History
Historically, the convocation of the States-General consisted of delegates from the States-Provincial, and dated from about the middle of the 15th century, under the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy. The first session was on January 9, 1464, in Bruges in Flanders at the behest of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. Later, regular sessions were held at Coudenberg, Brussels (Brabant). After the abjuration of the king in 1581 and the separation of the northern Netherlands from the Spanish dominions, the States-General replaced the king as the supreme authority and as the central government of the northern Netherlands, which then became known as the United Provinces. Regional government was taken on by the States-Provincial. The representatives, now in The Hague (Holland), were elected as the general government of the United Provinces by the seven sovereign States-Provincial. The States-General, in which the voting was by province, each of the seven provinces having one vote, were established from 1593. Twenty per cent of the new Republic's territory, known as the Generality Lands, was not assigned to any provincial council and so was under the direct rule of the Generality (generaliteit). As such, this territory had no vote in the States-General. The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company were also under its general supervision; Staten Island in New York City (originally New Amsterdam) and Staten Island, Argentina (Discovered by Dutchman Jacob le Maire), are among places named after the Staten-Generaal.
The Southern Netherlands kept their own States-General in Brussels.
The States-General in both The Hague and Brussels came to an end after 1795; the South was annexed by France, and the North saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic and the subsequent convocation of the National Assembly (1 March 1796). The title of Staten-Generaal, however, continued in the title of subsequent Dutch parliaments reconstituted in 1814, after the end of Napoleonic rule. There was one chamber until 1815, and two thereafter.
They were defunct from 1940 to 1945, during the German occupation.
Read more about this topic: States-General Of The Netherlands
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