Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On September 28, 1865, at the time of the war between the North and the South in North America, the Union State had captured Tennessee and northern Mississippi and was beginning to move in a favorable direction to the north.

At this time, the Confederate States of Southern America suddenly announced their recognition of Archduke Maximilian, the brother of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, supported by Napoleon III of the French Empire, and their southern Mexican emperor.

The Northern American Commonwealth expressed dissatisfaction with this, but this time nothing happened.

Obviously, as the situation in North America became unstable, the Northern Commonwealth of America, which regarded itself as the successor to the United States of America, began to downplay the Monroe Policy, which was extremely important in the foreign policy of the United States.

The Lincoln administration, which is obviously too busy to take care of itself, has understood that it can no longer maintain the United States' ambitions in Latin America.

This long-term plan for dominating Latin America currently seems to have harmed countries such as the French Empire, the Kingdom of Spain, and Portugal, which are not hostile to the north.

Even the Netherlands, a country that the federal state fought for, was disgusted with this Monroe policy.

Therefore, the approach of the Federal Republic of America was naturally recognized by European countries.

The French Empire responded by expressing neutrality and would not send troops to North America to support either side.

This makes the south helpless and at the same time, the north is quiet.

However, this tranquility was broken with the emergence of a piece of news.

Side news was reported around the world on October 1, 1865.

On the east coast of the Pacific at 6 a.m. on September 29, the British Empire sent a Pacific Squadron off the coast of San Francisco to blockade the west coast of the Confederate States of America. It encountered an inexplicable attack. The opponent was a torpedo emerging from the sea.

One first-class sailing battleship, three second-class sailing battleships, and seven fifth- and sixth-class sailing battleships, a total of 11 battleships, were actually sunk by this wave of attacks, including the first-class battleship König and two other second-class battleships. As well as 3 level 5 battleships and 1 level 6 battleship.

All the remaining ones escaped with injuries to the British naval base on Malay Island in the Western Pacific. On the way, one of them sank because it was too seriously injured.

In other words, such an attack from the sea caused the loss of 7 of the 11 British sailing warships.

Among them, the first-level and second-level battleships with the strongest firepower were almost all destroyed.

This is a heavy pain even for the British Navy, which has a great maritime power.

Not only was it uncomfortable, but also because of his own naval tonnage ranking, this attack brought him closer to the second-placed French Empire in terms of tonnage.

This poses a huge hidden danger to Britain's maritime security.

Because the location is outside the Commonwealth of America, and the task is to control the maritime import and export trade of the Commonwealth of America.

Therefore, Britain's anger was naturally directed at the Lincoln government in the north.

The streets of cities across the UK are buzzing with people.

They held high demonstration plaques and banners, demanding that the British government punish the Lincoln government in North America and seek justice for the lost naval soldiers.

while fighting to preserve Britain's honor.

At the same time, the exclusive news from the "Financial Times" interview of Rear Admiral George of the attacked fleet was reprinted by various countries.

"We were conducting a military mission arranged by the British Cabinet Government off the coast of San Francisco, but we did not harm a single maritime trader or crew member.

We simply ask them to retrace their steps to their west coast mainland.

Either they don't listen, we will just board their ships and confiscate their ships.

Then a warship was dispatched to take it to the Port of Vancouver, a new small port in western Canada.

However, we never thought that the fleet of the American Commonwealth would attack the navy of the British Empire.

Really, never thought about it.

But I was wrong. We were all wrong.

They took advantage of our kindness to them and attacked us.

The attack came from under the sea, and most of the British navy had never seen such an attack, so we were caught off guard and became a big hit.

This is a new way of naval attack, and we become the flag bearers of this new service.

Many of our colleagues remain in those waters forever.

As for the source of the attack, in retrospect, I thought it might be the submarine force from the Commonwealth of America.

Because just in 1863, the South used the submarine Hunley to attack and sink a Northern warship on the east coast.

It is said that the North already has the same submarine.

Obviously, Britain's entry into the war caused the North to use the same tactics against Britain.

Here, I call on the British government and naval leaders to follow up on submarine research and policy so that we can retaliate and pose a threat to the enemy in the water. "

Viscount Palmerston: "We were shocked by this, and extremely shocked afterwards. The British Empire has not seen anything like this at sea for decades, and we will not give up any right to retaliate against the perpetrators."

Although it is cheering, Britain is currently facing the threat of war from the Tsarist Russian Empire because it is in the Mediterranean.

Therefore, we can only rotate and mobilize the Atlantic fleet to the Pacific Ocean.

In terms of time, it would take at least a month for them to reach the east coast of the Pacific Ocean.

"We have not deployed any submarines to the west coast, so we will not admit that we were responsible for the attack on the British Navy. We express condolences and regret for the British Navy's silence and numerous casualties."

However, no matter how hard the Lincoln administration tried to explain, they could not convince the outside world that they were not responsible.

Even in their own country, many citizens do not believe that the Lincoln administration is "innocent." Instead, the reason why the Lincoln administration hid such a great "big killer move" in various places actually continues to increase in support rates.

This made the Lincoln cabinet administration miserable.

“William, this is obviously making the Commonwealth of America dumb.

Whether the British navy was actually attacked or not, we have endless research to do, and the United States has no way of verifying whether the British deliberately released smoke bombs."

Alexandra analyzed.

She has been pregnant for nearly 8 months, and she has grown into a big watermelon, which is as round and bulging as ever. The more William IV looks at it, the more he feels that his integration with the world has reached the extreme.

Especially seeing the pressure of Sandra, who was originally Queen Edward VII of England.

Now he is racking his brains and analyzing the pros and cons of various British policies for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. William IV feels that he has really changed the world.

At the same time, there was also an overwhelming sense of pride.

Any big trend can be changed, and any small trend can be changed at will.

I'm going to mess up this world.

Only then can the Netherlands profit from it and become more powerful.

Taking his hand away from the pregnant queen's belly, William IV asked: "Why do you think so?"

“The advantage of the UK in doing this is that it can increase domestic military spending.

Recently, the British Navy is said to be very dissatisfied with the efforts of various countries to increase the size of their navies last year.

At the same time, we also feel a lot of pressure and are afraid of provocations from various countries.

Therefore, I suspect that the British military giants co-directed this incident in collaboration with their domestic arms manufacturing companies.

Their purpose is to build momentum, make the people feel a sense of crisis, and get the British Parliament to pass an increase in military spending, especially the submarine plan and the new warship supplement policy.

This is a lot of military expenditure, which can satisfy many people's desire to fill their pockets. "

Seeing that William IV had no objection, she followed: "Arms companies in various countries have always been lobbying giants in parliaments of various countries, take Denmark as an example.

Although Denmark has a small territory, it has large overseas territories such as Iceland and Greenland. Many members of the Danish Parliament always use this as an excuse to ask my father to increase military spending. Of course, the threat of the German Confederation is also the main reason. .

Countries are facing more or less constant threats. Especially in this era of war, the influence of arms giants is huge.

It is so big that it even affects the government operations of various countries.

As far as I know, in the UK, naval equipment manufacturers are in the parliament and have won over one-fifth of the members.

It can be said that this became a middle force different from the Tories and Whigs. Even Viscount Palmerston, a veteran in politics, had to bow his head in front of them. "

"sure"

William IV praised: "What about the Netherlands?"

Alexandra smiled and said: “Test me, right?

The Netherlands is different. When the Netherlands established the East India Company, the world's largest capitalists cooperated in a king-state model.

However, after the British defeated the Netherlands and annexed the Dutch foundation, and then experienced Napoleon I occupying the Netherlands, everything was broken.

After several generations of King William's hard work, the largest capital groups in the Netherlands have been gradually absorbed.

Especially the William Group established after William, it is more suitable for major Dutch capitalists to invest in the name of shares, forming a vortex-like black hole, swallowing up powerful opponents and talent pools inside and outside the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

It is no exaggeration to say that it has now become the largest company in the world.

Every move of William Group affects the employment form and economic development direction of the Netherlands. "

Alexandra's eyes showed admiration:

“If the Dutch cabinet government formulates the international policies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, then the Wilhelm Group established and controlled by Wilhelm in 1857 is the private executor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ policies.

It plays a leading role among the Dutch people in following national policies, and plays a stabilizing role in the economy and governance of the Kingdom of the Netherlands."

"Pap-pap-pap-pap."

William IV: "Before, I was a little doubtful, but at this moment, I am more sure that you are qualified for a position."

Under pressure, Queen Sandra was stunned and asked with interest: "What position?"

William IV: "Director General of the International Organization of Women's League!"

Alexandra was shocked and exclaimed: "International Women's League? What a noble name."

William IV: "This is an organization whose main purpose is to promote women's political participation and basic rights and status, such as the right to vote and vote, employment rights and educational rights, etc."

Alexandra: "Is this the same organization as the women's rights movement launched in New York in 1848?"

"You know about that movement?"

William IV shook his head and said: "It became extreme in this environment. What I am talking about is that this organization is progressive and an official organization recognized by various countries."

Alexandra: "The current environment in the Netherlands is just enough for all countries to make concessions on this insignificant organization, and there will be no loss to each country. William, is this the reason why you took advantage of this and officially launched this organization?"

stand.

William IV nodded and said:

“It may seem like a small impact, but you think about the benefits that the founders of this organization received.

If she were the Queen of the Netherlands and the first director-general was her, then the positive influence of the Netherlands in the world would be huge.

In the future, men from various countries may remember who the Netherlands once invaded.

But their wives and daughters will remember that it was the Queen of the Netherlands who gave them equal rights.

Tell me, is this position important? "

When Alexandra heard this, she nodded hurriedly like a little girl facing her idol.