Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

In short, the purpose of Austria's participation in the war was to oppose Prussia's independent annexation of Schleswig and Holstein.

This intention is no secret in Europe.

Many Danes were originally happy about the British maritime support operations, but they only saw heavy thunder and little rain. The British obviously did not want to offend the German Confederation.

This also made Christian IX and the Danish government feel a crisis.

On August 1, 1864, Danish Prime Minister Monrad once again reminded countries that were not part of the German Confederation that if they could not support Denmark in getting rid of the threat of the German Confederation, it would have devastating consequences for the strategies and interests of various countries on the European continent.

According to this interview with the "European Times", Monrad told the "European Times" after a meeting on war security between Germany and Denmark in Copenhagen that day, "If Denmark is threatened and Denmark is invaded and countries turn a blind eye, the world will The echoes of this shock will be felt everywhere. These echoes will be heard in Europe and the world. They will be heard in London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and even in the Far East of America. If people think that aggression is rewarded, It is correct to have strength, and it is correct to admit that a large number of troops formed by Prussia and Austria appeared on the border of Denmark and tried to invade Denmark, then the future development of the situation in Europe is definitely something that even God would not want to see, because that is It was a dark moment when I didn’t understand the intentions of William I and Joseph I, but now there are worrying omens.”

With the publication of Monrad's interview, various countries have raised questions about the legality of the German Confederation's move to station in Holstein and station troops on the Schleswig border. Although Denmark itself violated the agreement first, but just like Denmark As the Prime Minister said, the threat from the German Confederation will have a spillover effect, threatening the security of European countries.

Although Prussia successfully formed an alliance with Austria, she still began to work through European countries early.

Therefore, Denmark still hopes to gain the support of European countries like the first Schleswig War. However, this time, in addition to the British ensign sending a navy to increase its presence, the countries are letting Denmark know that this This time they might not be so lucky.

French Empire, Paris.

"Where has the combined army formed by the German Confederacy reached now?"

Napoleon III checked the latest political affairs happening in various parts of France. This was his usual personal action. Every week, the French Prime Minister Olivier would bring documents that needed the king's signature to Napoleon III for confirmation.

As the two talked, they talked about the German-Danish War, which is currently the most talked about in Europe.

Olivier: "We have reached Schleswig. I heard that Prussia suggested that the German Confederation might attack Lübeck, a small city in the east of Schleswig, in the next two days."

When Napoleon III heard this, his eyes left the document. He raised his head and glanced at Olivier.

After a while, he lowered his head again and continued the search operation, but said: "It seems that Prussia has already surpassed Austria."

Olivier smiled bitterly and said: "There is no way. Now Prussia is obviously stronger and stronger. Austria has begun to gradually lag behind Prussia, both economically and militarily. The members of the North German Customs Union are expanding more and more in the German Confederation." , and has even gradually penetrated southward."

"Austria chose a truce in the Austro-Prussian economic war?"

Olivier was stunned when he heard this, and then quickly understood what it meant, nodded, and said: "Yes, the cabinet government of Archduke Rainer Ferdinand has obviously temporarily compromised, and through practical means, it wants to prevent Prussia from snatching the German Confederation on its own. take the lead in external affairs and win the hearts and minds of member states.”

Napoleon III put down the document and sighed: "It's a pity. Such a great opportunity, but it's a pity that we are stuck in the quagmire in America."

When Olivier heard this, he also showed unwillingness and pity.

At this time, France was caught in the quagmire of the Mexican War and was scheming with Austria in northern Italy. As a result, the French Empire was also full of crises.

Precisely because he was aware of this situation, Napoleon III had no time to pay attention to the disputes on the Jutland Peninsula, and hoped to receive compensation from the German Confederation and give France a blood transfusion as the price for France's acquiescence in the free actions taken by the German Confederation led by Prussia.

In fact, two months ago, Bismarck had hinted to the French ambassador in Berlin that Prussia was willing to discuss the issues of Schleswig and Holstein at a conference chaired by Napoleon III, and raised the possibility In the near future, cede an area on the left bank of the Rhine to France that is friendly to Prussia.

Napoleon III was naturally attracted by this, and he could gain territory without sending troops to Denmark to fight to the death. Naturally, Napoleon III did not think long before he was ready to no longer support Denmark's interests in the two places.

In exchange for his interests in other regions, when the Danish Prime Minister Monrad called on all countries to support Denmark and prevent the German Confederation from invading, Napoleon III Foreign Minister Fleury made it clear that Frank Assi had no intention of military intervention.

Russian Empire, St. Petersburg.

Alexander II also looked at the telegram from Denmark asking for help with a distressed look on his face.

Since he inherited the throne in 1855, he has carried out a large number of reforms, focusing on the military, social and judicial as well as administrative systems.

In the social field, investment in education and medical care has been increased. Since 1863, universities in Tsarist Russia have gained autonomy, and the academic atmosphere has gradually liberalized.

Like other countries in Europe, with the implementation of universal secondary education in the Netherlands in 1862, major countries such as Britain, France, Prussia and Austria promulgated and joined the national constitution one by one in 1863.

As a result, his signature came into effect, and starting from the second half of 1864, secondary education institutions in the Russian Empire began to accept students from the whole society, changing the previous practice of only accepting children of aristocrats.

In fact, St. Petersburg has just opened the first batch of girls' middle schools in the Tsarist Empire, and women have also gained the right to receive higher education and medical professional education. This has made the status of women in Tsarist Russia higher in society than other countries in Europe. This made him in It has received a lot of support domestically.

However, Tsarist Russia has encountered difficulties in its recent diplomacy, which made him very dissatisfied and helpless.

After the Crimean War in 1855, Tsarist Russia was at war with Britain, France, Austria and other countries. It was in a diplomatic isolation situation and its domestic economy was close to collapse.

It was under such circumstances that Alexander II came to power.

He faced the deterioration of people's livelihood from all over the country due to economic difficulties, and domestic dissatisfaction with the Romanov dynasty began to hoard.

Although he later suppressed the crisis, diplomacy became increasingly difficult to implement. In the end, he used Gorchakov to alleviate it.

However, the Polish uprising broke out against the rule of the Russian Empire in 1863, which caused Alexander II a headache. Because Britain, France and other countries, out of political considerations, actually expressed their sympathy for the Polish uprising under the banner of humanitarianism, Alexander II was very troubled by this.

It was under such circumstances that Prussia actually aimed at this opportunity and took advantage of the Polish uprising in 1863 to make a deal with the Tsarist Russian Empire. When Britain and France supported Poland and Tsarist Russia fell into isolation among major powers, Bismarck, the Prussian Prime Minister Someone was sent to St. Petersburg to sign a contract to help Tsarist Russia suppress the Polish uprising, in exchange for Tsarist Russia taking a neutral stance in the Prussian-led disputes and even wars with Denmark that are about to break out this year.

"What a great Bismarck. He is indeed the most trusted and capable subordinate of William I of Prussia. He is indeed extremely powerful."

Alexander II was filled with envy;

If Tsarist Russia does not support Prussia, it is possible that Prussia will join the anti-Tsarist Russia group, which will be a huge diplomatic disaster for Tsarist Russia.

So Tsarist Russia readily agreed to Prussia's request. Even after France was obviously attracted by Prussia and expressed its support for Prussia, even a week ago, Tsarist Russian Foreign Minister Gorchakov immediately defended France's position and strongly recommended that the Danish government not to visit the Netherlands. resistance in the situation in Erstein and Schleswig.

"But compared to the Tsarist Empire, Tsarist Russia's previous rival was Sweden. Carl XV is probably in a lot of trouble now."

Yes, King Carl XV of Sweden is in a very uncomfortable situation right now.

Since the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden has expressed to Europe after 1815 that Sweden pursues a policy of neutrality and will not send troops at will.

But the First Schleswig War (1848-1851) was an exception, because Scandinavianism was prevalent in Northern Europe during the New Year, so Sweden sent 15,000 soldiers to defend Denmark. relations between countries.

Even at last month's Swedish-Danish conference in Scarsburg, King Karl XV promised to ensure that at least 20,000 Swedish-Norwegian soldiers would be sent to Schleswig to defend Scandinavia. Asia's southernmost outpost. , However, this promise he made was actually rejected by the Swedish Parliament just in the past week.

Even Karl XV discovered that at the Swedish-Norwegian joint intergovernmental meeting held at Ulista Palace, a group of liberals headed by Swedish Finance Minister Johan Grippenstedt vetoed Karl XV's commitment. This made Karl XV very angry.

These guys said at the meeting that decisions could only be made when Britain and France intervened in the Schleswig and Holstein issues, but Britain and France did not intervene, and Tsarist Russia even sided with Prussia.

Although Sweden wanted to support Denmark, the two powerful powers of Prussia and Tsarist Russia were looking around at the eastern and southern ends of the Baltic Sea. In addition, Sweden was afraid of moving because of its weak strength. So finally last week, Karl XV chose to compromise and gave up supporting Denmark. .