He returned to the Netherlands in 1794, as a general in the French
revolutionary army of general Charles Pichegru and commander of the Batavian
Legion. Daendels helped unitarian
politician Pieter Vreede to power in a coup
d'état on 25 January 1798.
The group behind Vreede was dissatisfied with the conservative-moderate
majority in parliament, which tried to prevent the formulation of a more
democratic, centralistic constitution. The reign of Vreede did not bring
the expected results, however, and Daendels supported another coup d'état
against Vreede on 14 June 1798. In the Batavian Republic
Daendels occupied several political offices, but he had to
step down when he failed to
prevent the Anglo-Russian Invasion
of Holland in 1799, and he became a farmer in Heerde, Gelderland.
Louis Bonaparte made Daendels colonel-general in 1806 and Governor-General
of the Dutch East Indies in 1807. After a long voyage, he arrived in the
city of Batavia (now Jakarta) on 5 January 1808 and relieved
the former Governor General, Albertus Wiese.