Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

What is the most surprising news in the two months preceding February 21, 1869? Then many people will definitely answer that it was the visit of Huntington, Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives, to Spain that triggered the diplomatic dispute between Britain and Spain.

But what was the most shocking news that shocked the world one day after February 22? Well, everyone’s first answer is about the Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives Huntington, but the reason is that he announced on behalf of the Dutch House of Representatives that he will push the Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives to pass the "Our Belgium" bill and ask the Senate to pass it. Prime Minister Tolbeck and King William IV of the Netherlands signed the bill into effect, officially recognizing Belgium as Dutch territory.

The Speaker of the Spanish House of Representatives, Julian, openly stood up to endorse Huntington and pointed out that the Spanish House of Representatives supports Huntington’s position.

This news stirred up a huge storm like a tornado, hitting the world and knocking many people off their feet.

Unexpectedly, the French Empire was the first to stand up and object, "We don't think the Netherlands has the purpose of announcing such unrealistic territorial claims at this time, but we are very dissatisfied with the Netherlands' annexation of Belgium. Don't forget Walloon Brabant is the French people in our French-speaking area, and there are more than 200,000 French people there. I don’t think the idea of ​​the Kingdom of the Netherlands to annex Belgium is wise.”

In this regard, when Huntington, who was visiting Madrid, mentioned France's accusations to reporters, Huntington laughed and said: "The French seem to have forgotten one thing, which is that in Belgium, there are currently more than 1.6 million Dutch people, making them four times more French than French." Times, in Belgium, and with the last time France occupied the three and a half Belgian provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Luxembourg and half of Liege (half of Liege was divided with Prussia).

Currently in Belgium, France's own influence has declined to the point where it is difficult to compete with the Netherlands. I don't know if the French can represent the majority of Belgium, but I know that the Dutch can, because the Dutch represent the total population of Belgium of 2 million. About 80% of the total population, everyone knows what this figure represents, which means that the majority of this term is already firmly in the hands of our fellow Dutch people."

Huntington's rebuttal left Paris unable to respond.

In fact, it was precisely because of the last crisis in Belgium that the four-nation game between Britain, France, and Prussia ended up with Leopold I retaining the royal status with the support of the United Kingdom. The French, allied with the Netherlands and Prussia, were greedy and took away the throne. Three and a half French-dominated Belgian provinces.

The Netherlands only took away the two provinces in the north, Antwerp and Limburg. At present, the only remaining provinces in the Kingdom of Belgium are the mixed-resident capital Brussels, West Flanders and East Flanders, which are mainly Dutch-speaking provinces. , Flemish-Brabant, and Wallonia-Brabant, where French people live, the latter of which is small in area and has a small population.

It was precisely because of Huntington's proposal that people who knew the situation in Belgium and those who did not understand Belgium suddenly began to despise and ridicule France.

Many people were also amazed by Holland's precise calculations.

Among the original Belgian population, the Dutch accounted for about 55% of the population. Therefore, as long as the Dutch are partially included in the population, the Dutch's demographic advantage will be broken. It is not that the French have no chance to stand up, at least in the Having Leopold's royal support would create balance. However, with the large-scale annexation of France, Belgium's balance was actually broken by France itself, which annexed the southern territory of Belgium. Now, David's influence on Belgium has shrunk.

As one goes, the Netherlands has achieved astonishing dominance.

Looking at the current power structure within Belgium, the Prime Minister, Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and President of the Supreme Court are all of Dutch descent. Even the Prime Minister and Cabinet are all of Dutch descent.

There is no comparison, this is actually no different from a province in the Netherlands.

Looking at the various decrees and bills issued by Belgium in recent years, almost all of them follow the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The birth of Belgium was accomplished with the full push of France, the ‘push hand’.

France took three and a half Belgian provinces, but lost almost all of Belgium's influence, and the barrier between the north and the Netherlands was almost gone.

The Netherlands has an additional buffer country that is close to itself.

Belgium, which many people did not care about at first, discovered after some investigation that it had become a follower of the Netherlands. This made many people look weird.

The high-profile opposition of the French Empire actually triggered a wave of interest in Belgian power. It must be said that the high-profile influence of Speaker Huntington is too great.

Many people couldn't help but turn their attention to the UK, waiting for London's reaction.

With the understanding, everyone knows that London is the backer of the Leopold family of the Belgian royal family. Now the Netherlands is obviously preparing to drive away the Leopold family. Will London give up?

As the cousin of King Leopold II of Belgium, will Her Majesty Queen Victoria agree?

"We in the UK, like Paris, are strongly opposed to the ambitions of the Netherlands. We believe that the current regulations in Belgium are out of balance and need to be adjusted. However, this is only our opinion and does not mean that we will interfere in Belgium's internal governance."

Russell, the British Foreign Secretary, hurriedly expressed his position. His position was similar to what everyone had guessed, that is, he opposed the Dutch annexation of Belgium.

However, precisely because everyone understood it, the British opposition did not cause too much trouble.

However, Britain, France and Belgium have an interest relationship, so it is understandable. Spain's position is obviously in line with the Huntington House of Representatives, which supports Gibraltar's belonging to Western Spain. You can see that this is similar to an exchange of interests. This is between Spain and Spain. Mutual support in the Netherlands.

But one country shocked the world by standing up to support the Netherlands.

On February 24, 1869, a press conference from Berlin shocked the world. At the Prime Minister's press conference, Prime Minister Bismarck stated that Prussia agreed with the Dutch view and also believed that since the Dutch people accounted for the majority of the population, even the Dutch people supported it. In response, Prussia believed that there was no need for Belgium to exist because it was just deceiving itself.

Bismarck: "I think it would be good for Belgium to return to the state it was in before it separated from the Netherlands in 1839. Don't forget that before the Netherlands recognized it in 1839, Belgium was still a territory of the Netherlands internationally. This was a period of history not long ago. Looking at it now, It’s time for Belgium to return to the embrace of the Netherlands.”

Is this true? Almost no one believes it. The reason was so far-fetched that everyone suspected that the Netherlands had reached some kind of agreement with Prussia.