Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

"However, there are still variables in the Ottoman Empire's calculations. The main topic of the Ottoman Empire delegation's diplomatic trip to Europe not long ago was to explain to various countries the current position of the Ottoman Empire after years of Russo-Austrian War. This time the Ottoman Empire The Empire exercised victimhood and reaped the rewards.”

Initially, British Prime Minister Disraeli even sent a telegram asking Abdul Aziz I to be tougher on the Russian Empire. However, Abdul Aziz I continued to adapt to changes in the situation and told the story of "standards." The answer” - The war-weariness in the Ottoman Empire and the weakened national power of the Ottoman Empire were unable to fight against the Russian Empire alone.

The Ottoman Empire directly stated that demonstrations calling for a ceasefire between Austria and Russia had begun to appear in their country.

He also mentioned that there are no winners in war, everyone is a loser, and the Ottoman Empire itself advocates peace.

Britain was naturally dissatisfied with this answer. It put pressure on the Ottoman Empire. It was even more dissatisfied when it did not get the response it hoped to see, but there was nothing it could do.

In fact, London, England, also knows very well that only by maintaining the superficial "unity between the two countries" can it create geopolitical pressure on the Russian Empire. Because of this, the Ottoman Empire has become particularly important in Britain's Middle East strategic weight for decades.

The Ottoman Empire is clearly well versed in the strategy of the British Empire in the Middle East and even the entire Mediterranean-Middle East-Indian Ocean strategy. At this stage, it is absolutely inseparable from the Ottoman Empire, the biggest anti-Russian pawn.

As long as the Ottoman Empire did not deviate from the British strategy of restricting the Russian Empire from moving south, disobeyed the British on the issue of anti-Russian Empire, and even went astray for the sake of profit, the British Empire would only be able to tolerate the Ottoman Empire. Who made the Ottoman Empire become Britain's most powerful empire? Where are the important anti-Russian pawns? The same is true for Britain. The ambitious French Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia did not dare to use force against the Ottoman Empire, and even focused on appeasement. "

Kingdom of Prussia, Berlin.

Looking at the entire article, Bismarck's face showed unprecedented solemnity.

This Herman Van Peyron's writing is so sharp, and he analyzes all countries so thoroughly that it seems that the goals of each country cannot be traced. Such a talent who has such an accurate grasp of the world situation is actually just a human being. Dutch commentator?

Bismarck would not believe this even to death.

"His intelligence is accurate every time, and he is the kind who knows the secrets. So there must be an intelligence team behind him to enable him to obtain enough intelligence to support his views. At the same time, he combines the views of various countries. It seems that all countries are talking about the attitudes and ideas of various countries, which makes countries want to refute, but due to their own positions, they are not able to speak out. Otherwise, they will fall into contradictions between their rebuttal views and their own positions, and enter a situation where it is difficult to justify, phew! So awesome”

It has to be said that Bismarck was very accurate in his judgment of people, and Hermann Van Peron was almost dissected and analyzed by him.

“How is the investigation conducted by the European Times in Luxembourg?”

Bismarck never believed in the so-called neutrality, because the so-called neutrality can only be said to be self-protection because of a temporary lack of strength.

Luxembourg is a principality under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although it used to belong to the German Confederation, with Prussia annexing territory outside several city-states such as the Principality of Nassau and the Principality of Luxembourg, the principality has become more integrated with the Netherlands. Although Bismarck was a little unhappy, But it has to be said that the current status of the Netherlands is too special, which makes him have some concerns. If Europe alone had the strength, Prussia could definitely say with confidence that it would take them just a few months, provided that other countries did not intervene.

The Second Netherlands was established in the Far East and other places. Yes, in the eyes of Bismarck and other European managers at all levels, the Netherlands was building a second nest for itself, which made Bismarck very upset.

If they attack the Netherlands like they did against Denmark and fail to defeat a single blow, Prussia will be faced with a very passive situation.

Don't forget, the Dutch overseas colonies in Africa of Prussia are currently the most powerful country after the British and French empires, even far above Prussia.

If the Netherlands is invaded by Prussia, then the Prussian colonies in Africa are likely to be dragged into the war and have a high probability of being lost. Don't forget that Prussia has no advantage over the Dutch navy, and even several current shipyards Warships were being built within the fleet, and Dutch engineers were still helping Prussia.

The Dutch fleet in the Indian and Pacific oceans appears to be second only in size to the British fleet there.

In this case, the Netherlands completely retained its super ability to counterattack Prussia for a second time.

In addition, more than 60% of the 10 million Dutch people have moved to the Far East.

It will definitely not be easy to overcome the counterattack capabilities of Prussia beyond its homeland.

It is also said that the Dutch are training hundreds of thousands of Far Eastern and African indigenous troops there. This is not a small project.

You must know that the French Empire, as the country with the second largest army in Europe, usually maintains around 500,000 troops. The Dutch regular army is around 150,000. Now with the addition of these 100,000 indigenous troops, although there may be many shortcomings, It's enough to make people afraid to act rashly.

"The Netherlands uses opportunistic strategies to maximize its national interests. The uncertainty it shows is likely to affect the current strategic pattern of Europe and the world."

Bismarck's originally majestic face showed an expression of headache.

“For Prussia, it may do more harm than good, but if Prussia tries to break the Dutch model, it seems to be a bit irritating.

At present, all small and medium-sized countries are learning the diplomatic skills of the Netherlands and are no longer loyal to traditional diplomatic strategies. This seems to have interrupted the practice of many medium-sized countries to rely entirely on one big country. This is the case for Italy, and the same is true for the Ottoman Empire today.

It seems that big countries will have a lot of headaches in the future, and my little brother is no longer honest."

Madrid, Spain.

"Unlike William IV's Kingdom of the Netherlands, which established major organizations everywhere, the wave of diplomatic balancing caused by Italy and the Ottoman Empire will sweep across all countries in Europe. I think that soon, the big powers will find that all their reliable allies seem to be become stranger”

Queen Isabella II sarcastically said: "The French Empire is the best target right now."

Isabella II's ridicule was not unreasonable. In the past, Spain could only maintain Spain's status as a great power by relying on the French Empire, and even looked down upon them.

However, since Spain joined the Hague International Organization, especially after the organization imposed strong sanctions on the French Empire, France belatedly discovered the benefits of Spain as an ally. Therefore, recently, the French Embassy in Madrid has moved around The frequency increased, and even a lot of 18th-century wine that had been collected in the Palace of Versailles for a long time was shipped to the Spanish Palace. This kind of goodwill method made Queen Isabella II very excited.

Spanish Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez is also feeling happy now.

He said: "Since both the Ottoman Empire and Italy are pursuing independent foreign policies, it is obviously an opportunity for Spain to get rid of the influence of the French Empire in the country."

Queen Isabella II nodded and said: "Yes, it is time for Spain to restore its diplomatic self."

On July 8, 1868, the Royal Spanish Government issued a statement announcing that it would invite Italy and the Ottoman Empire to conduct naval exercises in the Mediterranean at the end of July, with the purpose of maintaining peace and stability in the Mediterranean and reducing the threat of war.

Spain's statement was shocking, because Spain actually abandoned its long-term ally, the French Empire, and conducted military exchanges with the Mediterranean powers Italy and the Ottoman Empire on its own. People with a discerning eye immediately understood that Spain was expressing its position.

Obviously, Spain has also begun to move towards the center from a European standpoint.

However, after an emergency meeting in Paris and Paris sent a high-level visiting delegation to visit Madrid, the outcome of the negotiations between the two parties was not known and there was no follow-up. However, Paris chose to remain silent after the delegation returned.

On July 14, 1868, Spanish Prime Minister Ramon Narvaez announced at the Prime Minister's Office that a naval exercise would be held off the coast of the Far East Colony Philippines in August, and that the Netherlands, the French Empire, and the British Empire would be invited to participate. At the same time, Regarding the participating naval fleets, Spain in principle requested to participate as close as possible from the Far East.

What does it mean?

"We have no other intention. The main reason is that we don't want to waste fuel. As everyone knows, naval fuel of various countries currently takes up a lot of funds. Spain's economy can only support the exercise after saving in this aspect."

This action by the Kingdom of Spain further demonstrates that Spain is becoming more neutral among the major European powers.

Bringing the Netherlands on board is obviously to get the Netherlands to endorse Spain.

However, contrary to expectations, the Netherlands quickly agreed. The Netherlands will select warships from the Far East to participate in the near future.

Hesbert von, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, even stated that the Netherlands will invite the Spanish and Philippine fleets to visit the Hawaiian Islands shortly after participating in the Philippine exercises.

“The Spanish Philippine Fleet will be the first international navy based in Hawaii, our Kingdom’s largest fleet in the central Pacific.

This shows that the relationship between the Netherlands and Spain is developing towards stability, and the friendship between our two countries will also be greatly improved. I hope that the two countries can support each other on Pacific issues in the future."

Spain is very satisfied with the Netherlands' statement. It is even said that Queen Isabel II is planning to visit the Netherlands soon to discuss asking the Netherlands to help develop the Philippine economy.

Only then did everyone realize that the queen had this idea.

Compared with other countries, Spain is most assured of the Netherlands' status as a middle power and a bottom-tier power, which is neither above nor below. For example, Prussia, Britain, and the French Empire are rich in capital, but they are all ambitious people. Compared with the Netherlands, Being sparsely populated and considering themselves underpopulated, the Dutch were much less of a threat to Spanish rule in the Philippines.

But what the queen didn't know was that she was actually like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth, because she didn't understand at all that from the beginning, William IV had always put the development of strength and influence in the Far East first.

As for Europe, that's just the Netherlands integrating into the most advanced and developed technological world.