Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Kingdom of Prussia, Berlin.

"All the major powers hope that the North American Civil War will end as soon as possible. Although the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Confederate States of America has become more tense after the outbreak of the war, the United Kingdom can better influence the situation in North America. The long-term conflict caused the purchasing power of the Confederacy to gradually decline, which would increase the resistance to Britain's economic recovery.

Despite this, it was impossible for Britain to lower its dignity and ask the dominant American Commonwealth to end its offensive.

Therefore, for the United Kingdom, the Netherlands is secretly disappointed and even a little angry at the Netherlands' support for the Northern Commonwealth. The United Kingdom hopes that the Netherlands will join the sanctions against the Northern Commonwealth and ban the sale of weapons to the Northern Commonwealth. Even at the beginning, the United Kingdom was still It hoped that the Netherlands would cut off its long-term friendly relationship with Tsarist Russia, but it was well aware of the historical origins and current situation of the relationship between the Netherlands and the Tsarist Russian Empire, so the United Kingdom finally gave up. "

In the Prussian palace, sitting opposite Bismarck was William I, and beside him were General Moltke, Crown Prince Frederick and the 7-year-old grandson William.

Wangsun Xiao William couldn't help it and asked hurriedly: "Why is the UK still hesitant to win over the Netherlands until now? Is the position of the Netherlands really so important and irreplaceable?"

Bismarck took a deep breath, and then said calmly: "In order to check and balance France, Britain attracted the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire. In the end, after the dynasty established by Napoleon I was defeated, the British were worried that the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire would be too powerful on the European continent. If it was too close, the federation would threaten Britain's interests in continental Europe, so in order to break the dominant Austrian Empire in the German Confederation, Britain supported Prussia, which was unwilling to be a smaller one in the German Confederation."

William I glanced at his grandson and sighed at this time: "Everyone should know how frequently Britain provided economic blood transfusions to Prussia. In the end, we rose up with a strong military policy and became a country comparable to Austria. .

In 1850, we in Prussia wanted to form an alliance to unite the northern German states and make Prussia stronger. However, this caused panic in the Austrian Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. Austria and Russia were afraid that Prussia would grow and dominate the affairs of the German Confederation, so they proposed to Prussia. Prussia exerted pressure, and although Britain supported it, the Russian Empire was persuaded by Joseph I of Austria, and eventually deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the Polish border between the two countries. Prussia finally compromised, temporarily putting aside its plan to unify northern Germany, and was forced to sign the Due to the Treaty of Olmütz which destroyed the powerful country, Prussia was forced to continue to recognize that the leading country of the German Confederation was still the Austrian Empire. "

Little William continued to ask: "In that case, why didn't Britain continue to support Prussia? Instead, it is now at odds with Prussia?"

William I looked lovingly at Little William's curious eyes, and he explained: "Because Prussia has become stronger."

"Stronger?" Little William. “Isn’t this what the UK wants to see?”

Bismarck looked at the second-in-line heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Prussia and explained: "Your Highness, when we grow up, we have to separate our families. Prussia, supported by the British, has become stronger, and it is time to conflict with the British."

"Prussia became powerful and threatened British interests. The British were timid. They were afraid of the rise of any country that threatened them. Therefore, they once again supported other countries, and the Netherlands was the latest target of British support. Although it is not currently visible The Netherlands did not receive any substantial benefits from British support, but it is undeniable that Britain has always been very tolerant of Dutch policies. Therefore, the Dutch wall blocking Prussia has been exploited."

Little William said with an unhappy expression: "The British are too bad."

He had completely forgotten that his mother, Princess Victoria, the wife of Crown Prince Frederick, and the current Crown Princess of Prussia, was an out-and-out British person, and she was also the eldest daughter of the current British Queen Victoria.

Crown Prince Frederick looked at his son and opened his mouth. In the end, he chose to remain silent.

France, Paris.

French Emperor Napoleon III and Prime Minister Olivier were also discussing the matter.

"The Netherlands is a key part of Britain's "Central Europe Strategy" to contain Prussia. Once its policy towards the Netherlands is too harsh or becomes hostile, it is very likely that the Netherlands will completely shift its strategy towards the alliance between Prussia and the Netherlands and no longer care about Britain's feelings."

"Your Majesty is right. Britain will not push the Netherlands to the side of Prussia casually, and the Netherlands will not easily fall to Prussia unless it is absolutely necessary. There is a giant France next to it, which has already made the Netherlands worried. If you follow Prussia is too intimate, which does not bring many benefits to the Netherlands, but does a lot of harm.

After all, if you get too close to Prussia, you will hate Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, and even the Russian Empire. You will also doubt the independence of the Netherlands. And Denmark, the Netherlands' ally, has just lost Schleswig and Hors to Prussia. Tai and Yin are dissatisfied. At this time, if the Netherlands is too close to Prussia, not to mention the Danish royal family, even the common people will be very disgusted, and the same is true for Sweden.

Therefore, neutrality at this time is an opportunity for the Netherlands to rise. The Netherlands has the economic motivation to adjust these national conflicts. At the same time, the Dutch act as an important mediator in international conflicts, which is conducive to establishing a good international reputation for the country, improving international influence, and building The status of a major power in the world”

Napoleon III was deeply convinced and said: "The recently established National Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands must have been built for this purpose. William IV has been planning for a long time, and he even did not hesitate to create crises to get countries to join this organization."

Olivier smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, as Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries have submitted applications, the number of members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague has exceeded double digits, which is already more than half of the countries in Europe and the United States. , if the Netherlands can connect the judicial departments of these countries, it will have a very great influence on these countries in the future. Regarding William IV's move, Your Majesty, France must guard against it."

Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

William IV suddenly sneezed. He guessed that someone must have mentioned him, and it was from across the country.

When he thought of transnational borders, he thought of today's international political game.

This international political game is like playing chess, it needs to be stable, and every move needs to be meaningful.

Such is the case with William IV today. Many people don't understand that every action he makes contains many pits, yes, pits dug for all countries.

Britain hoped to end the war in the Balkans, but the Russian Empire did not buy it, and the same was true for the Ottoman Empire. Facing the tough Russian Empire, the two countries had to continue to maintain a state of war, which was embarrassing.

Why is Tsarist Russia so confident? In fact, in addition to the people in Tsarist Russia, it is because Tsarist Russia also has weapons made in the Netherlands and firearms and ammunition produced by the factories built by the Netherlands in the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The longer the war between Tsarist Russia and Britain and Austria lasts, the higher the price they pay, especially the economies of the three countries, and the economy of the Tsarist Russian Empire will become more dependent on Dutch capital and arms, let alone the Tsarist Russian Empire's own production. Design and the like, if possible, there would be no weapons for the soldiers of the Tsarist Russian Empire that had always been mid- to lower-European technology.

Therefore, the Tsarist Empire has always been in a state of hunger and thirst for Dutch weapons.

The historical relationship between the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia and the regular meeting mechanism of foreign ministers have never stopped in the five years since William IV succeeded to the throne. Therefore, the strategic partnership and quasi-alliance between the two countries has caused a great headache for the United Kingdom.

In fact, Britain was afraid that if the Netherlands, Prussia, and Tsarist Russia established a treaty, they would further exploit Britain's leadership.

William IV knew the value of the Netherlands' strategy in Britain's continental Europe, so he was so unscrupulous. This is true even when facing France, because France, like Prussia, is now unwilling to lose this not-so-weak buffer state and slow down the fight between France and Prussia.

These are also the reasons why various countries did not mention the Netherlands' second place in this arms deal, but instead expressed dissatisfaction with the UK's 30 million pounds of arms sales.

"The arms of the Netherlands are basically stable now. Even if they increase, it will only be in terms of technology. After continuous innovation and the upgrading of various countries, there will be a large-scale increase in arms purchases, or unless there is an outbreak of war, the Netherlands' orders will will increase.

These are all for the Army, but not the Navy.”

William IV's eyes lit up, but the navy was the largest money-making arms machine in the 19th and even 20th centuries.

A battleship costs more than 10,000 pounds to build. It is a sail battleship, but steam battleships don't hurt, because steam battleships are almost all iron-armored. Counting them all together, the previous 6 and 6 sail battleships only cost more than 10,000 pounds. In terms of pounds, then the steam armored battleships need to be increased at least three times. That is 30,000 pounds, while a level 1 steam battleship costs 300,000 pounds, which is a huge burden for many countries.

But for a South American country like Argentina, which is rich in grain harvests and minerals, it can be a killing.

After all, South America is not the forgotten corner of the future.

The current South American countries have just defeated Spain and other European countries more than 20 years ago and completed the War of Independence. After fifty years of development, they all attach great importance to strengthening their armies. Therefore, even countries such as Britain, France, and Spain do not want to provoke them easily. They just want to instigate the other party to fight within themselves.

However, the military modernity of various countries is very real. Paraguay has good relations with France and is now equipped with a large number of the latest French weapons. This is why they were able to let the Brazilian army equipped with Portuguese weapons in the early stages of the invasion of Brazil. The reason for defeat.

Argentina is the most complex. Weapons from the Commonwealth of America, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands are all prevalent in the Argentine army, which can be said to be dazzling.