Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On January 2, 1866, the Tsarist Empire's 200,000-strong army in Poland pressed on Galicia, causing Lviv's 150,000-strong Austrian army to retreat and attack the Prussian army in the rear.

At this time, the international community faintly realized that something was wrong.

Did Tsarist Russia and Prussia interact on fighter planes?

Thinking of this, many people's expressions changed drastically.

Especially the British and Austrian Empires and the Ottoman Empire etc.

If Tsarist Russia and Prussia really formed an alliance with each other, then this war would be terrible.

In fact, they are pretty much what most people guess and see.

Austria's repeated betrayals caused the Russian Empire to lose trust in them, but the emergence of Prussia was an opportunity for Tsarist Russia.

Yes, that’s what Alexander II thought anyway.

On January 4, 1866, the Russian Empire sent a high-profile representative to Berlin, and Prime Minister Bismarck received the envoy.

Afterwards, the two countries jointly listed Austria's "crimes" in recent years and expressed their dissatisfaction with the Austrian Empire.

On January 6, 200,000 Tsarist Russians launched an attack in the east on Lviv, a large city in eastern Austria.

At the same time, the Tsarist Empire also launched a more violent counterattack against Britain and the Ottoman Empire in the southern Balkan Peninsula and Wallachia, south of Romania.

The latter two countries were retreating steadily.

And Austria was attacked by Prussia and the Russian Empire. In the end, these 150,000 people suffered countless casualties.

Prussia occupied Krakow in western Galicia, while Lviv in the east fell to the Russian Empire.

Since it was launched during the day, the battle lasted for two days and one night from the daytime of January 6th to the daytime of January 7th.

Prussia has invested 100,000 people, Austria has invested 150,000 people, and the Tsarist Russian Empire in the east has overwhelmingly claimed to dispatch 200,000 people.

Prussia suffered 18,000 casualties, Austria had more than 61,000 casualties, more than 60,000 were captured, and the Tsarist Empire also suffered more than 32,000.

After this battle, Joseph I of the Austrian Empire was unable and unwilling to fight.

So Joseph I sent two envoys to Nuremberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria and Paris in the French Empire to request mediation.

The Kingdom of Bavaria naturally wants to settle the matter. The Prussian army is too powerful. The West German Confederation, where the Kingdom of Bavaria is located, does not want to face Prussia because it is now too powerful.

They needed a counterweight to Prussia, so Nuremberg quickly sent an envoy to Berlin.

Napoleon III of the French Empire originally wanted to wait and see, sit back and watch the Russian Empire and the British Ottoman Empire continue to fight.

The war between neighboring Prussia and Austria was in line with France's strategy of close attack and distant diplomacy.

Therefore, I hope that both Prussia and Austria will suffer losses.

Moreover, some time ago, Bismarck also agreed with Olivier that as long as France does not participate in Prussia's war with Austria, Bismarck is willing to make concessions to France on the Lorraine issue. Bismarck even hinted that the French Empire has always been thinking about the Rhineland. Province, Prussia may also discard it.

This made Napoleon III very excited.

Therefore, from the beginning, he had no intention of mediating.

As for the war situation in the Balkans, sitting and watching the British lose troops in the war was the most enjoyable thing for him recently.

Napoleon III was not afraid of a battle with the Tsarist Russian Empire of Alexander II. The Tsarist Russian Empire and France were separated by Prussia and the Austrian Empire. As long as Prussia and Austria remained neutral, a full-scale war between France and the Tsarist Russian Empire was unlikely to occur.

If fighting in the Balkans or the Black Sea, France actually has naval superiority, but the battlefield and the scale of the war are limited, just like Britain this time.

However, there was actually no benefit to Napoleon III's war with the Russian Empire. Therefore, France, which did not participate in the war, was one of the final big winners.

Because Austria, Prussia, Tsarist Russia, and the United Kingdom confirmed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to form the Holy Alliance, the former anti-French alliance, said that after such a battle, it had disbanded.

The French Empire is no longer threatened by the Four Powers, and the "Four Powers Alliance Treaty" has gone away.

France wanted to continue watching the show, but seeing such cooperation between the Russian Empire and Prussia was beyond Napoleon III's imagination.

If these two countries form an alliance, Prussia's threat to France will skyrocket.

This is very dangerous for Paris.

So Napoleon III quickly sent important officials to Berlin.

But before this important official arrived in Berlin, Napoleon III received the latest battle situation.

Oh my gosh!

Prussia actually launched an attack on the Principality of Hesse, a member of the West German Confederacy next to the Kingdom of Bavaria.

On January 8, 1866, it only took one morning for the Principality of Hesse to be captured by Prussia. Under the non-stop charge of 50,000 Prussian troops, the Grand Duke of Thuringia next to the Principality of Hesse took the lead in surrendering collectively. Following suit, the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Duchy of Braunschweig in the South German Confederation and the West German Confederation, and several small German Confederation states in southern Germany surrendered to Prussia.

So when Napoleon III was stunned, the Southern German Confederacy seemed to be falling apart, and the fragments appeared in front of his eyes in an instant.

In the end, of the entire Southern German Confederation, only the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Principality of Nassau were still standing in front of the Prussian army.

On January 10, 1866, William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands issued an appeal asking Prussia not to launch an attack on the Principality of Nassau.

King William I of Prussia agreed to the request of the King of the Netherlands at a press conference.

This surprised all countries.

But when you think about the close relationship between the Netherlands and Prussia over the years, it is understandable.

William IV's concern is understandable.

Because the current royal family of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comes from the Principality of Nassau, it can be said that the Principality of Nassau is the ancestral home of the Dutch royal family.

If the ancestral land was occupied by Prussia, although so many William IV would not cause a major blow, at least the image would be damaged.

Therefore, William IV hurriedly stood up to express his concern. On the one hand, he wanted to block the claim that the Principality of Nassau was desperate, and on the other hand, it was to show that he had tried his best.

William I was very generous, and William IV got what he wanted, so the Principality of Nassau was preserved.

As for handling the relationship between the Principality of Nassau and the Netherlands in the future, that is a matter for the future. At least, their dependence on the Netherlands will only increase.

At worst, it will be like Italy, a country within a country.

The principalities in the North German Confederation saw that the principalities in the south had surrendered, so they also expressed their willingness to join the rule of the Kingdom of Prussia. Naturally, William I would not object, so he retained many rights of the principalities and families, but the military power must be in his hands. , but everyone is happy.

As a result, the entire central region to the north became Prussian territory.

Now only the Principality of Nassau in the center, the Kingdom of Bavaria in the southeast, and the already-broken Austrian Empire remain.

As the Prussian camp expanded, not only Britain, but also Napoleon III became very uneasy.

But surprisingly, Italy's Emmanuel II took advantage of the situation.

Italy actually chose this time to join Prussia's attack on Austria?

Emmanuel II was also engaged in a war of unification at this time. Seeing Austria being defeated by Prussia, he was naturally very excited.

Wanting to take the opportunity to drive away the Austrians who had occupied Venice for a long time, Emmanuel II's Italian government with the Kingdom of Sardinia as the core decided to form an alliance with Prussia to attack Austria.

This alliance was announced jointly by the Italian ambassador in Berlin and Bismarck.

At this time, Britain, which was bent on fighting a war in the Balkans, and Napoleon III, whose purpose was to reap the benefits of fishermen, could no longer sit still.

Because, at this moment, Italy no longer plays tricks, but actually comes for real, isn't it an empty bomb?

On January 14, 1866, Italy launched an attack on Austria, and the two countries engaged in the Battle of Lissa in the Adriatic Gulf, which will dazzle future generations.

The Kingdom of Italy did not disappoint. Their navy was finally defeated.

On the land battlefield, the game between Italy and Austria took place in Cousteau. Austria won the battle. Emmanuel II's face turned black and he roared in Rome and Milan.

He said he would not give up the idea of ​​retaking Venice because of this.

So Italy and Austria continued to have a second land war in Becica. This time, the Italians finally won, which saved Emmanuel II's face, and the cold sweat finally disappeared.

Prussia's southward expansion made Britain and France uneasy. If Prussia occupied the entire German Confederation, Prussia would become a giant monster that could compete with France.

Napoleon III now regrets that he did not participate in the reconciliation earlier. Even if it is a reconciliation at this moment, Prussia's territory has expanded.

He was worried because there had never been a time when he was as worried about Prussia's power as he was now.

A neighbor who is too strong is a possible weakness to themselves.

This was unacceptable to Napoleon III, who had always been high-profile and proud.

However, in order for Prussia to fulfill Bismarck's verbal promise, Napoleon III sent people to Berlin to demand that Prussia fulfill its original promise as soon as possible and assign the Lorraine region and the Rhine Province to the French Empire.

As for what France will do in the future, as long as it obtains these two places, it is not something Prussia can dictate.

However, he thought too much.

Because Berlin did not respond immediately, but pushed its army to the southeast of the Kingdom of Bavaria and the small countries next to it.

On January 20, 1866, the Principality of Württemberg and the Principality of Baden all surrendered to Prussia. At this point, Prussia finally captured them.

However, there were regrets, because Napoleon III saw no reaction from Berlin, so he sent a large army to assemble at the border of the Principality of Switzerland. Under the pressure of more than 50,000 troops, Prussia did not march into Switzerland, and in the end the Principality of Switzerland was retained.

Franco-Prussianism created a confrontation in the south.

But the eastern Kingdom of Bavaria is not as lucky as Switzerland.

Because the Kingdom of Bavaria is a big country except Prussia and Austria, many people think that a war is coming soon.

But everyone thinks too much.

Faced with the pressure of the Prussian army, and finally unable to protect himself against Austria, the King of Bavaria unexpectedly unexpectedly expressed his surrender to William I.

Based on the idea of ​​conquering the entire German Confederation as soon as possible, William I accepted this letter of surrender which was not a surrender.

At this point, the grand plan launched by the Bismarck government to unify the German Confederation was finally completed.

As for how Prussia will face the disabled Austrian Empire and the violent French Empire next, the Bismarck government has its own calculations.