Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On February 5, 1869, Stephen Douglas, leader of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of America, announced in Washington, D.C., that he would participate in the new presidential election of the Commonwealth of America in December this year. He said It will challenge the current president of the Republican Party, Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Johnson said that he will face the challenge head-on.

On the same day, the Meiji Emperor, the Japanese promoter of the Meiji Restoration in the Far East, officially announced that starting from this year, 1,000 international students will be sent to universities in the Far East region of the Netherlands to study abroad every year, and another 1,000 international students will also be sent. Studying abroad in various European countries, it is obvious that Japan has opened its doors and officially moved towards a Westernized political and economic model.

On the same day, Emperor Alexander II of Russia welcomed his first grandson.

After the death of the eldest son Nikolai Alexandrovich, the second son Alexander Alexandrovich finally gave birth to the eldest grandson of Alexander II a year later after marrying his eldest brother's fiancée Damage last year. After discussing with Alexander II, the couple named themselves Nicholas in memory of their eldest brother, which means the deceased eldest brother. This eldest grandson of the Tsarist Emperor was the future Nicholas II of the Tsarist Empire, and his father It was Alexander III.

To this end, both the Danish royal family and the Dutch royal family personally sent congratulatory messages.

On this day, the British Disraeli cabinet government announced that the construction of the Cape Town port in South Africa was finally completed. It is said that this port has now become the headquarters of the British Global Seventh Fleet, helping the United Kingdom to guard the Strait of Magellan. It is just one step further for Britain to dominate the global shipping chokepoint.

On the other side of the sea, Spain is conducting naval exercises off the coast of Morocco in the southern part of the Strait of Gibraltar. Madrid has announced that it will expand Spain’s presence there, allowing the Kingdom of Spain to play a more beneficial role in world security.

However, the location chosen by the Spanish Navy was very sensitive, close to Gibraltar, where the British occupied Spain, which made London very sensitive.

The British government was very dissatisfied with this. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Russell even summoned the Spanish ambassador to the UK to express dissatisfaction and protest. It seemed that the two countries were at risk of escalating tensions.

However, the Spanish government stated that it would not recognize British sovereignty, and at the same time stated that Spain believed that sooner or later it would conquer Spain's lost territories. Although it is not stated explicitly, everyone knows that the territory referred to is Gibraltar, the former Spanish territory controlled by the British.

Spain's move immediately made Britain, which had originally hoped to gain strength through Cape Town, South Africa, feel like it had been slapped a few more times, and a burning pain spread across its face.

On the same day, the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands and the Ministry of Defense of Prussia also maintained peace on the border between the two countries.

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Prussia. Berlin.

Weesemann, the Dutch ambassador to Prussia, finally saw that after Bismarck and Nicholas Pearson had a "casual" verbal exchange accompanied by newspapers, they both put down their newspapers and looked at each other with a smile.

Under the smiles of the two people, Weeseman found that the atmosphere at this moment was tense. It seemed that the silent tit-for-tat confrontation was more intense than the loud quarrel.

Tea time.

Bismarck looked at Nicholas Pearson: "If the Netherlands is willing to help Prussia on the issue of France, then Prussia is willing to form an alliance with the Netherlands?"

"What can the Netherlands gain?" Weeseman heard this from Nicholas Pearson. It was so direct and admirable.

"Didn't you just request that Prussia form an alliance with the Netherlands?" Bismarck said seriously.

"But we only formed an alliance for the sake of forming an alliance, not to help Prussia prepare to fight against the French Empire."

Beautifully said!

Weeseman looked at Nicholas Pearson with some admiration. When his former and current boss said this, Weeseman believed that Bismarck understood that the time for a showdown had come.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

William IV described the significance of the alliance between the Netherlands and Prussia.

"I think everyone knows the environment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is surrounded by the three major powers of Britain, France and Germany. No matter how powerful the Netherlands is, it will always have to make good friends to fight against other countries. The current attitude of the UK is unclear. The French Empire is at odds with each other. Don't think it is just because The reason why the Netherlands took the lead in sanctioning France, if this was the reason, the two countries would not be so stalemate, because I would not let the Netherlands do this."

Many people showed curiosity. Except for a few people, many people actually didn't understand why William IV, Tolbeck and others pushed for sanctions against the French Empire.

"Small countries imposing sanctions on big countries seem to be just for trouble. They have nothing to do but have enough to eat. No matter how the Netherlands looks at it, this is not the right thing to do. Right?"

William IV's question is even more curious.

Even other people in the military, except Chief of General Staff Mark Rudd, have shown interest.

It can be seen how highly confidential William IV and his strategic circle are.

Of course, it is indeed necessary to do this. After all, these days, although there are no 0-0-7 secret agents, there are many slaves in Western countries.

William IV never believed that there is no eternal loyalty, so at this point, he used many allusions that later generations knew, such as various intelligence organizations and semi-official and semi-private non-governmental organizations. He was William IV's spy, not only for external affairs, but also for internal supervision.

Seeing no one answered, William IV said: "In fact, by forming an alliance with Prussia, the Prime Minister can appease Prussia and let them eliminate hostility towards the Netherlands, and then focus on France. The pressure on the Netherlands will be reduced. The second most important thing is, It can be used to weaken the French Empire in the south of the Netherlands, because the French Empire seems to be challenging the interests of the Netherlands in the Far East. The Far East is the Netherlands' future stronghold. There is no room for loss. Whoever destroys the Netherlands' interests there is The Netherlands must fight back against the Netherlands' alternative attack, and Prussia's intervention will give a disguised blessing to the Netherlands' counterattack. France's negative teaching materials have become a stepping stone for the Netherlands to establish its prestige."

Continue back to Berlin, Prussia.

Inside the Berlin Palace. Opposite William I sat his only son, King Frederick.

"Father, the Netherlands has sent two officials at the deputy minister level this time. This is actually a good relationship for us. We don't need to ask Chief of General Moltke and Prime Minister Bismarck to personally take action."

Crown Prince Frederick was very confused about this. Could it be that the Second Vice Minister of the Netherlands was already comparable to the head of the Prussian military cabinet government? When did the Netherlands’ status become so high?

William IV smiled and said nothing.

Seeing this, Crown Prince Frederick couldn't help but ask: "The feud between the Netherlands and the French Empire is very helpful to Prussia's plan. Now that the tense relationship between Prussia and the Netherlands has eased, the French Empire will be more hostile to the Netherlands." It’s a bit scary, this is unwise behavior for us who are prepared to see both the Netherlands and France lose.”

"Then what are you going to do?" William I showed a touch of imperial majesty.

Crown Prince Frederick: "I think that not only should we not ease up with the Netherlands, but we should also make the relationship between Prussia and the Netherlands more tense. Then, Napoleon III of France will take risks, and the Netherlands may face the risk of war. At that time, Prussia can The fisherman profited"

William I shook his head, "Although it's a good idea, have you ever thought about the British Empire staring at you next to your bed?"

Crown Prince Frederick was suddenly stunned. He actually forgot about Britain!

When did the world's largest empire actually make him feel that it was no longer dangerous? It seemed to have started after he married Queen Victoria's eldest princess.