ROTTERDAM
Each of the Dutch provinces and towns was relatively independent with no central or federal government that could organize or bring consistency to Holland. Each city and community had their own military with no common command, training, logistics, weapons or other common elements that the times began to require. The representatives from Rotterdam made this public declaration for a unified—federal—government.
Rotterdam (/ˈrɒtərdæm/, UK also /ˌrɒtərˈdæm/, Dutch: [ˌrɔtərˈdɑm] (listen)) is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland. The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 10th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country.
