Capital of the Netherlands capital city somewhat, as Emperor Napoleon declared the city to be the third city of the Empire (after Paris and Rome) and an imperial residence. In December 1813, after the fall of Napoleon and the accession of Prince William VI of Orange as Sovereign of the Netherlands, The Hague was restored as the seat of government. Although the proper legal status of Amsterdam as capital of the Netherlands is of recent date, the city has been uniformly recognised as capital ever since 1814. This is partly because it is a "Royal City", used not only for the inauguration of kings,
History of the Netherlands the German army could make little or no headway, so the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam, the second-largest city of the Netherlands, killing about 900 people, destroying most of the inner city and leaving 78,000 people homeless. Following the bombing and German threats of the same treatment for Utrecht, the Netherlands capitulated on 15 May, except for the province of Zeeland where French and French-Moroccan troops stood side-by-side with the Dutch army. Still, the Dutch Royal Family along with some armed forces fled to the United Kingdom. Some members of the Dutch Royal Family eventually moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada until the