Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Francesco Bob, a professor at The Hague University in the Netherlands who promotes transnational trade in the Netherlands, recently pointed out on February 10 that with the sanctions against the French Empire, agricultural and food harvest failures, and wars around the world in the past few years, life in the decade from 1860 to 1860 had changed. The perfect storm of crisis.

The soaring food prices and the lack of food security networks in various countries have brought serious political and social turmoil.

Many governments in various countries have collapsed due to hunger, and a wave of refugees has emerged from poor countries to industrialized countries and restored countries. This has been accompanied by the spread of crimes during migration. These transnational issues require the real power of all countries in the world. For the Netherlands, if countries cooperate, especially if they come into contact with foreign trade restrictions, it will help the food-abundant Netherlands help stabilize global food prices, and also provide a solution to the world's people who starve to death due to food. humanitarian assistance.

Of course, many people speculate that this is also an opportunity for the Netherlands to improve the status of the Dutch guilder in order to get rid of the control of the pound and establish economic dominance.

Obviously, the Netherlands is preparing to start with food security, because the Netherlands' food reserves account for one-third of the world's food reserves, which can almost be said to control the pricing power of global food. Of course, the premise is that the international grain trade is free and open, rather than countries closing themselves off, so the Netherlands intends to pry open the closed doors of various countries and allow Dutch grain producers to occupy the top position in this industry.

On February 15, 1869, in Sydney, Australia, in the Far East of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it was presided over by ElBaradei, the first Director-General of the International Society of the Red Cross, and Ross, the first President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and the first Director-General of the International Association of Women's League. Queen Alexandra and Henry Daly, Director General of the International Federation of Labor (referred to as the Labor Federation), participated in the establishment of the International Food Security Coordination Organization and elected Sackham, Dean of the School of Economics at the University of Granningen, to become the first president. Officer. The organization calls on the international community to pay attention to food security and take effective measures to improve the food and clothing problems of people around the world.

The organization immediately received great attention, because not only because the organization is the most concerned about food security for the international people, but also because Queen Alexandra of the Netherlands visited the Far East of the Netherlands for the first time. Her visit made the Far East of the Netherlands It was such a sensation that it was even said that on the day Queen Alexandra arrived at the port of Sydney, Australia, more than 500,000 people lined the streets to welcome Queen Alexandra's visit.

This shows how popular the Queen of the Netherlands, who is only 25 years old, is there.

You must know that since William IV began to advocate that Dutch white people migrate to the Far East in 1861, more than 6 million people from the Netherlands have moved to the Far East in the past eight or nine years. And it is not a refugee-style relocation, but a relocation regardless of elites. , civilians or nobles.

So it's almost a complete system move.

With the large-scale development of large Dutch companies here, and even Dutch capitalists from the Commonwealth of America investing in real estate here, the development of the Far East is absolutely unprecedented. Even faster than the development of the United States in the first half of the century, more American capitalists arrived in Australia and the Dutch East Indies and found that the development there was neatly planned by local municipal governments, and private and government development cooperation was rapid and powerful, with almost no need for In 10 years, the Australian mainland will have completed the economic development path that the United States has taken from 1800 to the present for more than 60 years, so everyone is very optimistic about Australia's future development prospects.

Because of this assessment, American capitalists flocked in, but they still had to go through competition from the Dutch.

"Is the British Navy a global rival to the Dutch Navy?"

On February 18, 1869, a piece of news came out that shocked the world.

His Majesty King William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who has always been known for his reclusiveness, actually signed a new naval doctrine that day. He regarded the British Empire as the main competitor of the Netherlands and elaborated on the British Empire’s role in the global oceans, including the North Atlantic and the Pacific. Wait for the current expansion ambitions in the more peripheral areas of the world.

William IV attended the commissioning ceremony of the Netherlands' third steam battleship in the Port of Amsterdam on February 17. He gave a speech after the event, praising the rapid development of the Dutch Navy over the years for providing a strong guarantee for the maritime security of the Netherlands, especially the Praising the effective competition between the Dutch East India Arms Company and the Dutch Far East Arms Company, which is conducive to the technological innovation of Dutch weapons, especially the fact that both major arms companies are currently capable of manufacturing steam battleships, it has promoted the international effect.

William IV also said that with the Dutch naval power, any potential invader could be defeated.

Shortly before the speech, William IV had just signed a new principle for the development of the Dutch navy. This new principle lists the broad strategic goals of the Dutch navy, including the hope to expand the Dutch navy around the world and become a new "sea power". "Ambition.

The document also stated that the main threats to the Netherlands come from "the world maritime strategic policy led by the British Empire, as well as the military alliances around the Netherlands and the coercion of major powers. These all pose a threat to the national security of the Netherlands as the Dutch border approaches. If diplomacy When other soft powers such as economy and economy are exhausted, the Netherlands may use military force appropriately to safeguard its own interests in the world or in that situation."

In his speech, William IV did not mention the dispute between Britain and the Netherlands caused by the visit of Dutch House Speaker Huntington to Spain, but the navy mentioned in principle that the Dutch navy intends to comprehensively strengthen the Dutch navy's alliance network on both sides of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. It will enhance and strengthen the Netherlands' geopolitical position in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

This naval principle also lists the Arctic Ocean as a particularly important area for the Netherlands. The United Kingdom is likely to be very sensitive to this because behind the British Isles are Greenland and Iceland in the north.

It used to be in Danish hands, but now the western part of Greenland currently belongs to Denmark, the eastern part starts from Sweden, and Iceland continues to remain in Danish hands. But the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark all have joint garrisons. This effectively implements the Nordic alliance formed by the three countries. Because of this, Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, is the headquarters of the Nordic Alliance.

Because of this, the British Empire has always accused the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark of trying to militarize the Arctic region, threatening Britain's homeland security.

This time, William IV's maritime principles set out for the first time the future construction direction of the Dutch navy, comprehensively expressing the Netherlands' "ambition". Precisely because of this, it is obviously challenging Britain's maritime supremacy. Faced with such a situation from the Netherlands, Many people in Amsterdam are worried about the direct "provocation", because Britain's offshore balancing hand has always been to restrict European countries and threaten Britain's maritime supremacy. Now William IV has spoken out bluntly, and has done a good job. Yes, will London be willing to accept the Dutch challenge?

Most people do not think Britain will compromise.