Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

March 15, 1866.

The Nordic countries Sweden and Denmark announced that they would join the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which was established by the Netherlands. The next day, Belgium and Greece also announced their participation.

On the 17th, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Principality of Luxembourg and other countries announced their joining.

On the 18th, the justice ministers (ministers) of these nine countries came to The Hague, Netherlands, where they announced that they would become the founding countries of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

On the same day, Dutch Minister of Justice Ross was interviewed by Sola, editor-in-chief of "European Times".

Thora: "Your Excellency, Minister Ross, how will the International Court of Justice be formed?"

Ross: "The International Court of Justice at The Hague is composed of 9 judges from the 9 founding countries"

Sora: "How are judges elected?"

Ross: “Due to the relatively small number of members from member states, we have tentatively set the number to 9 judges.

Although each judge is recommended by various countries, he or she needs to be approved by two-thirds of the member states in the nine countries before he can be elected.

Each term is nine years, with one-third being re-elected every three years to maintain continuity of work.

Of course, it is impossible to select the first and second term, so we will start to change the selection system from the third term."

Sola: "The highest managers of the court structure are these nine judges?"

Ross: "No, a snake cannot survive without a head. All the judges will vote anonymously to elect one of them to be the dean. Each dean's term is three years."

Sola: "Does that mean it's synchronized with the judges who are re-elected every three years?"

Ross: "Yes"

Sola: "The laws and cultures of each country are different. Will this cause inconvenience in judging cases?"

Ross: "Of course there is, so we have formulated that the nine judges must all come from different countries and must cover different cultures and major legal systems, so that they can handle the cases easily."

Sola: "Has the court made any regulations?"

Ross: "Yes"

Sola: "Are there any laws binding elected judges in the courts? You know, morals are always non-binding"

Ross: “Yes, the International Court of Justice has formulated a Statute of the International Court of Justice that stipulates that judges elected to the International Court of Justice must be of high character and have the qualifications for appointment to the Supreme Court in their country or are recognized experts in international law.

Moreover, once a judge of the International Court of Justice is elected, he does not represent his country's government or any other authority. His first task is to declare in an open court that he must exercise his powers impartially. "

Sola: "If elected judges decide cases in their own country, will the court be suspected of being unfair?"

Ross: "Of course there is suspicion, but the court does not stop it. The judge can vote against a position that is unfavorable to the country in a case in which the country is a party."

Sora: "Why not stop it?"

Ross: "Because every time a case is decided, at least three judges are required to try the case at the same time. Therefore, if one person has no selfish motives, the case will be wrongly judged at a cliff."

Sola: "Three judges trying it at the same time? If that's the case, it won't lose credibility."

Ross: "Naturally, the establishment of this court was built for credibility."

Napoleon III looked at the rules for the establishment of the International Court of Justice in the European Times and was silent for a while.

Prime Minister Olivier naturally understood what Napoleon III was worried about.

“Your Majesty, by doing this, the Netherlands is obviously dissatisfied with the increasing bullying of small countries by big countries.

But conversely, this has become a constraint for big countries that have always bullied small countries militarily.

Doing this is very detrimental to a big country."

Napoleon III agreed very much after hearing this.

He asked Olivier: "What do Britain, Prussia, Tsarist Russia, Austria, etc. say now?"

Napoleon III did not believe that other major powers would remain indifferent. This was obviously a provocative move by the Netherlands to pluck out its beard to the major powers.

"Hehe, this little guy William IV has been living too comfortably recently. Has his ego become inflated? He actually wants to attack big countries like us?"

Olivier said: "Perhaps they feel that they can stay out of the war between big countries recently.

I heard that during the recent wars, the Netherlands earned huge amounts of foreign exchange income just by selling arms to Prussia, Tsarist Russia, etc. Now the Netherlands has used this money to develop the Far East, and they are doing it in full swing over there."

Speaking of this, Olivier reminded: "Your Majesty, does the Netherlands really want to move its center of gravity to Asia?"

Napoleon III thought for a while and objected: "The Dutch moved there to the remote mountains and were exhausted. It would have become a country similar to the Northern Qing Dynasty in the Far East. It would only gradually decline and become the fish and meat of our countries."

“But the Netherlands is obviously also vigorously developing here in Europe, and it is said that it is now vigorously engaged in construction in Amsterdam and Rotterdam to attract European talents.

It is said that the current per capita disposable income (i.e. salary) in these two places is similar to that in Paris in 1861.

Now up 1.5 times, the income in these two Dutch cities has reached 90 pounds, surpassing London's 85 pounds and 60 pounds. "

Olivier was worried: "Nowadays, many talents from various countries have immigrated to the Netherlands."

"Is this happening?"

Napoleon III heard this for the first time and looked at Olivier in surprise.

"They just gave up on the glory of the French Empire?"

Olivier said with a wry smile: "Of course they won't give up easily, but the helplessness in their livelihood forces them to do that."

Napoleon III asked: "Who are all running to the Netherlands?"

Olivier said: "The Art Nouveau painter Paul Ser and the microbiologist and chemist Louis Pasteur, etc., have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with your rule and have now immigrated to the Netherlands."

"You just mentioned that other countries are facing the same situation as France. So, who are the celebrities from various countries who have immigrated to the Netherlands?"

asked Napoleon III.

"Mendel of Austria used to be a priest, but later he became obsessed with a self-created genetics. Many people around him did not approve of it, especially when they saw that he studied pea experiments every day, and finally he went to settle in the Netherlands."

Napoleon III said: "Humph, is there any solution?"

Olivier: For today’s plan, we can increase wage income and the government can”

Napoleon III stopped him. As soon as he heard about money, he had a headache. "The finances don't allow it. Let's put this aside for now and continue the topic."

After hearing this, Olivier wanted to continue persuading him, but seeing Napoleon III's expression changing color when he heard the money, he finally suppressed his impulse and could only sigh secretly in his heart.

William IV stopped the other party, and then took out a piece of information from the drawer:

"The Kingdom of the Netherlands happens to have some sources in Paraguay. This information comes from the Paraguayan military. It shows that the Paraguayan army seems to be moving frequently to the south and west. I think Argentina should pay attention to it.

It's just a suggestion. How to do it is a matter between you and the Miter government, and the Netherlands will not interfere.

Of course, if Argentina asks us for support, we are usually happy to help. We can continue to communicate if there is anything, but the less direct contact between us, the better."

The less contact the better?

Sarmiento smiled bitterly after hearing this, explaining that William IV clearly told him that he would be the agent of the Dutch interests in Argentina.

His Majesty never made any threats to him from beginning to end, but it frightened him even more and made him feel even more dangerous.

From this conversation, it appears that there may be someone else with a certain status in Argentina who can become the Netherlands' backhand. This may be his alternative, or he may be the backhand prepared by the Netherlands to deal with that person.

In short, the Dutch methods are hard to see through.

And he didn't believe that ordinary people could detect Paraguay's military mobilization, so there was only one possibility, that is, the Netherlands also had connections in the Paraguayan military, and even secretly played a chess game, which shocked him secretly.

Holland worked so hard to stay in various countries, and he didn't believe that Holland wouldn't put all this energy into monitoring his family, which could be accomplished with less energy.

Thinking of this, he understood that this energy must exist around him. Thinking of this, he seemed to no longer resist the golden lock placed on him by William IV.

On March 16, 1866, Sarmiento, the Argentine ambassador to the Netherlands, left the Netherlands and arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on March 22. On March 25, he was reported to the Congress by President Miter The candidate for Finance Minister was nominated and approved urgently on the same day.

At the same time, Argentina urgently mobilized 20,000 troops north to the city of Corrientes in northern Argentina and Salta in the northwest.

Since William IV left Sarmiento, he began to think about how to gain benefits for the Netherlands from the South American war here.

"Historically, due to the remaining problems, a modern war broke out in South America in 1864. This war was initiated by the small South American country Paraguay. This small country was so bold that it actually attacked its three major neighboring countries, Brazil and Argentina. , Uruguay launched a war, which can be called the largest and most brutal war in the history of South America. In this war, the weapons and equipment used by the four countries were so advanced that it can be called a watershed in modern warfare in history."

This war was also caused by the continuous disputes and deep grievances between Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay after countries such as Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay became independent from the rule of Spain and Portugal. Due to the territorial disputes deliberately left behind by Spain and Portugal before leaving in history, war. "

Thinking of this, William IV had to lament that Western countries like to play this trick. When Belgium was forced to retreat in Central Africa, Britain was the most slippery in South Asia.

William IV: “These countries have supporting countries behind them, Brazil is instigated by Portugal, and the shadow of Britain is also instigating.

Argentina now has relatively strong autonomy with the help of the Netherlands, but the Commonwealth of America, where Lincoln is located, is Argentina's ally, and Paraguay is Spain and France. "

With the promotion of the war between the African Netherlands and Brazil and Portugal, the time point was pushed back two years. Now it seems that the South American War is finally going to happen.

William IV had to sigh, history still continues to move forward.

On March 25, 1866, General Hong Party overthrew the White Party supported by General Francisco Lopez, the leader of Paraguay, in Uruguay, South America.

When General Lopez was arrogantly mediating the Uruguayan civil war, Brazil, which was already watching with eager eyes, intervened. The friendship between the two countries was overturned, and finally Brazil sent troops to join the war.