Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

While the world is talking about the Belgian Roos, the Netherlands is once again attracting attention, but this time it is local.

On March 5, 1869 local time, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tolbeck, announced in Amsterdam that the Netherlands would move the capital of the Netherlands from the Province of North Holland to the Province of Wilhelm on the Australian continent in the Far East within two years (Province William was the province of William during the previous British rule). of Victoria).

According to a report by the Dutch "Amsterdam Post" on the 6th, Tolbeck said at the Dutch cabinet government press conference that day that after six years of in-depth study, the Dutch government decided to locate the new capital in Melbourne, which is under the jurisdiction of the province of Wilhelm. The capital of William Province chose Geelong, the second largest city in William Province in the northwest of Bass Strait.

Prime Minister Tolbeck pointed out that he himself had written to the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament to report the decision to move the capital to this place. At the same time, he said that he had consulted His Majesty Willem IV and told him the many benefits of moving the capital, and obtained His Majesty's approval. .

At the same time, he said that his cabinet government will write a bill for moving the capital and hopes that the Dutch Parliament will pass it as soon as possible.

It is reported that the plan to move the capital of the Netherlands out of Europe was first proposed with His Majesty William IV a few years ago, but at that time it was only proposed that Melbourne be the deputy capital of the Netherlands to manage a large number of Dutch territories in the Far East and develop the economy of the Far East. Now, according to the plan, after the capital is moved to Melbourne, its status will be changed. The old capital Amsterdam will become the deputy capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and will continue to function as the European local economic center of the Netherlands.

When Tolbeck was asked why he chose Melbourne in the Far East, according to Prime Minister Tolbeck's detailed answer at the press conference, according to the research of the Netherlands Development Planning Institute, a capital relocation team formed by various departments in the Netherlands, the new capital was The location was determined to be Melbourne, which met the requirements for setting up a capital such as less earthquake disaster and weak volcanic activity. Moreover, compared to Sydney, Melbourne was in a fjord, which was more conducive to security and defense.

He also reminded everyone: "Look at the geographical map. While the Melbourne Fjord is helpful for economic development, the locations on both sides of the fjord can deploy powerful warships to protect Melbourne. And outside the fjord, both ends of Bass Strait and the east side It is also guarded by Flinders Island and Cape Barren Island, and on the west side of the sea outside the fjord is Golden Island.

On the opposite side of the fjord is Tasmania. Look at the positions of these four islands. Do they completely defend Melbourne? The capital of a country naturally needs such a safe environment.”

Tolbeck's statement of sound and picture was immediately recognized by everyone.

"As far as I know, it seems that the sea east of Melbourne is the British Overseas Territory of New Zealand. The United Kingdom has a small squadron stationed there. The relationship between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom currently does not seem to be very good. This is very important for the new capital of the Netherlands. , as the Prime Minister just mentioned, safety is the first choice, will the guarantee of safety be affected and challenged?"

When a reporter asked about this, he continued, "It is said that the Netherlands and Britain are continuing to compete for influence in the Malay Peninsula. If something unexpected happens there and the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands becomes tense, will it cause a crisis for the security of the new capital? "

Tolbeck laughed: "If this can be considered a crisis, then Amsterdam should be more worried. After all, it is much closer to London."

In a public speech in the House of Representatives on March 8, 1869, Prime Minister Tolbeck called on all participating members and officials to support the plan to move the capital to Melbourne.

"The new capital is not only one of the symbols of our national identity in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but it will also reflect the results of our country's development and is an example of our full development of overseas territories in the Far East."

Tolbeck said: "The purpose of moving the capital is to achieve fairness and justice in the Dutch economy. We need to allow the Far East to develop the same developed economy and security environment as Europe itself under the governance of our new capital."

The Tolbeck government stated that according to the timetable given by the Tolbeck government, his cabinet government will build the new capital after it is approved by the Parliament and signed into effect by William IV. shield), and planned to start construction in July of the second half of 1869. They also strived to complete the relocation of the capital before the end of 1871 on the basis of Melbourne's original urban construction.

The idea of ​​moving the capital of the Netherlands has been exposed before, and even King William IV has expressed it many times. However, not many people thought that this would be completed in a short time. After all, compared with the Far East, the Netherlands itself The geographical advantage of the Netherlands makes the conditions for economic development in the Netherlands much better than that in the Far East.

Therefore, the issue of moving the capital to the Far East has even triggered endless debates among government officials, major politicians, capital groups, and ordinary people in the Netherlands.

The advantages and disadvantages were listed one by one. Not only the Netherlands, but other countries such as Britain and France also joined the discussion on the disadvantages and advantages of the Netherlands moving its capital to the Far East.

It even quoted many people in Portugal as the most sensational example of Portugal's unsuccessful attempt to move the capital to Brazil, which was also the most similar to the Dutch example.

There are even some aspects where Portugal has an advantage in moving its capital to Brazil. After all, both are on the Atlantic Ocean, while the Dutch moved their capital across Africa and the Middle East to the east, and to the Americas to the west.

This means that after the Netherlands moves its capital, it will cost more to connect with the mainland. After all, the two places are too far apart.

In fact, the Dutch decision to move the capital is not surprising.

William I of the Netherlands (the great-grandfather of William IV) proposed moving the capital of the Dutch East Indies to Jakarta 50 years ago in 1820, in order to expand the influence of the Netherlands in the Far East and at the same time prevent the Netherlands from being dominated by Britain, France and France in Europe. Russia and other powerful countries were oppressing. William I’s idea was that the Dutch East Indies was vast and there were no big countries around it. He could even go to the Malay Peninsula and Burma, the Kingdom of Siam (today’s Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos), which had not yet been occupied by the British. North and South Vietnam expanded.

But in the end, it was blocked by the British influence and the Dutch local forces, and nothing happened.

Each subsequent king, William II (grandfather of William IV) and William III (father of William IV, today's king of Greece), considered moving the capital, but it had never been implemented on the schedule like now.

Because of this, many ordinary people around the world, including the Dutch, still have doubts. Why did William IV change the matter of moving the capital from a paper talk of the previous three kings to a real move?

Only some people understand that the main reason is of course Amsterdam itself. The security environment of Amsterdam is in line with the chaotic turbulent situation in Europe in the 19th century. The depth of the Dutch territory where Amsterdam is located is too small, which makes William IV and Tolbeck High-level government officials in the Netherlands have no confidence in the safety index of Amsterdam. Under the bombardment of warships from major powers such as Britain and France, the serious danger has reached the point of being "hopeless".

However, in big projects, there will always be conflicts of interest. Some people are happy and some are disappointed.

After eight years, the ruling liberals have kept the financial groups and stakeholders that support them well fed. The most famous among them is the rise of the Dutch Far East Arms Company, headquartered in In Adelaide, South Australia.

The Dutch East India Company, which is relatively old in the Netherlands, comes from the conservative Christian sect and is headquartered in the mainland. Its main weapons production location is in New Guinea.

It can be said that in the eight years of the liberals, a new Dutch East India Company was almost created. Although there are still some gaps, it does not prevent this company from making rapid progress.

It is precisely because of this that many people in the opposition Christian faction are actually opposed to the issue of moving the capital.

On March 15, 1869, after Dutch Prime Minister Tolbeck formally proposed to the Dutch Parliament that he would move the capital out of Amsterdam, which is small and under severe geopolitical pressure, and move to Melbourne, the conservative Christian faction of the Dutch opposition party said, "We will support the motion of liberal Prime Minister Tolbeck, but we will only support it after more contact with Prime Minister Tolbeck. We do not think that the relocation of the Dutch capital needs a definite timetable, because that is prone to errors. , on the contrary, we hope to expand the supervision more.”

As the leader of the liberal faction, Julius von Louilen said, "While the Christian faction is prepared to support it, it will also supervise the capital relocation work of the liberal ruling government as an opposition party."

Many people secretly ridiculed it, especially liberals, because the Christian sect is just a way to ask for benefits.

William IV became interested.

"The liberals have been in power for eight years. Prime Minister Tolbeck will expire at the end of this year. According to the Dutch constitution, the prime minister can only be re-elected for one term. If you want to continue to serve as prime minister, you must wait for one term before you can stand for election. Before With your majesty’s support, Prime Minister Tolbeck’s strength has left the Christian faction at their wits’ end. Now it seems that the liberals can only change their generals to run for office. Instead, they have taken advantage of the opportunity and are preparing to compete with the liberals.”

Bill Charlie, the Director of Royal Dutch Intelligence, was speaking, and next to him was Mackay Sean, the Director of International Intelligence of the Netherlands.

William IV frowned and said: "The Christian sect currently has a shortage of talents and is not suitable for governing. Moreover, the Dutch East India Company still has an advantage. This is still difficult for the Dutch Far East Arms Group to surpass in a short time. Therefore, it is necessary to suppress Christian sects and cultivate Far East Arms Company, etc., so that a balance can be achieved."

He said to Mackay Sean: "By the way, Leopold II of Belgium has not yet stated whether he will comply with the Dutch-British agreement. Please tell me about his recent situation."

William IV was a person who planned things and then acted. He was also a person who had been enlightened by various intelligence agencies and special forces in later generations. Therefore, he was more familiar with the methods of the Mi Empire and the hacker empire. He has read the country countless times, so he dares to say that the Netherlands is second in terms of intelligence about countries in the world, and no one dares to say that it is first.

The Netherlands currently has many spies and intelligence officers in various countries around the world. It can be said that the most important reason for the development of the Netherlands in recent years is not only his familiarity with history, but the role of intelligence is also the key.

Mastering the intelligence and the trends of various countries is the key to the Netherlands' success. Don't follow the script, because the ancients in the West are as smart as the ancients in the East. Look at Austria's Metternich, Britain's Palmerston and Prussia's Bismarck. Which one is not adaptable? Your plan based on the script may just You didn't notice it at first, but when you notice it, your methods have been guessed, so what advantage do you have?

McKay Sean: "I contacted France before, but in the end, it seemed that Napoleon III was indifferent. By the way, it seems that Paris is preparing to form a visiting team to visit Amsterdam."

William IV was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile but not a smile: "You can rip it off when you see it, you are quite clever."

Bill Charlie and McKay Sean smiled bitterly when they realized this.