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Holland had reestablished the stadtholderate under the leadership of William of Orange. The former chiefs of the republic, Jean and Corneille de Witt, unjustly accused of betraying their country to France, had been forced to resign and sentenced to perpetual banishment.
In 1862, as a result of a short but disastrous war, Montenegro had been forced to sign a humiliating treaty of peace in which she virtually acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey. Daudet was in Africa in 1861-1862, gathering materials out of which "Tartarin" grew. It is possible that he met there the prototype of Gregory brooding over the disgrace of his country, or, at least, pretending to do so.