History: Why Capitol Cities?

[Gig em Aggies]

Throughout history whether written or spoken mankind has designated certain cities already established or built new cities as a Capitol ranging from London to Paris and Moscow to Washington D.C. My question to you is what drives humans to choose a certain place and designate it as the Capitol.

Example: Obvious reasons such as trading by sea is null but why is the Capitol of Texas Austin or why is Tehran the Capitol of Iran

[Elepis]

I don't know about capitols, capitAls maybe, but capitols? god knows

[Wisconsin9]

Probably to increase efficiency of getting shit done and defending the people who do that shit. Much easier to go across town to discuss a bill than across the country, especially back in the day. And having all the important people in one place instead of a bunch of places means you can put all their defensive measures in one place.

[Frisbeeteria]

Cities tend to grow near trade routes, which is why most major cities formed near ocean ports, lakes, or major rivers. Modern cities also grow when near rail nexuses, highway intersections and such.

Capitols are placed by politicians, so they don't need to make sense. Washington, DC is the US capitol not because of its access to rivers and roads, but because the newly formed states of Virginia and Maryland flipped a coin to see which would have to give up land for a custom-built capitol, and Maryland lost the toss. That's why the US National Capitol is built in nasty drained swampland that Maryland didn't really have a use for.

[Val Halla]

Settlers through a dart at their map and where it ends up, that is where the capitol is

[Wisconsin9]

Cities tend to grow near trade routes, which is why most major cities formed near ocean ports, lakes, or major rivers. Modern cities also grow when near rail nexuses, highway intersections and such.

Capitols are placed by politicians, so they don't need to make sense. Washington, DC is the US capitol not because of its access to rivers and roads, but because the newly formed states of Virginia and Maryland flipped a coin to see which would have to give up land for a custom-built capitol, and Maryland lost the toss. That's why the US National Capitol is built in nasty drained swampland that Maryland didn't really have a use for.

I thought they both gave up land, but D.C. gave Virginia's back at some point.

[Shamhnan Insir]

Population centres generally start due to ease of access to a resource, or lie on a trade route. A static population has needs; sanitation etc. Needs create jobs. Jobs create needs and the population centre grows. Now where do you place your government/public affairs council/tribal chieftain, in the middle of nowhere? No, you create a seat of power. Power attracts wealth/jobs/needs. Now you have a capital city.
Both jobs and wealth create more of each, and therefore more power.
Once the wealth is there, power is difficult to shift.

[Ostroeuropa]

Depends on the situation.

Some would be chosen because they are the biggest/richest, and it allows the government to more closely interact with merchants and trade/provides the ruling class with luxuries.

Some would be chosen for defensibility and/or strategic reasons, placed in such a way that they can cover and control an area.

Some out of weird political reasoning to appease two or more factions with the choice, like washington DC.

Some for historical prestigious reasons. (Baghdad/Rome/Istanbul are three obvious choices.)

There's a bunch of factors.

[Diopolis]

Because you've gotta put the government somewhere.

[Eol Sha]

Throughout history whether written or spoken mankind has designated certain cities already established or built new cities as a Capitol ranging from London to Paris and Moscow to Washington D.C. My question to you is what drives humans to choose a certain place and designate it as the Capitol.

Example: Obvious reasons such as trading by sea is null but why is the Capitol of Texas Austin or why is Tehran the Capitol of Iran

As far as Austin goes, many state capitals were chosen because they were near the center of the state, meaning that politicians from the edges of said states couldn't be placed at a transportation disadvantage in case of important votes, decisions, etc. That's one of the reasons why DC is where it is today.

Other capitals are where they are because of trading routes, defensive advantages during military action, access to the sea, and major river ports.

[Eol Sha]

Cities tend to grow near trade routes, which is why most major cities formed near ocean ports, lakes, or major rivers. Modern cities also grow when near rail nexuses, highway intersections and such.

Capitols are placed by politicians, so they don't need to make sense. Washington, DC is the US capitol not because of its access to rivers and roads, but because the newly formed states of Virginia and Maryland flipped a coin to see which would have to give up land for a custom-built capitol, and Maryland lost the toss. That's why the US National Capitol is built in nasty drained swampland that Maryland didn't really have a use for.

That's not really why.

[Republic of Canador]

There are multiple reasons why a new capital city would be built from scratch. The city may be pre-planned and layed out in a specific way as to reflect on culture, modernity, or the nation's prestige.

Capital cities can be built on the coast for economic reasons, towards the middle of the country for administrative reasons, etc...

Other times cities simply already were the wealthiest in the area, and were chosen to be the seat of governement because of such.

[The Blaatschapen]

In Netherlands, Amsterdam is the capital because the constitution says so.

The government is in the Hague though.

[Braberland]

Political, economic and geographic reasons to choose a capital city, together with centralisation and ordening of the nation throughout the late medieval ages up to now.

[Braberland]

In Netherlands, Amsterdam is the capital because the constitution says so.

The government is in the Hague though.

I personally just consider The Hague as our true capital, considering the majority of stuff is located there.

[The Blaatschapen]

In Netherlands, Amsterdam is the capital because the constitution says so.

The government is in the Hague though.

I personally just consider The Hague as our true capital, considering the majority of stuff is located there.

I do too, for all practical purposes at least. And the Hague seats our government because those Spanish overran the earlier seats (Brussels)

[Benomia 3]

Capitals are, at their heart, the location of the government. Because of this, capitals are usually placed where it would best serve the government.

However, oftentimes it really isn't that important where a government is located*. In these cases, governments usually choose prestigious cities, or base their capital on precedent.** For an example of this, when the nation of Italy was established, its capital was changed to Rome as the Italian nationalists felt that Rome was the rightful capital of an Italian nation. Compare this to Berlin, which was the capital of unified Germany simply because it was the capital of the German Empire's predecessor state - and it was the capital of that state because it was also the capital of [i]that/i] state's predecessor state, and they just never bothered to change it.



*For an example of when it is, see Russia. It's capital was moved to St. Petersburg in order to facilitate trade on the Baltic Sea, and then later moved back to Moscow to prevent a blockade or potential naval bombardment of the capital.
**Sometimes neither of these conditions are actually met. See the Republic of Turkey moving their capital away from Kostantiniyye‎ and to Ankara specifically to avoid the precedent of the former city being the capital of islamic Turkey.

[Pope Joan]

Throughout history whether written or spoken mankind has designated certain cities already established or built new cities as a Capitol ranging from London to Paris and Moscow to Washington D.C. My question to you is what drives humans to choose a certain place and designate it as the Capitol.

Example: Obvious reasons such as trading by sea is null but why is the Capitol of Texas Austin or why is Tehran the Capitol of Iran

As far as Austin goes, many state capitals were chosen because they were near the center of the state, meaning that politicians from the edges of said states couldn't be placed at a transportation disadvantage in case of important votes, decisions, etc. That's one of the reasons why DC is where it is today.

Other capitals are where they are because of trading routes, defensive advantages during military action, access to the sea, and major river ports.

I agree, they needed to be accessible. Transportation was a problem. Also, sometimes the most central spot was not the most accessible, because it had no navigable waterway, which was the primary means of transportation.

[Cetacea]

I don't know about capitols, capitAls maybe, but capitols? god knows

Capitol is the building that houses the Legislature, so OPs use is not entirely wrong in this context.

and in answer essentially thats it, the Capital City is the place the Government chooses to meet.

Historically London only became England/Britains capital in the 9th Century (before that it was Winchester) as it was the largest city and the main trade center with contact with the continent The Tower of London became the Kings base from 1067.

Moscow was chosen as a defense against Mongol invasion and Tehran iirc was also chosen for defensive reasons (something to do with the Caucasus?)

New Zealand's first capital was Auckland, as the Native locals actually invited the British governor to establish his capital there. 25 years later it was shifted to Wellington because that city was more centrally located and had less native influence.

apparently Washington was a political funding deal in favour of Virginian speculators and then you have South Africa who technically have no Capital because no one could agree on where it should go.

[Imperializt Russia]

Moscow and London weren't always capitals.
History changes, land changes hands, capitals move.

What we now call Russia IIRC was once called "the Rus", and incorporated what we now call Ukraine, meaning "border" or something similar. At this time, I think Kiev was the capital. Eventually, Moscow became the capital. Then, when Napoleon invaded, the Russians burned Moscow to the ground.

[Immoren]

In Netherlands, Amsterdam is the capital because the constitution says so.

The government is in the Hague though.

Meanwhile Helsinki is capital as a leftover from Tzarist era, when after the old capital the Turku burned down, Tzar thought that the Grand Duchy should have new capital, closer to the Saint Petersburg.

[Aelex]

Moscow and London weren't always capitals.
History changes, land changes hands, capitals move.

Yeaaaaaaah, Londinium is a quite bad example 'cause it basically is the Capital of England since at least Guillaume's conquest and even before it was one of the most prominent city if not the most.

[Benomia 3]

Moscow and London weren't always capitals.
History changes, land changes hands, capitals move.

What we now call Russia IIRC was once called "the Rus", and incorporated what we now call Ukraine, meaning "border" or something similar. At this time, I think Kiev was the capital. Eventually, Moscow became the capital. Then, when Napoleon invaded, the Russians burned Moscow to the ground.

After Rus' was destroyed it fractured into many smaller tribes and city states. One of those states would eventually become Russia. The nations of Belarus also claims to be descended from Rus', and it can be said that Ukraine was as well.

The Mongol Invasions kinda fucked everything up, though. It's notable to this discussion that Russia's predecessor state was actually a city-state based around Moscow, which is why Moscow is Russia's historical capital.

The destruction of the Rus' is such a tricky subject, because dozens of different states occupied that territory at one form or another. One of the major states that rose up after its collapse was Lithuania, which means that Lithuania and by extension Poland can both be considered Rus's successor states. The reality is, there aren't really any states that are true successors to Rus' because its government disappeared. All that remains was the ethnic population of the area which, after the Mongols' influence started to fade, either formed their own governments (in the case of Moscow, or similar Russian states such as Novgorod) or were annexed by states in the area (in the case of Poland-Lithuania).

[Herrebrugh]

I personally just consider The Hague as our true capital, considering the majority of stuff is located there.

I do too, for all practical purposes at least. And the Hague seats our government because those Spanish overran the earlier seats (Brussels)

Wasn't it Antwerp after that?

[Oneracon]

Certain areas are designated as capital cities because they centralize the political and bureaucratic operations of government and to a lesser extent they centralize commercial operations. Logically, it is far easier to run a national government when all your infrastructure of government is located fairly close to one another.

Many historic capitals were formed because the area already was a centralized economic hub, so government logically followed. In some cases the economic hubs moved but government remained in place (i.e. Quebec City). There are also many capitals developed and planned purposely as capital cities (i.e. Wellington, Valletta, Islamabad, or Washington, D.C.) for either defensive or ceremonial reasons.