Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

In 1868, the main industries in the Far East of the Netherlands were concentrated in several important areas.

Among them, due to political and geographical factors, the main areas of the Dutch East Indies are divided into "Palembang-Tanjong Kalam" in the southern part of Sumatra, focusing on palm oil and rice.

"Jakarta - Semarang - Yogyakarta - Surabaya on Java Island" is mainly the light industry commercial trade turnover center in Southeast Asia.

"Ujung Pantang" in Sulawesi is mainly a shady underground trade and auction house, because it is close to the Sulu Sea where pirates are prevalent.

The industrial zone around the Shrine Bay in the northern part of New Guinea is "Fak Fak-Baba-Vaxian-Tarov-Versall", the military industrial chain factory of the Dutch East India Company.

The “Daru-Kikori-Kerima-Berena-Port Moresby and Solomon Sea Rim Zone” in the industrial zone around the Gulf of Papua in the southern part of New Guinea mainly houses seafood fishery processing plants.

In addition to the most important political center of the Far East consisting of "Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney" in the southeastern part of the Australian continent, it is also the industrial, capital, technology, and financial center of the Far East.

It is now the most important technological innovation center in the Netherlands and the largest financial and capital center outside Amsterdam after the mainland. The development scale of heavy industry here exceeds that of the mainland, and the light industry has already surpassed the mainland.

The Spencer Bay military industrial belt around South Australia, centered on Adelaide, is dominated by the industrial chain led by the Far East Arms Company. It is one of the four major shipbuilding centers in the Netherlands, second only to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the city of Modan in Shrike Bay, New Guinea.

The city of Modan seems to be a latecomer, surpassing the trend of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

In addition, the iron ore minerals in Perth, Western Australia, form the steel industry and gold industrial belt, the iron ore richness in Darwin, the capital of Northern Australia, creates the steel industry belt, and the agricultural industry belt and coal mining industry composed of Bluesbane and Rockhampton. bring.

The above-mentioned industrial belts have all established non-ferrous metal forging industries.

There is no doubt that the industrial revolution in the Far East of the Netherlands, except for the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea in the north, has been managed by the Netherlands for many years. The Australian continent has only been managed by the Netherlands for 7 years, so it is just beginning. Now It has only been put into operation for a few years, but thanks to the large-scale capital and manpower support of the Dutch government, it is developing vigorously and the construction wave is booming, so it shows a prosperous scene, including many in the Netherlands. After the arrival of European immigrants in the area, they were stunned by the progress of prosperity and development here. After that, they completely threw themselves into the construction wave and became one of them.

There is no doubt that compared to Europe, this place is definitely a paradise-level existence for many people who have left their hometowns, and it is definitely a good home.

So they quickly integrated themselves into the local area and became one of them.

None of these people will allow anyone to destroy their hard-won stable and prosperous lives.

However, on September 11, 1868, when local newspapers in Australia and the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea, as well as local newspapers, reported that the British and French empires had never sent fleets to their new homeland. During the expedition, many people were angry.

Even many French and British people have joined the angry team.

Many people in these places even publicly asked the Dutch government to condemn and protest against the actions of the two countries.

Dutch nationals in Australia, the Netherlands East Indies, and New Guinea took to the streets holding banners and demonstrating against the provocations of Britain and France. Many local university students and social elites took the lead in asking the Dutch government not to threaten the two countries. A compromise was made that required the Dutch government to preserve the dignity of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Subsequently, it was revealed that Prussia's provocative behavior on the African island of Madagascar also became the target of protests by these people.

There are even many natives from the Far East and Africa who have joined in.

On September 13, 1868, King William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands gave an interview to the Australian Times, the largest newspaper in the Far East of the Netherlands, in his homeland. He called on the people of the Far East to calm down. He said that the Dutch government would not do anything to harm the dignity and interests of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Things, Holland will not allow Holland to be bullied.

He said that the Netherlands will not accept coercion, and the Netherlands will not think that other countries can coerce the Netherlands.

He warned that the Netherlands has many means and tools to fight back. If some countries try to provoke the Netherlands' Far East, the Netherlands will respond unfriendly.

This interview triggered huge cheers in the mainland and the Far East. At the same time, the content of the interview with William IV also appeased the preparations of many radicals in the Far East and the mainland.

William IV also called on capitalists in the mainland Netherlands and capitalists in the Far East to make more investments, so that Dutch nationals in the Far East can enjoy more tangible benefits as citizens of the King of the Netherlands.

When the call made by King William IV spread in the Netherlands and the Far East, capitalists in the Netherlands and the Netherlands responded one after another. Even people of Dutch origin in the Commonwealth of America actually crossed the Pacific and came to the Far East to participate in this movement. The investment boom started by William IV.

Many years later, when people recalled the investment wave proposed by William IV, they were surprised to find that William IV's call actually led to more than 10 million pounds of investment capital, and at the same time allowed the Far East economy to catch up with the local economy. As a result, the process was accelerated by more than 5 years, and it took only 20 years to reach the level of local prosperity. At the same time, it also accelerated the transfer of Dutch local industries to the Far East.

Many politicians even said that if William IV had not used this British and French naval threat, William IV would not have used this to demonstrate a "submarine threat incident" in the Indian Ocean that shocked the world, so that the Netherlands jumped to the The status of the world's most mysterious naval and military power.

This is a later story. Back to just now, William IV’s interview quickly triggered mixed reactions from many people in Europe.

The governments of Sweden and Denmark clearly stated that it is correct to support the Kingdom of the Netherlands in safeguarding its own interests. At the same time, without naming names, they said that big countries should not "provoke" small countries casually. This is immoral and unpopular. The two countries support the Netherlands. The position remains unchanged.

But there are many people in Berlin, London, and Paris who are full of cynicism.

They all ridiculed the Netherlands for overestimating its capabilities, and William IV actually intended to promote the power of the Netherlands. They all suspected that this was just a cover-up for the Dutch king's inner panic.

Many "national priders" in these three countries have called on Britain, France and Prussia to strengthen their presence in the Far East and not allow the Netherlands to gain power there.