Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The marriage of Crown Prince Frederic of the Kingdom of Greece and Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria of the British Empire, has made many people dissatisfied. Not only the governments of various countries, but also Queen Victoria and her daughters have different views.

It is said that Princess Victoria of the British Empire, who has been married to the Kingdom of Prussia for many years, is one of those who clearly opposes Princess Louise's marriage to the Kingdom of Greece.

Queen Victoria opposed the marriage between Britain and Greece because she was now the Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Prussia. After all, the relationship between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Netherlands was tense, and the royal family of the Kingdom of Greece was of the same origin as the Dutch royal family. Therefore, she was concerned about increasing the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands. disturbed.

After all, in Prussia now, Prime Minister Bismarck originally objected to Britain and Prussia getting too close, which made her position very embarrassing. Now if Britain marries Prussia's "enemies", then she will become even more passive. This is why she stands on her own side. reasons for opposition.

However, the eldest son, Prince Edward, also agreed with his sister Queen Victoria's approach. Of course, this was suspected of being a personal grudge.

However, Queen Victoria also showed consideration for balancing the power of Britain and continental Europe.

Of course, as a veteran of balanced diplomacy, the UK still knows how to keep a hand in every situation. The marriage between Britain and Greece actually has a limited impact on the European situation. Princess Victoria of Prussia chose to block the Anglo-Greek marriage at this time. In addition to not having an immediate negative impact on herself, it was also enough to explain to the people of the Kingdom of Prussia.

If the marriage between the two countries fails, the key to the problem is that Prussia cannot stop the Anglo-Greek marriage. If the Prussian people complain, Crown Princess Victoria will not be included in the list of key "care recipients".

Compared with Prussian-Dutch relations, British-Prussian relations are more friendly. Britain was Prussia's largest political supporter before, and it was also Prussia's largest source of technology. There has not been any major conflict between the two sides. However, due to practical considerations, London cannot It was just too much diplomatic work for Prussia, which had just annexed the entire German Confederation.

The Kingdom of Prussia kicked the Austrian Empire out of the German Confederation and annexed the remaining German Confederation countries, which completely changed the geopolitics of Europe. Sweden and Denmark, which have long been neutral countries, have formed the Nordic Alliance with the Netherlands based on national security considerations.

This originally gave many people in Prussia a sense of crisis. After all, this caused both Northern and Western Europe to put tremendous pressure on Prussia. Coupled with Tsarist Russia in the northeast, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the southeast, and the French Empire in the south, the establishment of the Nordic Alliance undoubtedly filled the last gap in Prussia.

And it was still in the form of the Three Kingdoms Alliance.

It is precisely because of this that when the news of the marriage between the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Greece and the British princess came out, Prussia became even more unfavorable about the British-Prussian relationship, and Princess Victoria, Crown Princess of Prussia, even expressed her high-profile opposition.

Princess Victoria's objections, many pro-Prussian people in the UK also agreed with this view, but there were also many people who were dissatisfied with Prussia, so the two factions started a war of strength. This situation here actually made the relations between Prussia and Prussia worse. More nervous. Some commentators have long believed that because Prussia believed that it was moving too close to the Tsarist Russian Empire, Anglo-Prussian relations had long ceased to exist in name only as Tsarist Russia and Austria turned against each other. However, this is not the whole truth. Whether it is the Tsarist Russian Empire or the British Empire, they are all just Prussia. The diplomatic network of King William I and Prime Minister Bismarck was the object of blackmail through their strategic position, and in terms of military operations, Europe had obviously reached the point of extreme obstruction, with no hope of expansion in all directions. Perhaps, Berlin is quietly looking for who will be Berlin's next 'prey'.

Bismarck's realist diplomacy was certainly smart to a certain extent. It took full advantage of Prussia's geopolitical advantages. Now it was able to get both sides of the fence between Britain, Russia and France, and it could also leverage its power to attack its old enemy, Austria-Hungary. , the French Empire is testing pressure. Perhaps for Prussia, the only risk that prevents it from achieving a higher position in the ranking of war powers is that Prussia attracts the joint containment of neighboring powers.

Prussia deliberately launched Princess Victoria to oppose the Anglo-Greek marriage this time. The purpose was to strain Prussia's relationship with the Netherlands. In the Greek royal family, William III, the father of King William IV of the Netherlands, was the king, and the crown prince was also William IV's only brother. Prince Frederick.

Prussia seems to be euphemistically saying that Europe needs balance. The Netherlands and Greece have been on the right track with the governance of William III. The relationship between Greece and the Netherlands is not an alliance but an alliance by default. They are the three major allies of the Netherlands in Europe together with Denmark and Sweden. one.

Therefore, the balanced statement issued by Berlin has aroused the recognition of many countries.

Even so, Berlin asked Britain not to marry Greece. If Britain agreed to Prussia's request, it would inevitably cause a major political turmoil in London. Due to the strong pressure at home and abroad, Britain's chances of making this condition are slim. On the contrary, the British would be dissatisfied with the royal family because of this. Their loyalty will change, and at least they will think that Prussia is interfering in Britain's internal affairs and the royal family.

This is too harmful to the British government and royal family. I don't think Queen Victoria and Prime Minister Disraeli would approve of it.

The two did not want to bear the reputation of betraying British freedom, and they did not have to deviate too far from the positions of those countries in Europe that were dissatisfied with Prussia.

In fact, most European countries are dissatisfied with the Dutch influence in words at best, but in fact, they are more concerned about Prussia's huge war potential after annexing the German Confederation, so they are even happy that a Netherlands that is at odds with Prussia can win over more people. Small and medium-sized countries have entered the anti-Prussian "alliance". Among them, France, Tsarist Russia, and Austria-Hungary are most willing to see this scene. Even in the United Kingdom, this faction now has the upper hand.

This is also the reason why Queen Victoria made this decision. As for the so-called British discussion, to put it bluntly, it is a benefit of her letting it go: to give "face" to her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, who married to Prussia.

There is no need for Britain and Greece to suspend their marriage because of this "opposition" voice. The Prussian government may actually stand up and further clarify its opposition to the marriage between the two countries.

Although the relationship between Prussia and Britain can be said to be good but not good, Prussia even had a honeymoon period with Britain in the first half of the 19th century, working together to deal with the alliance between the Tsarist Russia and the Austrian Empire and to restrain the French Empire.

The two countries are now strangers. In fact, it is more because Prussia, which was supported by Britain, was so powerful that Britain was wary of it. Prussia was obviously aware of this, so Prussia was naturally wary of Britain secretly using the continental powers to contain Prussia. develop.

The rise of Prussia and its dream of becoming a superpower are not only a major European power, but also a major stumbling block for Bismarck and William I to realize their dreams. In recent years, the relationship between Britain and Prussia has eased on the surface, but there are still many deep-seated disputes. The reason is that they both hope Develop more overseas territories overseas, not to mention Africa. Even in Southeast Asia, Prussia has begun to participate. It is said that after the British captured Burma, many Prussian weapons appeared in the battle of Burma. , obviously, Prussia provided weapons to Britain's "indigenous enemies" in the Far East, which made many people in the UK very dissatisfied. Moreover, the two countries also have conflicts in the Arab Gulf region in the Middle East, although it is not obvious yet.

Prussia's opposition to Princess Victoria this time can be used to oppose the Anglo-Greek marriage to put pressure on the United Kingdom and demand concessions from the United Kingdom. It requires the United Kingdom to maintain its consistent style of supporting the Netherlands, which is the offshore-balanced-hand style, against Prussia. Make corresponding compensation, at least do not continue to make a big fuss about Prussia's annexation of the German Confederation and damage Anglo-Prussian relations.

Obviously, Prussia can use this to ease relations between Britain and Prussia and focus more energy on countries such as Russia, France, Austria, and the Netherlands in Europe.

Bismarck understood more clearly that the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands was by no means inseparable. The two countries had divergent interests on American and African issues, and there had even been limited military conflicts between South Africa and South Africa. In addition, if Prussia was really conquered by the Netherlands, Decline under the suppression of various countries, Britain's decades of design to make Prussia a nail in the middle of the European continent to help Britain keep an eye on its surroundings will come to an end.

Therefore, Prussia's temporary stance after political calculations was intended to use its interest influence in British strategic calculations to strive for greater interests.

Princess Victoria is precisely such a most suitable identity.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the British royal family and the British government to express their position that the Anglo-Greek marriage would not be affected. Britain has its own diplomatic powers, and members of the royal family also have their own right to decide on marriage.

The British royal family even stated, "Her Majesty the Queen personally asked Her Royal Highness Princess Louise her views on this marriage. Her Royal Highness made it clear to the Queen that she has no objection to this marriage and that she is very satisfied with Prince Frederick."

Later, in the direction of Berlin, after learning the news, Princess Victoria expressed that she respected Princess Louise and hoped that she would have a happy future.

An Anglo-Greek marriage and a dispute over Prussia's opposition came to an end. However, insiders knew the operation behind it. In fact, it involved many exchanges of interests, but ordinary people did not know it.

On June 10, 1868, the Dutch national reform continued.

In addition to the Dutch Ministry of Education, in order to operate the railways and banks in the Netherlands, the Dutch Parliament passed and the Dutch government launched the creation of joint stock companies. With the charters issued by the Dutch provincial-governments to form companies, business managers soon realized that they would Able to accumulate huge amounts of capital by selling stocks.

In the sale of shares, each investor's liability is limited to the amount invested. This new method of raising funds had actually begun to be applied when the Netherlands began to move to the Far East. The Dutch East India Company was the earliest originator in this regard. This time, the Dutch government directly legislated and became an administrative means. , which allowed the Industrial Co., Ltd. to be finalized.