Editing The Hague (section)

== History ==
{{For timeline}}

=== Ancient history===
The area was part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Germania Inferior]] and was close to the border of the empire, the [[Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes]]. In 1997, four Roman milestones were discovered at Wateringse Veld. The originals are in the "[[Museon]]" museum. The milestones indicate the distance from the nearest Roman city, Forum Hadriani (modern [[Voorburg]]), and can be dated to the reign of the emperors [[Antoninus Pius]] (138–161; the column is dated 151), [[Caracalla]] (211–217), [[Gordian III]] (238–244), and [[Decius]] (249–251).

=== Early history ===
[[File:Joust on the Hofvijver, by Dutch School of the 17th century.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Binnenhof]] at the [[Hofvijver]], 1625]]
[[File:Beest Street in The Hague.jpg|thumb|left|''Street in The Hague'' by Sybrand van Beest, {{Circa|1650}}, [[Royal Castle, Warsaw|Royal Castle]] in [[Warsaw]]]]

Little is known about the origin of The Hague. There are no contemporary documents describing it, and later sources are often of dubious reliability. What is certain is that The Hague was founded by the last counts of the [[House of Holland (nobility)|House of Holland]]. [[Floris IV]] already owned two residences in the area, but presumably purchased a third court situated by the present-day [[Hofvijver]] in 1229, previously owned by a woman called Meilendis. Presumably, Floris IV intended to rebuild the court into a large castle, but he died in a [[Tournament (medieval)|tournament]] in 1234, before anything was built.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04a_florisiv.htm |title=De geschiedenis van den Haag: graaf Floris IV |website=Geschiedenis van Den Haag |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424093819/http://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04a_florisiv.htm |archive-date=24 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> His son and successor [[William II of Holland|William II]] lived in the court, and after he was elected [[King of the Romans]] in 1248, he promptly returned to The Hague, and had builders turn the court into a "royal palace" (''regale palacium''), which would later be called the [[Binnenhof]] ("Inner Court"). He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished during the reign of his son [[Floris V, Count of Holland|Floris V]], of which the [[Ridderzaal]] ("Knights' Hall"), still intact, is the most prominent.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04b_willemii.htm |title=Den Haag en graaf Willem II |website=Geschiedenis van Den Haag |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424093824/http://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04b_willemii.htm |archive-date=24 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04d_bouw_binnenhof.htm |title=Het Binnenhof: ontstaat |website=Geschiedenis van Den Haag |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424191019/http://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04d_bouw_binnenhof.htm |archive-date=24 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is still used for political events, such as the annual [[speech from the throne]] by the Dutch [[monarch]]. From the 13th century onward, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative center and residence when in Holland.

The village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as ''Die Haghe'' in a charter dating from 1242. It became the primary residence of the Counts of Holland in 1358 and thus became the seat of many government institutions. This status allowed the village to grow; by the Late Middle Ages, it had grown to the size of a city, although it did not [[City rights in the Low Countries|receive city rights]].<ref name=ZH>{{Cite web |url=https://geschiedenisvanzuidholland.nl/locatie/geschiedenis-van-den-haag |title=Geschiedenis van Den Haag |website=Geschiedenis van Zuid-Holland |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616203832/https://geschiedenisvanzuidholland.nl/locatie/geschiedenis-van-den-haag |archive-date=16 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In its early years, the village was in the ''[[wiktionary:ambacht#Dutch|ambacht]]'', or rural district, of [[Monster, South Holland|Monster]], which was governed by the Lord of Monster. Seeking to exercise more direct control over the village, however, the Count split the village off and created a separate ''ambacht'' called Haagambacht, governed directly by the Counts of Holland. The territory of Haagambacht was considerably expanded during the reign of Floris V.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04e_die_haghe.htm |title=Het dorp Die Haghe: het ontstaan |website=Geschiedenis van Den Haag |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424093832/http://anemaa.home.xs4all.nl/ges/geschiedenis_den_haag_04e_die_haghe.htm |archive-date=24 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

When the [[House of Burgundy]] inherited the counties of Holland and Zeeland in 1432, they appointed a [[stadtholder]] to rule in their stead with the [[States of Holland and West Friesland]] as an advisory council. Although their seat was in The Hague, the city became subordinate to more important centres of government such as [[Brussels]] and [[Mechelen]], from where the sovereigns ruled over the increasingly centralised [[Burgundian Netherlands]].<ref name=ZH/>

At the beginning of the [[Eighty Years' War]], the absence of city walls proved disastrous, as it allowed [[Spain|Spanish]] troops to easily occupy the town. In 1575, the States of Holland, temporarily based in [[Delft]], even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by [[William the Silent]]. In 1588, The Hague became the permanent seat of the States of Holland as well as the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] of the [[Dutch Republic]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.merkdenhaag.nl/de-allerkortste-geschiedenis-van-den-haag |title=De allerkortste geschiedenis van Den Haag |website=Merkboek Den Haag |language=nl |access-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616203831/https://www.merkdenhaag.nl/de-allerkortste-geschiedenis-van-den-haag |archive-date=16 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, "city rights" have no place anymore.

=== Modern history ===
[[File:Den Haag - Stadhuis 1900.jpg|thumb|The [[Old City Hall (The Hague)|Old City Hall]] of The Hague around 1900]]
In 1806, when the [[Kingdom of Holland]] was a puppet state of the [[First French Empire]], the settlement was [[City rights in the Low Countries|granted city rights]] by [[Louis Bonaparte]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/news-and-events/press-room/to/A-short-history-of-The-Hague.htm |title=A short history of The Hague |date=28 November 2011 |website=Denhaag.nl |access-date=9 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125843/http://www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/news-and-events/press-room/to/A-short-history-of-The-Hague.htm |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[Napoleonic Wars]], modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] to form a buffer against France. As a compromise, [[Brussels]] and [[Amsterdam]] alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, while the government was situated in The Hague. When the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. Many streets were specifically built for the large number of civil servants employed in the country's government and for the Dutchmen who were retiring from the administration of the [[Netherlands East Indies]]. The growing city amalgamated the rural municipality of [[Loosduinen]] partly in 1903 and completely in 1923.<ref>{{Repertorium Nederlandse Gemeenten}}</ref>

The city sustained heavy damage during [[World War II]]. Many Jews were killed during the German occupation. Additionally, the [[Atlantic Wall]] was built through the city,<ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Oosthoek |date=18 October 2022 |title='Vitaal onderdeel geschiedenis van bezet Nederland' |url=https://magazines.defensie.nl/defensiekrant/2022/41/02_boek-atlantikwall-_41 |website=Defensiekrant |publisher=Defensie.nl}}</ref> causing a large quarter to be torn down by the [[Nazism|Nazi]] occupants. On 3 March 1945, the [[Royal Air Force]] mistakenly [[Bombing of the Bezuidenhout|bombed]] the [[Bezuidenhout]] quarter. The target was an installation of [[V-2 rocket]]s in the nearby [[Haagse Bos]] park, but because of navigational errors, the bombs fell on a heavily populated and historic part of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kb.nl/dossiers/geschiedenis/bombardement-op-bezuidenhout|title=Bombardement op Bezuidenhout maart 1945|trans-title=Bombing of the Bezuidenhout March 1945|publisher=[[National Library of the Netherlands|Koninklijke Bibliotheek]]|access-date=5 December 2013|language=nl|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215125838/http://www.kb.nl/dossiers/geschiedenis/bombardement-op-bezuidenhout|archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref> The bombardment wreaked widespread destruction in the area<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vQfUQxCjtMC&q=razed |title=The Low Countries: arts and society in Flanders and the Netherlands, a yearbook |volume=9 |author=Stichting Ons Erfdeel |year=1998 |publisher=Flemish-Netherlands Foundation |page=113 |isbn=9789075862287 |access-date=23 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617185656/https://books.google.com/books?ei=FcOXUtmIFYfwhQeC-4CgAQ&id=_vQfUQxCjtMC&dq=The+Low+Countries:+Arts+and+Society+in+Flanders+and+the+Netherlands,+a+Yearbook&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=razed |archive-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> and caused 511 fatalities.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A010462560%3Ampeg21%3Ap008%3Aa0146 Bombardement Bezuidenhout 3 maart '45 Voor velen stortte in luttele minuten de wereld in elkaar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215185333/http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A010462560%3Ampeg21%3Ap008%3Aa0146 |date=15 December 2013 }}, Amigoe di Curacao, 4 March 1965</ref>

Because of uncertainty about what to do after the destructions of the bombing, nobody attempted to plan a reconstruction of Bezuidenhout. In 1962, David Jokinen saw an opportunity to put an end to the situation where two main stations each served only part of the rail traffic. The [[Jokinen Plan]] included the intent to demolish the [[Den Haag Centraal railway station#History|Staatsspoor Station]] entirely, with [[Hollands Spoor]] becoming the central station. Jokinen's plan sparked fierce discussions. The plan was not implemented, in part because it was only presented when decision-making had finally reached an advanced stage. In the site of the Staatsspoor station now stands the [[Den Haag Centraal railway station]].

[[File:Den Haag Skyscrapers 5.jpg|thumb|The [[Ministry of Justice and Security]] building, opened in 2012]]
After the war, The Hague became at one time the largest building site in [[Europe]]. The city expanded massively to the southwest, and the destroyed areas were quickly rebuilt. The population peaked at 600,000 inhabitants around 1965. In the 1970s and 1980s, mostly white middle-class families moved to neighbouring towns such as [[Voorburg]], [[Leidschendam]], [[Rijswijk]] and (most of all) [[Zoetermeer]]. This led to the traditional pattern of an impoverished inner city and more prosperous suburbs. Attempts to include parts of these municipalities in the city of The Hague were highly controversial. In the 1990s, with the consent of the Dutch Parliament, The Hague annexed large areas from neighboring and non-adjacent towns to build new residential areas, which are still being developed today.