Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On February 19, 1869, it was initiated by King William III of the Kingdom of Greece, with the participation of the Prime Minister of the Russian Empire Gorchakov, the Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Archduke Rainer Ferdinand, and the Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire Prince Abdul Vasi. Regarding the situation in the Balkan Peninsula, prime ministerial talks were held in Athens, the capital of Greece. Representatives of the four parties signed the understanding agreement of the Joint Coordination Center for the Positions of Various Countries. King William III of Greece said that the document showed the intention to resolve the disputes in the Balkan Peninsula in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and protect the security interests of the four countries. In the near future, the four countries will not take the initiative to provoke the parties that signed the treaty on the Balkan Peninsula issue. At the same time, the four countries will oppose the interference of other countries outside the region in the Balkan Peninsula that causes destructive behavior and undermines security.

The four-nation coordination center is in line with several ideas of the Netherlands. William III said that it coordinates the time of international conflicts within the framework of the participation of multiple parties. Secondly, national parties and stakeholders in the region form a permanent multilateral coordination mechanism. Thirdly, III Greece regards participation in the decision-making process as a necessary condition for protecting Greece’s national sovereignty and equality among nations.

This illustrates at least two issues. On the one hand, it is to prevent the Balkans from becoming a powder keg by undermining our respective interests, or even attracting foreign powers to "make trouble."

On the other hand, it is to prevent other countries from secretly creating unrest and allowing the Balkans to become the four signatory countries, causing conflict crises and providing excuses for military and political intervention by other countries.

In addition, the Quad is prepared to hold Quad prime minister-level talks in each country on a rotational basis every year to resolve tensions in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

As British-Russian relations entered a form of sharp opposition in a hybrid struggle for hegemony, especially the shipping convenience provided by the opening of the Suez Canal, Britain accelerated its policy of shifting its strategic goals eastward, thus intensifying its strategic conflict with the Tsarist Russian Empire.

So under the UK's low-level conflict orientation, proxy wars and initiating political conflicts in various regions have become the means of external conflict for the UK's external balancing of regional hegemony for decades, allowing the UK to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries.

Especially after the Napoleonic Wars, with the determination of its maritime hegemony and the fact that it had no opponents at sea, Britain repeatedly suppressed France, Tsarist Russia, Austria and other major powers on the European continent. To this end, it supported Prussia and Italy respectively. Wait for countries to rise up to counterbalance them. "

As Britain's methods were made public in various countries, the Tsarist Empire saw the resurgence of the traditional anti-British melody. This was Alexander's view that this was an opportunity for Tsarist Russia to take off and rise again, and it was also the only answer to the European crisis. This derived from the security strategy of the Tsarist Russian Empire. Alexander II may have believed that Britain's "irresponsible" intervention in European affairs had damaged the international relations system and sacrificed mutual strategic trust, causing the situation to develop to the edge of what countries could tolerate. This reflected the situation in all fields, including security. strategy.

The recent high-level foreign affairs visits of the Tsarist Empire have been concentrated in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and they have continuously reached a basic consensus with the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The military of non-regional countries cannot enter the Black Sea and the Balkan Peninsula. The chaos caused by the British entry before was often caused by the Tsarist Russian Empire. Mention the lessons learned.

Alexander II's recent visit to Greece and his meeting with William III not only confirmed Greece's priority position in the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, but also recognized Greece's status as an arbiter and stakeholder in the Balkans. Alexander II supported Greece as a The identity of the coordinator of relations with the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.

With the confirmation of Alexander II, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire also recognized Greece's status. Since then, Greece has become the coordinator of relations between the three major powers.

It also became the moment when the four countries held the Balkan Peninsula Summit in Athens and confirmed that the Convention on the Legal Status of the Balkan Peninsula is the key to the prosperity and security of the region.

In short, as the relations between the four countries ease, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the small and medium-sized country Greece are expected to establish new relations, which makes the risk that the four countries will stay away from recent wars even smaller. More conducive to suppressing British influence.

Queen Victoria of the Netherlands and others who were discussing the news heard the telegram just issued from Athens and were a little overwhelmed.

Disraeli's expression became even more gloomy.

Foreign Secretary Russell looked equally embarrassed.

"This must be Holland's fault," Disraeli said angrily.

Seeing Queen Victoria and Russell looking over, Disraeli guessed: "Who is William III? He is the father of William IV. William IV's strategy is currently biased towards provoking us on the Spanish issue, and now William III The four-nation summit of Greece, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans was launched in Athens, Greece, to reduce British influence in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, with the intention of easing relations. However, we are doing the exact opposite and hope to see more chaos there. That is what we Opportunity"

He raised his head and said with a gloomy face, "Now that the British Empire is being challenged by both the east and the west in Europe, Britain has fallen into a passive position. Therefore, I suspect that this is a premeditated plan. Obviously, this father and son king They are trying to put pressure on us, just as we guessed just now, asking us to make concessions on the issues of the South Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, and even give New Zealand to them, in order to fulfill the Dutch ambitions there."

The more he spoke, the darker Disraeli's face became.

"The Netherlands has a good plan." Russell also stood up at this time and said, "Obviously it is to protect its own interests and blackmail the United Kingdom, but at the moment it seems that it has managed to drag other countries in, and it is not good for the United Kingdom to be affected for a while. Directly absorbing it, the anger of a Spanish citizen makes it difficult for the United Kingdom to attack around Spain. On the Balkan Peninsula, as the three major powers compromise in an attempt to ease relations and create internal injuries, it is difficult for us to find a gap to attack."

Disraeli mocked dissatisfiedly: "If I had known earlier, why would you, the Whig party, have promised William IV to push his father, William III, to become the ancient king of Greece, but now you are tying yourself up?"

Russell still did not argue, but instead admitted: "At the beginning, His Excellency Viscount Palmerston only wanted to reduce the influence of those countries and balance them, so while wooing the Netherlands, he also wanted the Netherlands to compete with those countries in Greece. This was used to weaken the Netherlands and the Balkan countries, killing two birds with one stone. Unexpectedly, William IV did not directly participate in the internal affairs of Greece in these years, but instead liberalized his hands to support the rule of William III. This prevented the Netherlands from falling into it. While the relations with Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans did not deteriorate, they even improved, which is unexpected."