Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

After the Privy Council meeting, William IV left Bill Charlie, director of the Royal Dutch Intelligence Service, alone.

"International organizations are the best way for the Netherlands to make a name for itself."

William IV looked at Bill Charlie's doubts. He did not explain, and said: "Instruct Henry Daly and others to make them work harder to promote the movements of other countries in the world. I want to make the French Empire and other governments more miserable. Especially Napoleon III”

"Yes, Your Majesty"

After Bill Charlie left, William IV secretly said: "No one in this era would have thought that the weapons I value most are actually the various explosives hidden in various countries, among which is the bomb I carefully prepared. "

On November 1, 1867, Dutch social reform thinkers Henry Daly, Edward Bellas, and Henry Lloyd stood up to support the anti-trust movement in European and American countries.

They wrote books or made public statements, starting from the reform ideas of the Ula Gang and the democratic ideas of agriculture, exposing the evils of trusts and advocating for state control of trusts.

All three were driving forces in the Netherlands' nascent antitrust movement and leaders of the Dutch street movement.

As time goes by, the antitrust law movement in the Netherlands has become a hot topic in European and American countries. More and more people are joining the ranks of the antitrust movement, and a massive wave of antitrust movement is gradually forming.

Under the influence of many factors, the French Empire, known as the freest and most open in Europe, was the first to be affected by the attack. Other countries such as the United Kingdom are inevitably involved.

The whole of October 1867 was enveloped by a crisis that lasted for a month. During this crisis, the European economy suffered a major blow. Unemployed people were all over the streets of Europe, and the wages of employed workers also dropped. Capitalists from various countries have almost uniformly reduced prices by between 5% and 20%.

During the crisis, the new working class in various countries did not silently endure the exploitation and oppression of the capitalists. They bravely stood up and fought against the capitalists through strikes.

One of the more famous ones was the workers' strike in Fall River, Massachusetts, on October 15, 1867.

The anthracite coal mine strike in Lyon, France on October 18, 1867 and the London railway strike on October 23, 1867.

This has allowed the world's capitalists and governments to see how powerful workers are, and they are also worried about these general strikes triggered by the Netherlands.

On October 26, 1867, in a textile factory in Berlin, Prussia, in order to maintain profitability during the silent crisis, the capitalists shifted the pressure to the workers again and again. They cut the workers' wages four times in a row. After negotiations with the capitalists failed, the workers They held a strike movement for two months. Although the workers persisted for a long time, the two sides have been unable to obtain a suitable solution. In the end, the workers were forced to accept unfair wage conditions to support their families. This time The sportswear strike ends in failure.

On the same day, a similar thing happened at the loading dock of the Port of Copenhagen. On October 22, 1867, the dock worker worked day and night to move the goods on the dock. However, due to the delay in completing the transportation work, he did not receive a penny of the entire day. Instead, his reward for the month was deducted. At that time 500 workers went on strike, but due to the rotating worker system implemented at the Port of Copenhagen, these 500 people finally compromised and continued to work despite all the unfairness.

But more significantly, the Lisbon railway strike in Portugal on October 25, 1867 was more famous. The direct cause of this strike was the reduction of workers' wages, but this labor conflict was more serious than the previous strikes. In response to the protests, workers not only had their wages cut, but were also fired and maimed, and some were beaten to death. The conflict between the working class and the capitalists was about to break out. On October 28, 1867, a strike movement quickly started along various railway lines in Lisbon. , many workers gathered together to control most railway routes by blocking railway operations and damaging railway lines, causing freight lines to be completely paralyzed and the railway company to lose up to 2 million pounds.

Local workers supported the strike one after another, and even the local militiamen in Lisbon defected when they suppressed the strike movement. In the end, in order to stabilize the increasingly violent situation, the mayor of Lisbon and Louis I had to send troops from other places to maintain order. The two sides clashed. , many bloody incidents occurred. The city of Lisbon is steeped in tension.

Many workers were injured or even died in this fight. People in the city expressed shock and anger. More and more workers came after hearing the news. Workers who had compromised also rushed to the scene of the suppression and surrounded the Lisbon militia. and drive them out. For a time, the entire city of Lisbon was controlled by workers, and the city government became a puppet. They could only ask Louis I for help. In the end, this intense and arduous strike struggle ended in failure under the suppression of Louis I's troops.

On October 329, 1867, Dutch social reform thinkers Henry Daly, Edward Bellas, and Henry Lloyd of the Kingdom of the Netherlands stood up and called on all countries to view the strikes of workers in various countries rationally and asked all countries to treat workers' demands for workers' improvement. In terms of treatment, we should not respond with violence. Instead, we should try our best to listen to the workers' opinions and meet certain material needs.

Before the royal families and governments of various countries could react, these workers' groups expressed their gratitude to the three for their support and asked them to speak out for them internationally.

On November 20, 1867, Henry Daly, Edward Bellas, and Henry Lloyd, the leaders of this street movement, held a grand antitrust conference in The Hague, the Royal Palace of the Netherlands, and received street movement leaders from all over the world. , the majority of whom are civilian workers.

There were mainly social workers, farmers, and the middle class, with more than 500 people in attendance.

Leaders of this movement came from Belgium, England, America, France, Denmark, Sweden, Tsarist Russia, Austria, Prussia, Greece, Italy, Spain and so on.

After this meeting, under the leadership of three people, a new national organization was established called the International Labor Federation (referred to as the International Labor Federation): the Dutch social reform thinker Henry Daly was the director-general, and Edward Bellah was the director-general. Si and Henry Lloyd became the deputy director-general of the organization. All other countries have more or less one director.

Only after this did countries respond, namely the International Society of the Red Cross, the International Women's Association and the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Netherlands once again created a new association.

And it goes without saying much about its power. The previous case is the best demonstration of it.

This time, even Prime Minister Bismarck, who had always been there, couldn't help but change his expression.

After all, the strike affected even Berlin. Now this power is in the hands of Dutch civil forces, but who is Bismarck, and how could he naively think that William IV was not involved in this incident?

"It seems that I underestimated this young King of the Netherlands before."