The Patriots in the Netherlands enlisted the help of the French, who were keen to spread the ideals of their 1789 revolution (freedom, equality and fraternity) beyond their national borders. In January 1795 William was forced to flee to England, and the Batavian Republic was founded soon afterwards. It was to be a sister state to revolutionary France. The French were initially welcomed as liberators, with crowds celebrating the transition of power in Amsterdam. Dam Square was renamed Revolution Square, and people danced joyfully around a tree of liberty. A branch from this tree, which someone saved as a memento, is now held by the Rijksmuseum. The rejoicing was short-lived, however, and the populace soon came to regard the French as exploiters and occupiers.
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