 Advisor to the United Nations and assisted Lakhdar Brahimi, the Special Representative of the Secretary General to Afghanistan, to prepare the Bonn  Agreement, the process and document that provided the basis of t ransfer of power to the people of Afghanistan. Returning after 24 years to Afghanistan in December 2001, he resigned from his posts at the UN and World Bank to join the Afghan government as the chief advisor to President Hamid Karzai on February 1, 2002. He worked "pro bono" and was among the first officials to disclose his assets. In this capacity, he worked on the preparation of the Loya Jirgas (grand assemblies) that elected Karzai and approved the Constitution of Afghanistan. After the 2004 election, Ghani declined to join the cabinet and asked to be appointed as Chancellor of Kabul University. As Chancellor he instituted participatory governance among the faculty, students and staff, training both men and
 
CSIS‘ meeting on UN reform, the UN -OECD- World Bank‘s meeting on Fragile States and TEDGlobal.[7] He contributed to the Financial Times, Interna tional Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Ghani was recognized as the best finance minister of
 Asia in 2003 by Emerging Markets. He carried extensive reforms, including issuing a new currency, computerizing treasury operations, instituting a single treasury account, adopting a policy of balanced budgets and using budgets as the central policy instrument, centralizing revenue collection, tariff reform and overhauling customs. He instituted regular reporting to the cabinet the public and international stakeholders as a tool of transparency and accountability, and required donors to focus their interventions on three sectors, improving accountability with government counterparts and preparing a development strategy that held Afghans more accountable for their own future development. On March 31, 2004, he presented a seven- year program of public investment called Securing Afghanistan‘s Future[8] to an international conference in Berlin attended by 65 finance and foreign ministers. Described as the most comprehensive program ever prepared and presented by a poor country to the international community, Securing Afghanistan‘s Future was prepared by a team of 100 e xperts working under a committee chaired by Ghani. The concept of a double-compact, between the donors and the government of Afghanistan on the one hand and between the government and people of Afghanistan on the other, underpinned the investment program. The donors pledged $8.2 billion at the conference for the first three
 years of the program—the exact amount requested by the government —and agreed that the government‘s request for a total seven -year package of assistance of $27.5 billion was justified. Poverty eradication through wealth creation and the establishment of citizens' rights is the heart of Ghani‘s development approach. In
 Afghanistan, he is credited with designing the National Solidarity Program,[9] that offers block grants to villages with priorities and implementation defined by elected village councils. The program covers 13,000 of the country's estimated 20,000 villages. He partnered with the Ministry of Communication to ensure that telecom licenses were granted on a fully transparent basis. As a result, the number of mobile phones in the country has jumped to over a million at the end of 2005. Private investment in the sector exceeded $200 million and the telecom sector emerged as one of the major providers of tax revenue. In January 2009 an article by Ahmad Majidyar of the American Enterprise Institute included Ghani on a list of fifteen possible candidates in the 2009 Afghan presidential election. On May 7, 2009, Ashraf Ghani registered as a candidate in the Afghan presidential election, 2009. Ghani's campaign emphasized the importance of: a representative administration; good governance; a dynamic economy and employment opportunities for the Afghan people. Unlike other major candidates, Ghani asked the Afghan diaspora to support his campaign and provide financial support. He appointed Mohammed Ayub Rafiqi as one of his vice president candidate deputies, and hired noted Clinton-campaign chief strategist James Carville as a campaign advisor. Preliminary results placed Ghani fourth in a field of 38, securing roughly 3% of the votes. On January 28, 2010, Ghani attended the International Conference on Afghanistan in London, pledging his support to help rebuild their country. Ghani presented his ideas to Karzai as an example of the importance of cooperation among Afghans and with the international community, supporting Karzai's reconciliation strategy. Ghani said hearing Karzai's second inaugural address in November 2009 and his pledges to fight corruption, promote reconciliation and replace international security forces persuaded him to help. Ghani is on the Board of Directors of the World Justice Project, which works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law in developing countries. Ghani is one of the main and leading candidates in the 2014 presidential election. His running mates are Abdul Rashid Dostum, Sarwar Danish and Ahmad Zia Massoud. It was reported that Ghani secured roughly 56% of the total votes. After challenger Abdullah Abdullah becoming unsatisfied with the result, a complete auditing of votes was initiated under the watch eyes of the international community. Ghani is widely expected to win the election.
Christoffel Roels was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1578 until 1597.
 Johan van de Warck was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1599 until 1614.
Bonifacius de Jonge was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1615 until 1625.
 Johan Boreel was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1625 until 1629.
Boudewijn de Witte was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1630 until 1641.
Cornelis Adriaansz. Stavenisse was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1641 until 1649.
 Johan de Brune (May 29, 1588 - November 7, 1658) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1649 until his death on November 7, 1658.
 Adriaan Veth was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1658 until 1663.
Pieter de Huybert was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1664 until 1687.
 Jacob Verheije (August 7, 1640 - August 16, 1718) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1687 until his death on August 16, 1718.
Caspar van Citters (January 22, 1674 - September 28, 1734) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1718 until his death on September 28, 1734.
 
 Wilhem van Citters (May 25, 1723 - August 17, 1802) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1760 until 1766.
 Adriaan Steengracht was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1766 until 1770.
 Johan Marinus Chalmers was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1770 until 1785.
Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel (January 19, 1736 in Middelburg - May 7, 1800 in Lingen) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1785 until 1787 and Grand Pensionary of Holland from November 9, 1787 until February 4, 1795. He was an Orangist, which means that he was a supporter of Prince William V of Orange. He became grand pensionary of Holland when the Prussian army had reinstated William V in power in 1787. He fled to Germany in 1795, when the French defeated the Dutch army and an anti-orangist revolution broke out. He died in Lingen, Prussia. Van de Spiegel was the last Grand Pensionary of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, which was replaced with the Batavian Republic modelled after the French revolutionary state. Laurens Pieter van de Spiegel was married to Digna Johanna Ossewaarde (1841-1813). The couple had eight children, one of them, jonkheer Cornelis Duvelaer van de Spiegel (1771- 1829), was a member of parliament (1815-1829) after the French era. Cornelis was ennobled by King William I in 1815.
 Willem Aarnoud van Citters (January 28, 1741 - September 22, 1811) was Grand Pensionary of Zeeland from 1788 until 1795.
The Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland acted as the chairman of the States of Holland. The office started in the early 14th century and ended in 1619, when the title was renamed into Grand Pensionary. He was the speaker of the nobility of Holland and had the first say on a subject during a meeting of the Estates. A decision of the Estates was made by a summarizing of all the statements of the other delegates by the Land's Advocate. The Land's Advocate of Holland was the most powerful man of the United Provinces when there was no Stadtholder in Holland (because two-thirds of the tax income of the republic came from the county of Holland). The most powerful land's advocates of Holland were the last two, Paulus Buys (1572–1584) and Johan van Oldebarnevelt (1586–1619).
Barthout van Assendelft (ca. 1440 -1502) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1480 until 1489 and from 1494 until 1497.
 Jan Bouwensz (ca. 1452 - March 11, 1514) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1489 until 1494.
Frans Coebel van der Loo (ca. 1470 - September 12, 1532) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1500 until 1513.
 Albrecht van Loo (ca. 1472 - January 5, 1525) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1513 until 1524.
 Aert van der Goes (1475 - November 1, 1545) was a member of the House of Goes and Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1525 unti l 1544. He studied at the University of Leuven. Aert van der Goes was born in Delft, and was a lawyer and pensionary of Delft from 1508–1525. From May 1525 until January 1544 he was State Attorney (Grand Pensionary) of the States of Holland. He wrote the Register of Dachvaerden's Lands of the States of Holland in
 which the events during the meetings of the States captured. Aert van der Goes was a son of Witte van der Goes. His first marriage was to Barbara Herwijnen.  After her death he married Margaret of Banchem. From his first marriage son Aert van der Goes the young born. This Aert was a ttorney for the Great Council of Malines . From the marriage with Margaret of Banchem was a son, Adriaen van Der Goes and a daughter, Geneviève. Adriaen succeeded him as Grand Pensionary of Holland. Daughter Geneviève married Everhard Nicolai, who later became President of the Grand Council of Mechelen. Through his son Adrian he is an ancestor of the American Rachael Clawson, who married prominent farmer George John Debolt. The Arms of the Van der Goes family consisted of black three gold-silver horned goats heads, and the crest a silver bokkenkop between two silver pheasant feathers.
 Adriaen van der Goes (1505 - November 5, 1560) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1544 until his death on November 5, 1560.
 Jacob van den Eynde (1515 - 1570) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1560 until 1568.
 
Rhineland (the area around Leiden). Pensionaries were well paid. His task was to advise the city council on legal affairs and serve as the representative of Leiden at the estates of Holland. Paulus Buys was appointed as land's advocate of Holland in 1572 before Calvinists took the county. As representative of Holland, he
 vetoed the decision of the duke of Alva to raise taxes at the estates general of the Netherlands in Brussels. Because of this, he had to flee from the Netherlands and joined Prince William of Orange in Arnstadt. Paulus Buys was Roman Catholic, but he, like many moderate Catholics, joined the rebels (Protestantism was a minority faith in Holland at that time) and secretly helped raising armies for the cause of the prince when he came back to Leiden in the same year. He refused to admit a Spanish garrison in Leiden. Leiden became a part of rebel territory still in 1572. Buys became the head of the rebel 'Raad van State' (one of the constitutional bodies of the Netherlands) in 1573, which would make him the rebel leader if William of Orange died at the siege of Haarlem. The prince did not go to Haarlem, which fell to the Spanish. Buys was the leader of the inundations (opening of dikes to let the water of the sea in) during the siege of Leiden in 1574. The water drowned the Spanish cannons, so the Spanish had to lift the siege. He was the leader of the reconstruction of Leiden and appealed to the prince of Orange to establish the Leiden University. He was curator of the university. In 1575, he went to England to try to convince Elizabeth I of England to ally with rebel Holland and the prince of Orange. Elizabeth refused. Paulus Buys was one of the founders of the Union of Utrecht in 1579, which made an end to the Union of Brussels, which was founded by the prince of Orange. Prince William of Orange was killed in 1584. Paulus Buys lost his mainstay and left the estates of Holland, probably because he thought that they were overly supportive of France. Buys was an advocate of the English, and he became the chief adviser of the Earl of Leicester, when the latter was sent to the Netherlands to aid the rebels with an English army. Leicester first supported Buys against political rivals, but
 within two months fell out with him. As Elizabeth I seemed to drawback her support for the Dutch, Leicester was convinced that Buys intrigued against him behind his back. Buys was arrested in July 1586 by the town of Utrecht, to Leicester's contentment. Many cities asked for his release, but he remained imprisoned for half a year and was released after the payment of a very large amount of money as ransom. This was the end of his political career. He lost his last profession as curator of Leiden university in 1591, because of his authoritarian behaviour. He sold his possessions in Leiden and moved to IJsselstein, where he died in 1594. His son is most likely Cornelis Buys (*1559), who inherited the manors Capelle ter Vliet and Zevenhoven in 1592 - the year Paulus Buys died. Cornelis Buys was a member of the General Chamber of Auditors of the County Holland and also a court clerk there. It is not known when Cornelis Buys died.
 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (Dutch pronunciation: [jo v  old(n)brn v lt] ), Lord of Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613) (14 September 1547 - May 13, 1619) was Land's Advocate (Dutch: landsadvocaat) of Holland from 1586 until his death on May 13, 1619. He was a Dutch statesman who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain. Van Oldenbarnevelt was born in Amersfoort. He studied law at Leuven, Bourges, Heidelberg and Padua, and traveled in France and Italy before settling in The Hague. He was a supporter of the Arminians, who also supported William the Silent in his revolt against Spain, and fought in William's army. He served as a volunteer for the relief of Haarlem (1573) and again at Leiden (1574). Oldenbarnevelt was married in 1575 to Maria van Utrecht. In 1576 he obtained the important post of pensionary of Rotterdam, an office which carried with it official membership of the States of Holland. In this capacity his industry, singular grasp of affairs, and persuasive powers of speech speedily gained for him a position of influence. He was active in promoting the Union of Utrecht (1579) and the offer of the countship of Holland and Zeeland by William (prevented by Williams death in 1584). He was a fierce opponent of the policies of the Earl of Leicester, the governor general at the time, and instead favoured Maurice of Nassau, a son of William. Leicester left in 1587, leaving the military power in the Netherlands to Maurice. During the governorship of Leicester, Van Oldenbarnevelt was the leader of the strenuous opposition offered by the States of Holland to the centralizing policy of the governor. On March 16, 1586, Van Oldenbarnevelt, in succession to Paulus Buys, became Land's Advocate of Holland for the States of Holland, an office he held for 32 years. This great office, given to a man of commanding ability and industry, offered unbounded influence in a multi-headed republic without any central executive authority. Though nominally the servant of the States of Holland, Oldenbarnevelt made himself the political personification of the province which bore more than half the entire charge of the union. As mouthpiece of the States-General, he practically dominated the assembly. In a brief period, he became entrusted with such large and far- reaching authority in all details of administration, that he became the virtual Prime minister of the Dutch republic. During the two critical years following the
 withdrawal of Leicester, the Advocate's statesmanship kept the United Provinces from collapsing under their own inherent separatist tendencies. This prevented the United Provinces from becoming an easy conquest for the formidable army of Alexander of Parma. Also of good fortune for the Netherlands, the attention of Philip II of Spain was at its greatest weakness, instead focused on a contemplated invasion of England. Spain's lack of attention coupled with the United Province's lack of central, organized government allowed Oldenbarnevelt to gain control of administrative affairs. His task was made easier by receiving whole- hearted support from Maurice of Nassau, who, after 1589, held the office of Stadholderate of five provinces. He was also Captain-General and Admiral of the Union. The interests and ambitions of Oldenbarnevelt and Maurice did not clash. Indeed, Maurice's thoughts were centered on training and leading armies, and he had no special capacity as a statesman or desire for politics. Their first rift between came in 1600, when Maurice was forced against his will by the States- General, under the Advocate's influence, to undertake a military expedition to Flanders. The expedition was saved from disaster by desperate efforts that ended in victory at the Nieuwpoort. In 1598, Oldenbarnevelt took part in special diplomatic missions to King Henry IV of France and Queen Elizabeth I of England, and again in 1605 in a special mission sent to congratulate King James I of England on his accession. The opening of negotiations by Albert and Isabel in 1606 for a peace or long truce led to a great division of opinion in the Netherlands.
 
independence on the part of Holland, and decided to take action. A commission was appointed, with Maurice at its head, to compel the disbanding of the  waardgelders. On July 31, 1618 the Stadholder, at the head of a body of troops, appeared at Utrecht, which had thrown in its lot with Holland. At his order the local militias laid down their arms. His progress through the towns of Holland met with no military opposition. The States' sovereignty party was crushed without a battle being fought. On August 23, 1618, by order of the States-General, Van Oldenbarnevelt and his chief supporters, Hugo Grotius, Gilles van Ledenberg, Rombout Hogerbeets and Jacob Dircksz de Graeff, were arrested or lost their politi cal positions in government. Van Oldenbarnevelt was, with his friends, kept in strict confinement until November of that year, and then brought for examination before a commission appointed by the States-General. He appeared more than 60 times before the commissioners and the whole course of his official life was severely examined. During the period of inquest, he was neither allowed to consult papers nor put his defense in writing. On February 20, 1619, Van Oldenbarnevelt was arraigned before a special court of twenty-four members, only half of
 whom were Hollanders, and nearly all of whom were personal enemies. This ad hoc judicial commission was necessary, because, unlike in the individual provinces, the federal government did not have a judicial branch. Normally the accused would be brought before the Hof van Holland or the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland, the highest courts in the provinces of Holland and Zeeland; however, in this case, the alleged crime was against the Generaliteit, or federal government, and required adjudication by the States-General, acting as highest court in the land. As was customary in similar cases (for instance, the later trial of the judges in the case of the Amboyna massacre), the trial was delegated to a commission. Of course, the accused contested the competence of the court, as they contested the residual sovereignty of the States-General, but their protest was disregarded. It was in fact a kangaroo court, and the stacked bench of judges on Sunday, May 12, 1619, pronounced a death sentence on Van Oldenbarnevelt. On the following day, the old statesman, at the age of seventy-one, was beheaded in the Binnenhof, in The Hague. Van Oldenbarnevelt's last words to the executioner were purportedly: "Make it short, make it short." He was buried in a family grave under the Court Chapel (Hofkapel) at the Binnenhof. The States of Holland noted in their Resolution book on 13 May that Van Oldenbarnevelt had been: "…a man of great business, activity, memory and wisdom –  yes, extra-ordinary in every respect." They added the sentence Die staet siet toe dat hij niet en valle,
 which is a quotation of 1 Cor 10: 12 which probably should be understood as referring to both how Oldenbarnevelt ended after holding one of the highest offices in the Republic and for choosing the side of the Arminians, whom were ruled to be standing outside the Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Faith by the Synod of Dort.
 Van Oldenbarnevelt left two sons; Reinier van Oldenbarnevelt, lord of Groeneveld and Willem van Oldenbarnevelt, lord of Stoutenburg, and two daughters. A conspiracy against the life of Maurice, in which both sons of Van Oldenbarnevelt took part, was discovered in 1623. Stoutenburg, who was the chief accomplice, made his escape and entered the service of Spain; Groeneveld was executed.
...
Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 17.  
  
The grand pensionary (Dutch: raad(s)pensionaris) was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland. In practice the grand pensionary of Holland was the political leader of the entire Dutch Republic when there was no stadtholder (in practice the Prince of Orange) at the centre of power. The Dutch name raad(s)pensionaris literally translates as "pensionary of council". Indeed, other provinces could also have a raadspensionaris, e.g. Zeeland, but only the one of Holland was considered by foreign powers to be of any importance, so they called him the grand pensionary. The position of the grand pensionary was in many
 ways similar to what through later political and constitutional developments came to be a prime minister.
The office started in 1619 and replaced the title of land's advocate. When there was a stadtholder, then the grand pensionary was often the second leader of the republic. Being the raadspensionaris of Holland, the grand pensionary acted as the chairman of States of Holland. He was appointed by the Estates and could be fired instantly by the Estates. A decision of the Estates was made by a summarizing of all the statements of the delegates by the grand pensionary, with an implicit conclusion about what collective decision had been made. He had the first say on a subject during a meeting of the Estates and controlled the agenda. This way, if he was a competent man, he could control the entire decision-making process, especially as one of his "duties" was to represent the ten members of the nobility delegates (the ridderschap) in their absence and phrase the single opinion they as a body had the right to express. The office existed because all delegates of the States were, although ranked according to ancient feudal hierarchy, still basically equal (pares) and none among them could thus act as a head. The Batavian Republic first abolished the office but in its last year, 1805–1806, the title had to be reinstituted on orders of Napoleon as part of a number of measures to strengthen the executive power; Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck thus acted for a short time as the last grand pensionary. He officially functioned as a president of the entire Republic, not just of Holland.
 Andries de Witt (June 16, 1573, Dordrecht - November 26, 1637, Dordrecht) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1619 until 1621. He was the successor of  Johan van Oldebarnevelt, who had been executed in 1619. Andries de Witt was a member of the old Dutch patrician family De Witt. He was the oldest son of  Johanna Heijmans and Cornelis Fransz de Witt (1545-1622), 16-fold burgomaster of Dordrecht. He was the uncle of Cornelis de Witt and Johan de Witt, Grand Pensionary from 1652 to 1672, who were sons of his youngest brother Jacob de Witt. Andries married Elizabeth van den Honert in 1604, with whom he had 10 children.
 Anthonie Duyck (c. 1560 - September 13, 1629) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1621 until his death on September 13, 1629. Anthonie Duyck was a descendant of a notable hollandic family which was founded in the 13th century. Anthonie was the son of Gijsbert Duyck, lord of Oud Karspel, who was appointed schout of Hoorn in 1580.[2] Anthonie was born in The Hague and studied law in Leiden. In 1588, he became advocaat-fiscaal (public prosecutor) at the Raad van State. This was, next to the States-General of the Netherlands, the central constitutional body of the United Provinces. As official of the Raad van
 
State, he accompanied Prince Maurice of Orange on his military campaigns between 1591 and 1602. He wrote long reports about these military campaigns for his superiors in The Hague. In 1602, he became griffier at the court of Holland. In 1619 even a justice in the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland. He was named as one of the public prosecutors against his will for the special court which tried Johan van Oldebarnevelt. This court pronounced the death penalty in 1619. Duyck became Grand Pensionary of Holland in 1621. His tasks were moderate compared to the tasks of Oldebarnevelt. Oldebarnevelt was an important political leader, while Duyck was more an official. Anthonie married twice, and his first wife, Elisabeth de Michely, gave him three children, all daughters. From 1591 until 1602, Anthonie kept a journal, detailing his activities and events of the Eighty years war, in which the Dutch Republic was embroiled at that time. This
 journal was edited and published by the Dutch department of war in 1862, though of the seven books, one, book four, was lost.
 Jacob Cats (November 10, 1577 - September 12, 1660) was a Dutch poet, humorist, jurist and Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1629 unti l 1631 and from 1636 until 1651. He is most famous for his emblem books. Having lost his mother at an early age, and being adopted with his three brothers by an uncle, Cats
 was sent to school at Breda. He then studied law at Rotterdam and at Paris, and, returning to Holland, he settled at the Hague, where he began to practise as an advocate. His pleading in defence of a person accused of witchcraft brought him many clients and some reputation. He had a serious love affair about this time,
 which was broken off on the very eve of marriage by his catching a tertian fever which defied all at tempts at cure for some two years. For medical advice and change of air Cats went to England, where he consulted the highest authorities in vain. He returned to Zeeland to die, but was cured mysteriously with the powder of a travelling doctor (later sources claim he was a quack). He married in 1602 a lady of some property, Elisabeth van Valkenburg, and thenceforward lived at Grijpskerke in Zeeland, where he devoted himself to farming and poetry. In 1621, on the expiration of the twelve-year truce with Spain, the breaking of the dykes drove him from his farm. He was made pensionary (stipendiary magistrate) of Middelburg; and two years afterwards of Dordrecht. In 1627 Cats came to England on a mission to Charles I, who made him a knight. In 1636 he was made Grand Pensionary of Holland, and in 1648 keeper of the great seal; in 1651 he resigned his offices, but in 1657 he was sent a second time to England on what proved to be an unsuccessful mission to Oliver Cromwell. In the seclusion of his villa of Sorgvliet (near the Hague), he lived from this time till his death, occupied in the composition of his autobiography (Eighty-two Years of My Life, first printed at Leiden in 1734) and of his poems. He became famous in his own lifetime from his moralistic Emblem books, most notably Sinne en Minnebeelden, for which
 Adrian van der Venne cut the plates. He died on September 12, 1660, and was buried by torchlight, and with great ceremony, in the Klooster-Kerk at the Hague. He is still spoken of as Father Cats by his countrymen. Cats was contemporary with Hooft and Vondel and other distinguished Dutch writers in the golden age of Dutch literature, but his Orangist and Calvinistic opinions separated him from the liberal school of Amsterdam poets. He was, however, intimate with Constantijn Huygens, whose political opinions were more nearly in agreement with his own. Hardly known outside of Holland, among his own people for nearly two centuries he enjoyed an enormous popularity. His diffuseness and the antiquated character of his matter and diction, have, however, come to be regarded as difficulties in the way of study, and he is more renowned than read. A statue to him was erected at Brouwershaven in 1829. He wrote the following works: Jacob Cats, Complete Works (1790–1800, 19 vols.), later editions by van Vloten (Zwolle, 1858–1866; and at Schiedam, 1869–1870): Pigott, Moral Emblems, with
 Aphorisms, etc., from Jacob Cats (1860); and P. C. Witsen Geijsbeek, Het Leven en de Verdiensten van Jacob Cats (1829). Southey has a very complimentary reference to Cats in his Epistle to Al lan Cunningham, Emblemata or Minnebeelden with Maegdenplicht (1618), Selfstryt (1620), Houwelick (1625), Proteus Ofte Minne-Beelden Verandert In Sinne-Beelden. (1627), Spiegel van den ouden en nieuwen Tyt (1632), Ouderdom, Buytenleven en Hofgedachten op Sorgvliet (1664) and Gedachten op slapelooze nachten (1660). Cats' moralistic poems were told and retold like nursery rhymes over several generations. Even today many of his coined phrases are still colloquialisms in everyday Dutch. Many of Cats' moral poems were set to music. A selection of these, Klagende Maeghden en andere liederen, was recorded in 2008 by the Utrecht ensemble Camerata Trajectina.
 Adriaan Pauw, knight, heer van Heemstede, Bennebroek, Nieuwerkerk etc. ( November 1, 1585 - February 21, 1653) was Grand Pensionary of Hol land from 1631 until 1636 and from 1651 until his death on February 21, 1653. He was born in Amsterdam in a rich merchant family - his father, Reinier Pauw (1564– 1636) wasn't only a merchant, but also a Mayor of Amsterdam - and studied law in Leiden. He was the pensionary of Amsterdam from 1611 to 1627. In 1620 he bought the town of Heemstede and was called 'Lord of Heemstede'. He was appointed grand pensionary in 1631. Pauw, Holland and Amsterdam wanted an alliance with Spain, but Prince Frederick Henry of Orange wanted an alliance with France. Frederick Henry sent Pauw to France to start an alliance against Spain. Pauw accepted this assignment and allied with France. He resigned in 1636 as grand pensionary. After the Peace of Münster (1648) for which he was instrumental as ambassador for Holland Pauw became grand pensionary again in 1651 although there was much opposition against him. He tried to stop a war
 with England in 1652. He died in 1653. Adriaan Pauw was married to Anna van Ruytenburgh (1589–1648), daughter of Pieter van Ruytenburgh, heer van  Vlaardingen, Vlaardingerambacht en Ter Horst (1562–1627), a wealthy merchant. Her mother was Aleyda Huybrechts van Duyvendrecht.
 Johan de Witt or Jan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere (September 24, 1625 - August 20, 1672) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from July 30, 1653 until his death on Auguat 20, 1672. was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid-17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age. De Witt controlled the Netherlands political system from around 1650 until shortly before his death in 1672 working with various factions from nearly all the major cities, especially his hometown, Dordrecht, and the city of birth of his wife, Amsterdam. As a republican he opposed the House of Orange and, along with his brother Cornelis de
 Witt, was murdered by Orangists.
 Johan de Witt was a member of the old Dutch patrician family De Witt. His father was Jacob de Witt, an influential regent and burgher from the patrician class in the city of Dordrecht, which in the seventeenth century, was one of the most important cities of the dominating province of Holland. Johan and his older brother, Cornelis de Witt, grew up in a privileged social environment in terms of education, his father having as good acquaintances important scholars and scientists, such as Isaac Beeckman, Jacob Cats, Gerhard Vossius and Andreas Colvius. Johan and Cornelis both attended the Latin school in Dordrecht, which imbued both brothers with the values of the Roman Republic. Johan de Witt married on February 16, 1655 Wendela Bicker (1635–1668), the daughter of Jan Bicker (1591–1653), an influential patrician from Amsterdam, and Agneta de Graeff van Polsbroek (1603–1656). Jan Bicker served as mayor of Amsterdam in 1653. De Witt became a relative to the strong republican-minded brothers Cornelis and Andries de Graeff, and to Andries Bicker. The couple had four children, three daughters and one son:
 
older than Johan began to see greatness in Johan dating from that experience. In 1653, Johan De Witt's uncle, Cornelis De Graeff, made De Witt 'Grand Pensionary' of the States of Holland. Since Holland was the Republic's most powerful province, he was effectively the political leader of the United Provinces as a
 whole—especially during periods when no stadholder had been elected by the States-General of the United Provinces. That is why the raadpensionaris of Holland  was also referred to as the Grand Pensionary — in many way similar to a modern Prime Minister. Representing the province of Holland, Johan De Witt tended to identify with the economic interests of the shipping and trading interests in the United Provinces. These interests were largely concentrated in the province of Holland and to a lesser degree in the province of Zeeland.[6] In the religious conflict between the Calvinists and the more moderate members of the Dutch Reform Church which arose in 1618, Holland tended to belong to the more tolerant Dutch Reform faction in the United Provinces. Not surprisingly, Johan de
 Witt also held views of toleration of religious beliefs. Together with his uncle, Cornelis De Graeff, Johan De Witt brought about peace with England after the First Anglo-Dutch War with the Treaty of Westminster in May of 1654. The peace treaty had a secret annex, the Act of Seclusion, forbidding the Dutch ever to appoint William II's posthumous son, the infant William, as stadholder. This annex had been attached on instigation of Cromwell, who felt that since William III
 was a grandson of the executed Charles I, it was not in the interests of his own republican regime to see William ever gain political power. On September 25, 1660 the States of Holland under the prime movers of De Witt, Cornelis De Graeff, his younger brother Andries de Graeff and Gillis Valckenier resolved to take charge of William's education to ensure he would acquire the skills to serve in a future—though undetermined—state function. Influenced by the values of the Roman republic, De Witt did his utmost anyway to prevent any member of the House of Orange from gaining power, convincing many provinces to abolish the stadtholderate entirely. He bolstered his policy by publicly endorsing the theory of republicanism. He is supposed to have contributed personally to the Interest of Holland, a radical republican textbook published in 1662 by his supporter Pieter de la Court. De Witt's power base was the wealthy merchant class into which he was born. This class broadly coincided politically with the "States faction", stressing Protestant religious moderation and pragmatic foreign policy defending commercial interests. The "Orange faction", consisting of the middle class, preferred a strong leader from the Dutch Royal House of Orange as a counterweight against the rich upper-classes in economic and religious matters alike. Although leaders that did emerge from the House of Orange rarely were strict Calvinists themselves, they tended to identify with Calvinism, which was popular among the middle classes in the United Provinces during this time. William II of Orange
 was a prime example of this tendency among the leaders of the House of Orange to support Calvinism. William II was elected Stadholder by the States-General in 1625 and continued to serve until his death in November, 1650. Eight days after his death, William II wife delivered a male heir--William III of Orange. Many citizens of the United Provinces urged the election of the infant William III as stadholder under a regency until he came of age. However, the States-General, under the dominance of the province of Holland did not fill the office of Stadholder. The United Provinces were to remain "stadholderless" until crucial year of 1672. During this stadholderless period Jacob De Witt reached the apex of his power in the United Provinces. In the period following the Treaty of
 Westminster, the Republic grew in wealth and influence under De Witt's leadership. De Witt created a strong navy, appointing one of his political allies, Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, as supreme commander of the confederate fleet. Later De Witt became a personal friend of Lieutenant-
 Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. The Second Anglo-Dutch War began in 1665, lasting until 1667 when it ended with the Treaty of Breda, in which De Witt negotiated very favorable agreements for the Republic after the partial destruction of the British fleet in the Raid on the Medway, initiated by De Witt himself and executed in 1666 by De Ruyter. At about the time the Treaty of Breda was concluded, De Witt made another attempt at pacification of the quarrel between States Party and Orangists over the position of the Prince of Orange. He proposed to have William appointed captain-general of the Union on reaching the age of majority (23); on condition, however, that this office would be declared incompatible with that of stadtholder in all of the provinces. For good measure the stadtholderate was abolished in Holland itself. This Perpetual Edict (1667) was enacted by the States of Holland on August 5, 1667, and recognized by the States- General on a four-to-three vote in January, 1668. This edict was added by Gaspar Fagel, then Pensionary of Haarlem, Gillis Valckenier and Free Imperial Knight
 Andries de Graeff, two prominent Amsterdam regents, which abolished the stadtholderate in Holland "for ever". During 1672, which the Dutch refer to as the "year of disaster" or rampjaar, France and England attacked the Republic during the Franco-Dutch War and the Orangists took power by force and deposed de
 Witt. Recovering from an earlier attempt on his life in June, he was lynched by an organized mob after visiting his brother Cornelis in prison. After the arrival of  Johan de Witt, the city guard was sent away on a pretext to stop farmers who were supposedly engaged in pilfering. Without any protection against the assembled mob, the brothers were dragged out of the prison and killed next to a nearby scaffold. Immediately after their deaths, the bodies were mutilated and fingers, toes, and other parts of their bodies were cut off. Other parts of their bodies were allegedly eaten by the mob (or taken elsewhere, cooked and then allegedly eaten). The heart of Cornelis de Witt was exhibited for many years next to his brother's by one of the ringleaders, the silversmith Hendrik Verhoeff. Today some historians believe that his adversary and successor as leader of the government, stadtholder William III of Orange, was involved in the de Witt brothers' deaths.
 At the very least he protected and rewarded their killers. The ringleaders were Johan Kievit, his brother-in-law Cornelius Tromp and Johan van Banchem. Besides being a statesman Johan de Witt, also was an accomplished mathematician. In 1659 he wrote "Elementa Curvarum Linearum" as an appendix to Frans
 van Schooten's translation of René Descartes' "La Géométrie". In this, De Witt derived the basic properties of quadratic forms, an important step in the field of linear algebra.
In 1671 his Waardije van Lyf-renten naer Proportie van Los-renten was published ('The Worth of Life Annuities Compared to Redemption Bonds'). This work combined the interests of the statesman and the mathematician. Ever since the Middle Ages, a Life Annuity was a way to "buy" someone a regular income from a reliable source. The state, for instance, could provide a widow with a regular income until her death, in exchange for a 'lump sum' up front. There were also Redemption Bonds that were more like a regular state loan. De Witt showed - by using probability mathematics - that for the same amount of money a bond of 4% would result in the same profit as a Life Annuity of 6% (1 in 17). But the 'Staten' at the time were paying over 7% (1 in 14). The publication about Life
 Annuities is seen as the first mathematical approach of chance and probabili ty.[citation needed] After the violent deaths of the brothers the 'Staten' issued new Life Annuities in 1673 for the old rate of 1 in 14. In 1671 De Witt conceived of a life annuity as a weighted average of annuities certain where the weights were mortality probabilities (that sum to one), thereby producing the expected value of the present value of a life annuity. Edmond Halley‘s (of comet fame) representation of the life annuity dates to 1693, when he re-expressed a life annuity as the discounted value of each annual payment multiplied by the probability of surviving long enough to receive the payment and summed until there are no survivors. De Witt's approach was especially insightful and ahead of its time. In modern terminology, De Witt treats a life annuity as a random variable and its expected value is what we call the value of a life annuity. Also in modern terminology, De Witt's approach allows one to readily understand other properties of this random variable such as its standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, or any other characteristic of interest. The lynching of the De Witt brothers is depicted with a dramatic intensity in the first four chapters of The Black Tulip, a historical fiction novel written by Alexandre Dumas, père in 1850, and this event has implications for the whole plot line of the book. In its time, Dumas's book helped make this tragedy known to a French readership (and a readership in other countries into whose languages the book was translated) who were otherwise ignorant of Dutch history.
 
Staten-Generaal and in 1672 after the resignation and subsequent murder of Jan and Cornelis de Witt. He was distinguished for his integrity and the firmness  with which he repelled the attempts of Louis XIV of France against his country, and for his zeal in supporting the claims of the William III, Prince of Orange to the English throne. Fagel was responsible for writing several letters on instruction from William III and several letters purported to be from William III himself (with William's permission). In 1687, Fagel wrote an open letter to the English people, as Pensionary of Netherlands, deploring the religious policy of James. The letter was generally interpreted as a covert bid, by William II, for the English throne. In 1688, in preparation for the English Revolution during which William III landed in England, Fagel wrote to English advocate James Stewart[2] calling on public figures there to not use the various anti-Catholic Test Oaths and associated legislation to restrict the liberties of Catholic citizens. While his correspondence called for liberty and freedom of religion, Fagel also suggested that the Dutch  would support the softening of some laws only if: ...those Laws remain still in their full vigour by which the Roman Catholics are shut out of both Houses of Parliament, and out of all public employment; Ecclesiastical, Civil and Military: as likewise all those others, which confirm the Protestant Religion and which secures it against all the attempts of the Roman Catholic. The effect of this letter, and others, was to assure the Parliament that William III would not stand in the way of the Parliament's legislative agenda which manifested itself in the form of the Bill of Rights of 1689.
Michiel ten Hove (February 24, 1640, The Hague - March 24, 1689, The Hague) was ad interim Grand Pensionary of Holland from December 5, 1688 until his death on March 24, 1689. He was a lawyer for the Dutch West Indies Company since 1664 and from 1672 pensionary of Haarlem. He was son of Nicolaas ten Hove and Cornelia Fagel, and nephew of Gaspar Fagel, who preceded him as Grand Pensionary and died in 1688. He was well appreciated by William III of Orange and probably would have succeeded his uncle formally, had he not died in office the next year.
 Anthonie (or Antonius) Heinsius (November 23, 1641, Delft - August 3, 1720, The Hague) was a Dutch statesman who served as Grand Pensionary of Holland from May 27, 1689 to his death on August 3, 1720. Heinsius was born at Delft on November 23, 1641, son of a wealthy merchant and patrician. In 1679 he became pensionary for Delft in the States of Holland and in 1687 he became a member of the board of the Delft chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1682 he was appointed special negotiator to France by stadholder William III of Orange. His mission was to see if anything could be done about the occupation of the Principality of Orange by Louis XIV. The mission was a failure but he made a favourable impression on William III. He became Grand Pensionary of the States of Holland, and thereby the most powerful man in the Estates-General of the Netherlands, on May 27, 1689, when William III became king of England and had to move to London. He was the confidant and correspondent of William, who left the guidance of Dutch affairs largely in his hands. Heinsius was a tough negotiator and one of the greatest and most obstinate opponents of the expansionist policies of France. He was one of the driving forces behind the anti-France coalitions of the Nine Years' War (1688–97) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). After the death of William III in 1702, Heinsius' hold on the States General diminished, but he remained Grand Pensionary of Holland unti l his own death in 1720.
Isaäc van Hoornbeek (December 9, 1655 - June 17, 1727) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from September 12, 1720 until his death on June 17, 1727. Hoornbeek was born in Leiden. He served as pensionary of Rotterdam before 1720. He died, aged 71, in The Hague.
Simon van Slingelandt, Lord of the manor of Patijnenburg (January 14, 1664, Dordrecht - December 1, 1736, The Hague) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from July 17, 1727 until his death on December 1, 1736. He was also Treasurer-General of the United Provinces from 1725 until 1727. Simon van Slingelandt
 was the son of Govert van Slingelandt, Lord of Dubbeldam (1623-1690), pensionary of Rotterdam and ambassador to Prussia, Sweden, Poland (1656) and Denmark (1659). He was also the secretary of the Council of State in 1664. Before becoming grand pensionary Van Slingelandt wrote several reports as preparation for the second Great Assembly (Dutch Tweede Grote Vergadering , a kind of Constitutional Convention to reform the constitution of the Dutch Republic, November 28, 1716 - September 14, 1717), in which he proposed to give the Council of State ("Raad van State") more power. He was convinced of the necessity to restrict the power of the cities and the provinces in order to strengthen the central power of the republic. The Great Assembly however ended in failure when nothing came from Van Slingelandts proposed reforms. He was powerful in the United Provinces, being the grand pensionary of Holland, which contributed sixty percent of the tax income of the republic. Van Slingelandt was a staunch republican, who wanted to keep the House of Orange out of the centre of power. He was a strong advocate of an alliance with Great Britain; otherwise, he thought, the United Provinces wouldn't survive. He mediated peace between Great Britain and Austria in 1732 and between France and Austria in 1736. Simon van Slingelandt, a Master of Laws, was married to Susanna de Wildt (1666- 1722) and Johanna Margaretha van Coesvelt, his housemaid (1726-1736).
 Anthonie van der Heim (November 28, 1693, The Hague - July 16, 1746, 's-Hertogenbosch) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from April 4, 1737 until July 7, 1746. He was also Treasurer-General of the United Provinces from 1727 until 1737.
 Willem Buys (1661 - February 18, 1749) was acting Grand Pensionary of Holland from July 7 until September 23, 1746. He was pensionary of Amsterdam (1693–1725) and first secretary of the estates of Holland (1726–1749). He had successes as negotiator of the United Provinces. He improved the diplomatic relationship with England in 1705 and 1706 and he was one of the Dutch negotiators during the peace negotiations in 1710 in Geertruidenberg and 1713 in Utrecht.
 Jacob Gilles (ca. 1691 in Kollum - September 10, 1765 in Ypenburg manor near Rijswijk) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from September 23, 1746 until June 18, 1749.
 
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Darko Komazec <komazec darko@gmail com> 17.  
  
The Batavian Republic (Dutch: Bataafse Republiek; French: République Batave), was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis I to the throne of Holland. The new Republic enjoyed widespread support from the Dutch population and was the product of a genuine popular revolution. Nevertheless, it clearly was founded with the armed support of the revolutionary French Republic. The Batavian Republic became a client state, first of that "sister-republic", and later of the French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, and its politics were deeply influenced by the French who supported no fewer than three coups d'état to bring the different political factions to power that France favored at different moments in her own historical development. Nevertheless, the process of creating a written Dutch constitution was mainly driven by internal political factors, not by French influence — until Napoleon forced the Dutch government to accept his brother as monarch. The political, economic and social reforms that were brought about during the relatively short duration of the Batavian Republic have had a lasting impact. The confederal structure of the old Dutch Republic was permanently replaced by a unitary state. For the first time in Dutch history, the constitution that was adopted in 1798 had a genuinely democratic character, despite the fact that it was pushed through after a coup d'état. For a while the Republic was governed democratically, although the coup d'état of 1801 put an authoritarian regime in power, after another change in constitution. Nevertheless, the memory of this brief experiment with democracy helped smooth the transition to a more democratic government in 1848 (the constitutional revision by Thorbecke, limiting the power of the king). A type of ministerial government
 was