 Though the Batavian Republic was a client state , its successive governments tried their best to maintain a modicum of independence and to serve Dutch interests even where those clashed with those of their French overseers . This perceived obduracy led to the eventual demise of the Republic when the short @-@ lived experiment with the ( again authoritarian ) regime of " Grand Pensionary " Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck produced insufficient docility in the eyes of Napoleon . The new king , Louis Bonaparte ( Napoleon 's own brother ) , surprisingly did not slavishly follow French dictates either , leading to his downfall . 
