Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On September 2, 1868, newspapers all over the world were full of explosive news - "Five warships of the Royal Netherlands Navy circled the Sri Lanka-Chagos Islands, a colony of the British Far East in the Indian Ocean."

According to reports from the British close opposition Whig party newspapers "The Times" and "Financial Times", it turns out that the Dutch warships in the British Far East Colony of Sri Lanka-Chagos Islands in recent days have made the British nervous.

The British Ministry of Defense said on September 3 that five Dutch warships began sailing north from Jakarta, the largest city in the Dutch East Indies, at 9 a.m. on August 27, 1868, and began to pass through the British territory of Malacca, south of Singapore. The coast of Sumatra, the westernmost part of the East Indies territory, went all the way to Banda Aceh Port for repairs, then entered the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean along the British Pokoba Islands and then began to circle around Sri Lanka and the Chagos Islands.

The British Ministry of Defense was shocked by this news. According to the news released by the British Ministry of Defense and the Navy at 4 pm on September 2, the Navy monitored 5 Dutch warships on the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean on September 1. These five warships were in the Tibia and Foot Department. After leaving the Chagos Islands at 11 a.m. on September 2, the fleet sailed towards Perth, west of the Australian mainland.

The five battleships include one steam battleship "Jakarta", three fifth-level sailing battleships and one third-level sailing battleship.

The British Indian Ocean Fleet dispatched a fleet including the sailing battleship "Sri Lanka" to monitor and collect intelligence on the Royal Dutch Fleet IV.

The British "Financial Times" reported that the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced that a large-scale naval exercise involving 20 Dutch warships will be held this month in the Indian Ocean between northern Australia and the southern Dutch East Indies. According to British Ministry of Defense officials , these five Dutch warships seem to be participating in this exercise.

Currently, the British Ministry of Defense is continuing to analyze the purpose of this Dutch voyage and remains vigilant and monitors more movements from the Dutch Navy in the Indian Ocean.

To this end, British Prime Minister Disraeli stated at a press conference in the Prime Minister's Office at No. 10 Downing Street that the British Empire is "concerned" about this and the British Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet will continue to "alert and monitor"

"Regarding the Royal Netherlands Navy's increasingly expanding military activities in the Indian Ocean, the British Navy is conducting alert surveillance and collecting intelligence information. We are concerned about the overall activities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the areas surrounding our British Empire's Far Eastern colonies, and we will basically monitor The relevant development of the Royal Netherlands Navy, and to make every effort to conduct vigilance and monitoring activities in the waters surrounding the jurisdiction of our British Empire."

British Prime Minister Disraeli responded.

In addition, the British Ministry of Defense said on the evening of September that the British Navy had confirmed that a fleet of five Dutch warships had arrived at the Port of Darwin in northern Australia.

On the same day, British Foreign Secretary Russell said that he was concerned about the military movements of the Netherlands and would continue to "gather intelligence and be vigilant."

"Hurry to the British Foreign Office. This time the British Foreign Secretary and the Dutch Ambassador to the UK are holding a press conference. It is said that there will be a head-to-head dialogue. Don't miss their wonderful 'performance'"

"The meeting between the two of them will be at 10 o'clock in the morning. It's only 9 o'clock now. It's still early."

"Yes, yes, it seems that the UK and the Netherlands are at odds at the moment. The UK is willing to privately support the Rothschild family's interference in the United States. Obviously, the UK has expected that the Netherlands will be dissatisfied, but it did not expect that the Netherlands would come. It’s just such a quick and violent reaction.”

"Who says it's not the case? Obviously the Dutch don't want to give up their dominant position in the Commonwealth of America. That's right. There are people in that country who are willing to give up their vested power. What's more, the Netherlands is rising rapidly and has the shadow of a great power in Europe. If the United States of America can gain the blessing of influence in the Americas, then although the Netherlands' influence in Europe cannot keep up with the six European countries, with the extraterritorial support of the Far East, Africa and the Americas, it can offset Europe's shortcomings.

What's more, the Netherlands has run the Nordic Alliance in recent years, with Sweden and Denmark assisting it, as well as Nassau. The Principality of Nassau and the Principality of Luxembourg under the Orange family are under the rule of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, plus the father of King William IV of the Netherlands William III is currently the king of the Kingdom of Greece. With such mutual support, who dares to ignore the influence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe? Not to mention that powerful countries such as France and Prussia all 'favor' the Netherlands."

"Brother, that's great. Which newspaper are you from? I'm Roy from the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Crown News."

"Yes, brother, what you said is wonderful. I am Luxon of Le Figaro from the French Empire."

"You're welcome, I'm Merck from the New York Times from the Commonwealth of America."

"All three of you are sensible people. Let's go. I'm Sappho from the Spanish Herald. Dear colleagues, please hurry up. London doesn't allow horseback riding and can only walk to their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It's strange."

So under the supervision of the reporter from La Vanguardia España, several people and their colleagues rushed to the British Foreign Office two kilometers away.

On September 1, 1868, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed some dissatisfaction with Britain's interference in the internal affairs of the American Commonwealth at an ordinary press conference. Dutch Foreign Minister Hesbert von expressed that he did not understand what the British's purpose was. Actually interfered in the internal management affairs of the United States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the British Empire was very dissatisfied with this. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country publicly stated that the Netherlands should not criticize the British policy towards the United States. The Netherlands had no right to criticize the foreign policy of the British Empire.

Against this background, Russell, the Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, personally summoned the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the British Empire, Michael Davis, on September 4, 1868. The two held a face-to-face press conference outside the headquarters of the British Foreign Office. The media was surprised by the quarrel.

It started at 10 o'clock that morning. First, Russell, the Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, took the lead.

British Foreign Secretary Russell: "The British Empire is based on partnership and respect for each other's interests, while the Netherlands implements coercive diplomacy against other countries and retaliates wantonly. We, the British Empire, are very dissatisfied with this and believe that the Netherlands should not implement such measures against the French Empire." impose sanctions on other countries, including Europe, to create a clean and fair competition environment in Europe.”

Minister Russell's words made the reporters from various countries present feel astonished. This 76-year-old British diplomat is still so brave.

However, as a rising star in the Dutch diplomatic and political circles, Mike Davis, who has already made a name for himself in Europe, how could he "compromise" easily? Therefore, many reporters present were also looking forward to his counterattack.