Capital of the Netherlands 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
Second city of the United Kingdom Second city of the United Kingdom The second city of the United Kingdom is an unofficial claim made at various times by several cities since the establishment of the UK in 1707. Commonly a country's second city is the city that is thought to be the second-most important, usually after the capital or first city according to criteria such as population size, economic importance and cultural contribution. Historically several cities have been considered the "second city of the British Empire". In the early 19th Century, Dublin was considered by many to be the second city; later in the century, Glasgow