Editing Capital of the Netherlands (section)

==Historical background==
Although  the proper legal status of Amsterdam as capital of the Netherlands is of recent date, the city has been recognized as the capital since 1814. In that year [[William I of the Netherlands | Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange and Nassau]], was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|United Netherlands]] and invested as such on 30 March 1814 in [[Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam |the Nieuwe Kerk]] in Amsterdam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royal-house.nl/topics/kings-and-queens/king-willem-i-1772-1843|title = King Willem I (1772-1843) - Kings and Queens - Royal House of the Netherlands|date = 2 February 2015}}</ref>  This is partly because it is a ''Royal City'', used not only for the inauguration of kings, but also for royal weddings (note though that royal burials take place in [[Delft]]), and also because of its dominant position in Dutch history. From the end of the 16th century, the city grew rapidly to become the largest and most powerful city in the Netherlands and the main centre of trade, commerce, finance and culture. 

The origins of the split between Amsterdam as capital city and The Hague as seat of government lay in the peculiar Dutch constitutional history. From the middle-ages to the sixteenth century, The Hague had been the seat of government of the [[County of Holland]] and residence of the [[Counts of Holland]]. Amsterdam in the meantime was growing to be a more important city. After the establishment of the [[Dutch Republic|Republic of the United Netherlands]] in 1572/1581, [[Dordrecht]] briefly became the seat of government of the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]], residence of the States General, the [[Council of State (Netherlands)|Council of State]] and the Prince of Orange as [[Stadtholder|Prince Stadtholder]]. In 1588, these central governmental institutions were moved to The Hague, which, from that point onwards, kept the position of seat of government for the whole republic. Amsterdam remained loyal to the Spanish/Burgundian empire until relatively late in the [[Eighty Years War]], which allowed the city a lot of trade opportunities, but made it unsuitable for the seat of government of the emerging 'rebel' state.

Before the institution of the [[Batavian Republic]] of 1795, the Netherlands was not a [[unitary state]], but more of a [[confederation]] in which the independent provinces and the larger cities and towns were very much politically autonomous. During the seventeenth century, the Prince Stadtholder as official of the [[States of Holland]] clashed several times with the city government of Amsterdam about policy, up to the point that the city was beleaguered by the army. Up to 1795 there remained a strong animosity between the Orange faction and the republican faction in Dutch politics. The former supported the idea of hereditary political leadership vested in the princes of Orange as Stadtholders, and had its powerbase in The Hague and the rural areas. The latter supported civic independence and found its support mainly in the cities and towns of Holland, with Amsterdam as its progenitor and most outspoken representative.

When in 1814 the new kingdom was formed, the appointment of Amsterdam, still the most prominent city in the kingdom, as capital city was also very much a conciliatory gesture of the Orange faction towards the town, and a recognition of the strong civic and republican basis of the new kingdom.