Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On November 18, 1864, Denmark shocked the world with the announcement of three major marriages.

Denmark actually announced at the same time that the royal family would marry the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden and the British Empire.

Although Prince George, who is married to the United Kingdom, is only the second son of Christian IX and is not the crown prince.

His marriage partner was Princess Helena, Queen Victoria's fifth child and third daughter.

But the marriage between the two countries at this time was enough to prove Britain's attitude, that is, Britain was obviously determined to protect the Kingdom of Denmark from the invasion of the German Confederation.

Similarly, Sweden and Tsarist Russia had the same idea.

Obviously, the joint actions of Austria and Prussia have shocked and alerted all major countries. If the Baltic Sea outlet falls into the hands of the two countries, it will be disastrous for other countries.

That's why this collective simultaneous marriage came about.

William IV even jokingly told his wife Alexandra that Denmark, led by Christian IX, was a blessing in disguise this time.

Alexandra also believed this, because her father, the king, had been in an unstable position before. Under the frequent provocations of the German Confederation, his position seemed to have been shaken by pro-German factions in Denmark, who wanted to remove him from power. crisis.

Although it was eventually overcome, the hidden dangers were not completely eliminated.

This is my father's problem.

She looked at William IV and was deeply moved.

Because when people were accusing William IV, his son-in-law, of not helping Denmark resist the invasion of the German Confederacy, and even when Denmark used insults and other disrespectful words towards her husband, William IV was still very graceful and treated her as always, There's a lot of action behind the scenes.

Moreover, she had to admit that she once questioned whether her husband's attitude towards Denmark was friendly enough, but after everything happened, she was conquered.

Because the idea of ​​​​marrying various countries to break the German Confederation's attack came from her husband William.

The advice in the letter from home was exactly William's idea.

Now that his brothers and sisters are marrying into four powerful countries, including the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the British Empire, who dares to question his father Christian IX’s position as king? After all, even these countries are willing to marry, so questioning his status, is it questioning the recognition ability of these countries?

With the formation of the Danish alliance among the four countries, it is likely that Austria and Prussia will stop. However, it remains to be seen what specific decision will be made.

But Denmark itself, according to the judgment of Queen Alexandra of the Netherlands, should no longer have to worry about being attacked by the Ops.

William IV looked at his wife, Queen Alexandra, who showed a relieved smile again, and said helplessly in his heart: "Actually, I don't want to help Denmark, Alexandra, you think of me too noble, because I I just fell in love with a piece of land in Denmark.”

But William IV naturally would not say it out loud.

With the news of the marriage between the Kingdom of Denmark, Britain, Russia and Switzerland being confirmed by the three countries, the dust has finally settled.

Countries all have different ideas.

Portugal and Italy are disappointed because Denmark is pro-Dutch. This can be seen from Denmark's position at the last London meeting.

The German Confederation headed by the Austro-Prussian two countries is too powerful. If pro-Dutch Denmark can be used to weaken the Austro-Prussian two countries that pose a huge threat to them, it will be a huge gain without paying any price. The cake thing.

During this period, the number of casualties increased from single digits to hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, and eventually the casualties on both sides reached more than 100,000. This made Italy and Portugal inexplicably excited. Even Emmanuel II was even excited. Can't sleep.

Louis I was worthy of being his son-in-law. He was also excited every day and drank a lot of wine before he could fall asleep.

Now, with the marriage of the Kingdom of Denmark, the predicament has been solved in an instant. Not only does this make them unhappy, but they also feel overwhelmed by this version of Denmark's operation. They can't help but think with a wry smile: This is no good. .

Hanover, Saxony and other members of the German Confederation are even more helpless. Now they realize that after so long, nothing has been gained, and their relationship with Denmark has also been harmed. Now Schleswig and Holstein are almost all here. In the hands of Opp, this made them both envious and grateful, and they couldn't help but want to take the opportunity to ask for benefits in the German Confederation Parliament.

Joseph I and Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria were even more stunned.

However, neither of them was disappointed, because with the war in Schleswig, Austria's domestic military strength seems to be somewhat lacking. The war is still going on in Ethiopia in the south, and Denmark in the north is entangled. The struggle made Austria feel exhausted.

Therefore, if it ends at this time, Austria can breathe a sigh of relief.

The two looked at each other and understood that this was the best result for Austria.

Joseph I said: "The results are very important. On Holstein and Schleswig, our interests cannot be deprived by Prussia. Therefore, the government must keep it in check."

Archduke Ferdinand was naturally indispensable.

Bismarck in Berlin also looked at Denmark in surprise. Although he knew that Denmark was running an operation to ask for help some time ago, he did not expect that Denmark would use such a strategy to win over other countries. Although he did not know what the price Denmark paid, But obviously the price of being able to win over other countries will not be small.

He quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind, and finally he bitterly discovered that if they attacked again, the benefits to Prussia would be small, but there would be many people to offend, and Prussia would even be wary of other countries because of this. It will bring more obstacles to their future advancement of the empire.

"Fortunately, now we have finally united the hearts of the Germans and at the same time weakened Austria's combat strength. This has completed the plan of my Majesty and Moltke and I, and it is not considered a failure. However, On the other hand, Schleswig was not completely captured, which was an advantage for Denmark. The Battle of Germany and Denmark was finally completed, and then came the Battle of Prussia and Austria. This was the second step in the rise of Prussia. More detailed planning is needed next. OK"

On November 25, 1864, with the announcement of Denmark's marriage, Britain, Tsarist Russia, Sweden and the Netherlands were the four countries that were the partners of Denmark's marriage. They put pressure on Austria and Prussia in the German Confederation to stop waging war.

Seeing that the stated goal of starting the war had almost been achieved, and also because they were worried that expanding the war would trigger intervention by Britain, Russia, Switzerland, or the Netherlands, Prussia and Austria decided to leave it at that.

The two countries knew that it would be disadvantageous to continue fighting and that if their relations with these countries were ruined, the gains would outweigh the losses. Therefore, they stopped and started negotiations in Gothenburg, Sweden.

And two days later, on November 27, Denmark, Prussia, and Austria signed the Gothenburg Peace Treaty. In this contract