Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

When King William IV of the Netherlands held a funeral for his grandmother, Queen Anne of the Netherlands, the changes in the world did not stop.

On May 3, 1864, the French Imperial Army entered Mexico City. Benito Juárez, the original president of Mexico, led the Confederate States of America without any help, while the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I supported by Napoleon III Maximilian I, whose younger brother, Archduke Maximilian, was the Emperor of Mexico, officially declared himself Emperor of Mexico.

However, most Mexicans did not agree with his status, so they formed a large number of guerrilla opposition teams to fight back against the invasion of the French army. This made Maximilian I's status always shaky and his reputation was unjust.

The Mexican President Benito Juarez, who fled north, originally suppressed the American Confederation of the South because the Davis government wanted to fight against the Northern American Confederation to avoid causing dissatisfaction with the French Empire. However, as they and the British After reconciling with the Commonwealth of America, the Davis government no longer oppressed the other party.

The former President Benito Juarez then actually established a base in the Chihuahua area, the Mexican border area with the Confederate States of America, specifically to resist the rule of France and Maximilian I.

One of them occupies a favorable geographical position, and the other possesses advanced weapons and the huge French Empire. The team is mainly dominated by Austria, and the two sides have gradually reached a balance in the past few years. The north of Torreon, Mexico, therefore, with the support of the Federal Republic of America and the Confederate States of America, became the territory of Benito Juarez's influence.

The south was under the control of Maximilian I, who was supported by both countries, led by France and Austria.

Originally, if it continued, Maximilian I's position would be further consolidated, but his idea was difficult to realize.

In 1866, the Austrian Empire ruled by his brother Joseph I was shocked when it was defeated by the Kingdom of Prussia. Later, Prussia was even more shocked when it directly kicked Austria out of the German Confederation, where Austria was the leader.

He knew that from now on, he might become a string doll in the hands of Napoleon III of the French Empire.

Although he knew that his brother Joseph I had united with Hungary to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he had high hopes for a time. However, when Joseph I later wrote a letter, he lamented that his rights were limited, and clearly told him that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no control over him. Dominating Mexico was of limited help.

The most destructive thing was that starting in February 1867, Napoleon III and the British were dissatisfied with the various resistances made by the Austrians in helping the Austrians occupy Mexico, and because of the reconciliation between the Commonwealth of America and the Confederate States of America, the two parties clearly The statement against French penetration made France become cautious about Mexico's actions.

This made Maximilian I's original ambitions instantly wither.

But that's not the worst.

Later, the French Empire actually launched a war in the Far East and Southeast Asia. What worried him most was that the French Empire actually suffered defeat there. Every victory was a tragic victory. Moreover, this small country in the Far East had such great diplomatic skills that almost all European countries followed them. Close communication.

As a neighbor of the Kingdom of Siam, the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the South ignored the opposition of the French Empire and vigorously pushed forward the sanctions bill against the French Empire by the newly established Hague International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.

And he also received support from most European countries, making him worried about Napoleon III's French Empire.

Later, the South American countries joined, and the United Kingdom followed, which made Maximilian I already look gloomy, because although the French Empire resisted the pressure of sanctions and continued to wage war in the Far East, what he saw was that that small country actually carried out After a series of counterattacks, Napoleon III's Far East Army is still almost spinning in circles, with difficulty making any major progress. But the French troops lost tens of thousands.

At the end of May 1867, the French Empire actually lost nearly 40,000 French troops and more than 20,000 South Vietnamese servants in what was originally thought to be a small invasion war in the Far East.

Compared with France, the number of the Kingdom of Siam is actually only 50,000, which is less than the French. Of course, those civilians are not included.

The Kingdom of Siam is said to have a population of 8 million people, based on the French ratio of citizens to troops. Calculated as one-sixtieth of 30 million Frenchmen and 500,000 troops. The Kingdom of Siam can obviously form about 140,000 troops, which means that the Kingdom of Siam currently has more than 80,000 troops at its disposal. In wartime, the Kingdom of Siam can still increase its troops and recruit troops into the army. Then the situation of the French Empire can be described as ah.

Maximilian I's worries were also played out all over the world. Napoleon III, under the dissatisfaction of Prime Minister Olivier and the country, did something that made Maximilian I of Mexico most afraid.

On June 10, 1867, Napoleon III ordered the French troops in Mexico to begin to gradually withdraw from Mexico, citing domestic opposition and the tense situation in the Far East as a reason for insufficient troops. Adding to the pressure of opposition from the north and south of the United States, Napoleon III ordered the French troops in Mexico to begin to gradually withdraw from Mexico.

The withdrawal of the French Empire was a huge shock to the royal family, including the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I.

For this reason, Maximilian I asked his Queen Carlotta to return to Europe to deal with the more dangerous situation that Mexico was about to enter. After the queen returned to the European continent, she lobbied everywhere to oppose the French withdrawal. She represented Maximilian I. She sought help from Mexican allies such as Paris, Vienna, and Rome, but her efforts failed. Just as she was about to return to Mexico City, bad news spread, and her trip was blocked by Vienna.

It turned out that shortly after his queen left, Maximilian I was attacked by the French army's retreat to the Far East, which caused Juarez's northern army to attack southward. When Maximilian I saw that Mexico City on the West River was occupied, They could only retreat to Queretaro and make it their new capital.

But when Empress Cattaro had just given a speech to the French Empire, the Kingdom of Austria under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Italian Parliament of Milan and was rejected, Maximilian I was besieged for several weeks and prepared to try to break out of the blockade on June 23. was arrested.

Moreover, President Benito Juarez ordered the Mexican military courts to execute people for subverting Mexico and offending the people.

The news spread like a whirlwind throughout the Americas and reached Europe, attracting widespread attention in Italy.

A member of a European royal family faced being shot after becoming an emperor in North America?

This made countries that had been pretending to be indifferent suddenly panic, especially the royal families of various countries. You must know that in European history, there are few precedents of kings being executed by hostile parties due to wars and other reasons.