 The Netherlands (as the revolutionary Batavian Republic) began to use the metric system from 1799 but, as with its co-revolutionaries in France, encountered numerous practical difficulties.Subsequently, as part of the First French Empire since 1809, the Netherlands used Napoloeon's from their introduction in 1812 until the fall of his Empire in 1815.Under the (Dutch) Weights and Measures Act of 21 August 1816 and the Royal decree of 27 March 1817 (), the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands abandoned the in favour of the "Dutch" metric system () in which metric units were simply given the names of units of measure that were then in use.