Capital of the Netherlands 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 were 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
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