Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On February 5, 1865, the 70th birthday of the Dutch Queen Mother Anna Pavlovna, all European countries sent congratulations. Even President Lincoln of North America during the war also sent a telegram of celebration.

Among them, in addition to her nephew Alexander II of the Russian Empire, she issued a congratulations in St. Petersburg.

The descendants of her sisters who married in various European countries either sent representatives or sent congratulatory letters, etc., all involved.

Among them are the Principality of Hungary, where her eldest sister Alexandra Pavlovna married, the Principality of Mecklenburg, where the second sister Elena Pavlovna married, and the third sister Maria Pavlovna. The principality of Saxony where Pavlovna married, the fourth sister Ekaterina Pavlovna married for the first time to the principality of Oldenburg and the second time to the principality of Württemberg.

The descendants of her sisters are all the heirs of the country's successive grand dukes. Therefore, among the descendants of Paul I, with the death of the third sister Maria Pavlovna in 1863, she became the only surviving descendant of Tsar Paul I. It has also become a link between royal families of various countries.

He is the only elder of the heirs of these countries, so he is respected by all countries.

Of course, in addition to them, the royal families of Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Ottoman, and even Italy, Portugal, and Spain in the south have sent congratulatory messages.

William III, the former King of the Netherlands and now King of the Kingdom of Greece, returned to Amsterdam with Queen Sophie, accompanied by William IV's third brother Prince Frederik (William III's second son Carré) who was taken to Greece to become the Crown Prince. Prince Er died young in 1850).

It is precisely because of the departure of William III that William IV now inherits the position of Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Together with William IV's current wife, Queen Alexandra, a total of six people make up the current Dutch royal family.

And as William IV deliberately held his grandmother Anna Pavlosuna's 70th birthday party in Amsterdam, it gave the Netherlands another opportunity to promote relations with other countries, and with this borrowing of the relationship between the old grandmother and the The royal diplomacy displayed led to a rapid rise in the Netherlands' status in Europe, and at the same time, European civilians discovered for the first time the intricate relationships between the Netherlands and other countries.

The blood of the royal family is always the most concerned by the people of various countries. Now William IV is also facing the worries of the Dutch people. After all, there are many royal family members in Europe who have no descendants. Not to mention the two brothers of William I of Prussia. It was because he had no descendants that he had a chance to succeed.

Queen Victoria's eldest uncle George IV and second uncle William IV, the two kings of the United Kingdom of Britain, Ireland and Hanover, also gave her the opportunity to inherit the British throne because they had no descendants.

Therefore, the bloodline of William IV really worried the Dutch.

However, with the emergence of a piece of news on February 20, 1865, the people were indeed relieved.

Because, the royal family finally received good news from Queen Alexandra's belly more than a year after William IV's marriage. She was pregnant.

Immediately, this message became the headlines of newspapers in the Netherlands and the main content of discussions among civilians. Even in the Far East and Africa, this message was also the most popular daily chat topic.

William IV was naturally very happy.

This is when his bloodline is about to come into this world, and there has never been a moment like this where he feels like he is integrated into this world.

Even the marriage to Alexandra, who was originally Crown Prince Edward of England and the future Queen of King Edward, and even the bridal chamber, were not as close to the world as this moment.

"No wonder, all time-travelers only discover that they belong to this world when they become fathers."

William IV sighed.

But because of this, he has even more hope for the future of the Netherlands.

This is what a struggling father should do instead, because William IV, like other fathers, always wants to leave the best to his children, and now he just wants to provide the best for his children in this war-torn world. My future children will properly build a powerful Dutch Kingdom where they can settle down and live.

Perhaps influenced by the news that his child was about to arrive, William IV seemed to no longer be conservative in his behavior, and even became urgent and radical.

On February 25, 1865, in the Dutch Parliament attended by William IV, when Prime Minister Tolbeck told the parliament that the number of immigrants in the two years before 1864 exceeded 2.4 million, William IV interrupted, He directly stated that in 1865, 2 million of the 6.5 million people in the Netherlands would immigrate to the Far East, making the population of the Netherlands there almost the same as that of the mainland for the first time.

As the news spread, the Dutch government began planning for a new round of immigration.

In terms of diplomacy, William IV also began to frequently invite royal families from various European countries to the Netherlands to carry out royal diplomatic strategies, proactively proposing the Netherlands' friendly attitude towards various countries, increasing the reputation of the Netherlands among European royal families, and following the royal families of these countries. The members’ trip to the Netherlands raised the national pride of the Netherlands to its highest level.

During this period, wars continued in North America.

Battles of various sizes occurred frequently on the main battlefield in the east.

On February 15, 1865, the entire Mississippi River Basin in the center was controlled by General Grant, the rapidly rising star general of the northern military. He divided the South into east and west parts, changing the entire strategic pattern of the North and the South.

On February 25, 1865, Grant was appointed commander-in-chief of the Union Army of the Northern United States by President Lincoln due to his outstanding military exploits. But in order to balance him, Lincoln promoted William Sherman to deputy commander-in-chief at the suggestion of Secretary of State Seward.

The military of the Confederate States of America was immediately divided into two major factions, with Elihu B. Washburn and others supporting Commander-in-Chief Grant, and Seward and others supporting Deputy Commander-in-Chief General William Sherman.

As an excellent leader who was good at grasping the entire war situation, he decided to take the overall situation into consideration with General William Sherman and jointly formulate a coordinated east-west combat plan to promote the progress of the war.

On March 1, the two soldiers divided into two groups, each leading an army of 150,000 to launch an attack. Among them, General Grant's main target was Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the South.

General William Sherman was responsible for the attack from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia.

Grant did not hesitate to clear the enemy in front at any cost. He first attacked into the wilderness south of the Rappahannock River and faced off with Confederate Commander-in-Chief Robert E. Lee for two days and two nights.

Lee made full use of the familiar terrain and launched a fierce attack on Grant there, making it impossible for Grant to launch a favorable counterattack. After the war lasted for two days, Grant's troops suffered heavy losses, with more than 19,000 casualties.

This caused Seward's people to launch a public opinion war against Grant in Washington.

It was difficult for Walburn and others to defend him, but Lincoln and Congress did not ask Grant to dismiss him and replace him.

It seems that things are changing.

Meanwhile, things were not going well for Sherman in West Tennessee.

On March 3, the troops he led launched an attack on Kennesaw Mountain. As a result, they encountered a fierce counterattack and suffered heavy casualties. What was even worse was that General Jubal Early from the south suddenly led his troops from San Andoro. Crossing the Potomac River through the canyon, the march turned around only 5 kilometers away from Washington. This shocked Grant and Sherman.

Even Seward and Wolverhampton were frightened along with Lincoln.

Especially the two people in front, if the south really captures the capital of the north, they will be at a huge loss, and there is no need to talk about fighting for power.

So this time, both of them chose to cooperate.

Grant and Sherman on the front line also worked more closely together.

Grant then began to change his battle strategy and instead attacked Robert Lee's southeastern flank.

But Robert Lee was indeed the strongest military general in the history of the United States. He figured out Grant's movements, so he immediately turned to the southeast and quickly established well-positioned fortifications near Spotsylvania Courthouse.

Grant's attack here for five days and five nights failed to shake the strong defense line of the South. Instead, he lost more than 20,000 troops.

Still, he didn't back down.

At the same time, he ordered Sherman in the east to destroy the South at all costs and consequences. In the order, he was responsible for dragging Robert E. Lee away. Sherman not only destroyed the opponent's army, but also destroyed the opponent's economic foundation and the people's will to fight. .

To this end, Grant sent 30,000 troops to support the opponent to achieve this goal.

Therefore, after Sherman invaded Atlanta, when the southern state of Tennessee counterattacked, he did not pursue it. Instead, he decided to lead from Atlanta to the seaside and lead through to Georgia.

This war not only occupied the other side's territory, but also almost destroyed the material resources of the South, completely weakening the South's war potential in the west.

460 kilometers under the iron heel of Sherman's army, plantations, villages, towns, and even hundreds of miles of railroads, destroying all obstacles along the way, killing a man if necessary to seize every inch of land, as he later said In a word, ruthlessly destroy everything we see.

At the same time, Grant in the east also brought about a turn of events. With the changes in the west, Robert Lee's army was exhausted in the frozen street battles, but Grant did it because Lincoln gave unconditional support to the subordinates he had single-handedly promoted. Therefore, he fought against all opinions and provided Grant with sufficient soldiers and weapons and equipment. Even because the country began to be unable to keep up, he also increased the purchase of weapons from Dutch Prussia and others.

With the support of Grant, he cut off the supply line between the Confederate Army and Richmond by lengthening the front line, and heavily besieged Robert Lee's army in Atlanta.

Therefore, this confrontational war ended a month later on April 10, 1865. The outcome was finalized when Robert retreated south with one-third of his army after suffering heavy losses.

After this battle, Grant completely established his position as the first person in the northern military.

The momentum was unparalleled in North America.