Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Countries around the world reacted in different ways to Stanley's attacks on William IV and the Netherlands, the British conservative tycoon and former Prime Minister.

The French Empire fell silent.

At the International Court of Justice in The Hague held on April 6,

Ten die-hard allies of the Netherlands, including Sweden, Denmark, the Commonwealth of America, Spain, Greece, the Kingdom of Siam, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and the Netherlands, have clearly stated their support for the rights of people from the international community, including parliamentarians, to visit any place. reiterated its support for the Netherlands.

Argentina, Peru, and Mexico expressed their support for the Dutch position. At the same time, they also supported the UK and the Netherlands to engage in peaceful dialogue to handle bilateral relations.

Obviously they have always had concerns about Britain, and their alliance with the Netherlands is just an ordinary alliance.

The six countries of Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile requested that the UK and the Netherlands conduct more communication methods to reduce regional tensions and reduce the burden on European peace.

However, the moderate attitude of the three countries could not change the process of the organization's voting model. On the same day, Spain asked all member states to rule on the sovereignty issue of Gibraltar. The organization has a total of 18 member states. In addition to the country involved, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, A total of 12 countries including the Commonwealth of America, Spain, Greece, the Kingdom of Siam, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico agreed. The following six countries, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, chose to abstain and did not take a stand. Finally, the International Court of Justice in The Hague approved the Spanish lawsuit, requiring the United Kingdom to negotiate with Spain on the sovereignty of Gibraltar.

On April 7, 1869, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London, England issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction with the stance of the member states of the National Hague Tribunal Organization and stating that the British Empire did not recognize the legitimacy of the organization and therefore would not agree with any judgment of the organization.

"The British Empire will not enforce any judgment that we do not approve of"

The British Foreign Office said, "We ask the member states of the International Court of Justice in The Hague not to dictate to the UK. The British will not accept this."

The next day, April 8, 1869, the British Ministry of Defense issued a statement claiming that the British First Fleet had dispatched the British first steam battleship Warrior with a displacement of 9,137 tons at 3 p.m. London time and was swimming outside The Hague Port. During the cruise, it was followed by the Dutch steam battleship Rotterdam. However, the British Ministry of Defense stated that the British and Dutch warships interacted almost 30 nautical miles away from the coastline of The Hague and did not cause any misunderstanding.

Despite this, the news from the British Ministry of Defense suddenly made the atmosphere of tension in European countries even more intense. You must know that this Napoleon steam battleship is the same as the French Empire and is regarded as the first two steam armored ships in the world. At this time, the British dispatched and was deployed not far from The Hague Port in the Netherlands. This is definitely a naked provocation.

The spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense told a press conference that "the interaction between the two parties occurred during regular operations and exercises."

He said, "The entire interaction was very safe and professional. Our steam battleship Warrior interacted with their Dutch steam battleship Rotterdam, and the battleship Rotterdam accompanied our Warrior all the way to We are separated only 50 nautical miles west of The Hague, but we and the other party are very professional and safe.”

The British Ministry of Defense spokesman also said that another latest steam battleship of the British First Fleet, the HMS London, will sail in the Northeast China Sea, starting after the Warrior returns to the Home Army port after leaving.

The UK obviously knew that it had few diplomatic allies, so it chose to directly attack its shortcomings with its long strength?

This is unexpected, but also reasonable.

No one would give up their own strengths to compare themselves with others in the short term. Isn’t that a waste of their own advantages?

In the afternoon of the same day, the International Court of Justice in The Hague and even Italy and other countries joined in the move to condemn the United Kingdom, believing that the United Kingdom has become a powerful country that relies on force to threaten other countries. All members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague voted unanimously to condemn the United Kingdom and once again demanded Britain entered into negotiations with Spain, and this time several countries that had previously abstained supported the bill.

Obviously, Britain's strong opposition, especially warship diplomacy, had the opposite effect.

As the British diplomacy raised its voice and condemned the organization's stubborn actions against the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom once again reiterated that it would not agree with the legality of all the organization's bills. The United Kingdom would not directly carry out so-called actions on any British territory without the consent of the United Kingdom. mediation.

Obviously, the UK will not compromise easily.

Gibraltar, with the visit of Dutch Speaker of the House of Representatives Huntington to Spain and his support for Spain's sovereignty, triggered a strong backlash from London and made the situation in Britain, the Netherlands and Spain tense.

On April 9, 1869, the last day of the conference, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a joint diplomatic statement stating that it hoped that all parties would "exercise maximum restraint and avoid provocative behavior. Europe and the world urgently need the wisdom and responsibility of all countries." , to maintain peaceful relations among countries in the world instead of using force against each other. Countries should achieve the goal of peace, stability, security, inclusiveness and sustainable development."

As a major country in Central and Southern Europe, Italian Prime Minister Marco Minghetti issued a similar statement to the International Court of Justice in The Hague on April 11, calling on Britain, Spain and the Netherlands to take action to prevent tensions from escalating.

The statement also said, "Italy is concerned about the hostility between major powers. If not properly handled, this situation will evolve into open conflict and affect the existing peace, including Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar, the key strait leading from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. The world needs major powers. and the wisdom and responsibility of small and medium-sized countries to ensure peace and stability." The Italian Prime Minister's statement finally pointed out that "Italy will not participate in the controversial issue of Gibraltar's sovereignty and maintains a neutral attitude."

Under the leadership of King Emmanuel II of Italy, Italy took Venice and after defeating the Austrian Empire and taking back Venice, it suffered losses in Ethiopia, Africa. Now it has learned well, and Italy It promoted an independent and neutral foreign policy and did not choose sides.

Not only that, Italy considers itself a big country and intends to play the role of a big country. Emmanuel II and Marco Minghetti’s cabinet government attach great importance to Italy’s international image. During Marco Minghetti’s second term, There has been continued interest in making Italy a non-aligned country. Perhaps this is why Prime Minister Minghetti wants to use this as his legacy, and it may also be why Emmanuel II wants to use this to ask for benefits from the European powers. .

Although Italy has close relations with Spain, Italy has always insisted on not participating in the complex Anglo-Spanish issue of Gibraltar. Even back then, the relationship between Spain and Italy was almost completely broken due to the destruction of the Kingdom of Sardinia to which the Spanish princess was married due to Sardinia, and Italy did not provide any support to Britain.

The reason is that this should be related to Italian nationalism and Venice, and Sardinia is also part of it.

You must know that Venice returned to Italian territory from the Austrian Empire in 1861, so Emmanuel II and Prime Minister Minghetti probably believed that the relationship between Spain and Gibraltar was similar to the relationship between Italy and these two places. This view has always been It is still the same 8 years later.

At this stage, although many of Italy's elites and nobles have received British education or financial support, most of them have a sense of democracy. Today, the world no longer seems to be dominated by Britain at sea. The Netherlands, the Commonwealth of America, and Prussia In addition, with the strong rise of Italy, and the decline of old empires such as France, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Osmond, the British influence has actually become much weaker.

Therefore, Italy also began to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the competition between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands + Spain. Italy was unwilling to become a vassal of a big country, especially since these two countries are currently on the same level as Italy.

In addition, the orthodox consciousness of Catholicism makes many people in Italy feel that the Protestant Britain is "hostile" to the Catholic Church. The UK is not mainly Protestant like the Netherlands, but it does not hinder the spread of Catholicism. Needless to say, Spain is Catholic. He is one of the Three Musketeers, Italy, France, and Spain, so he doesn't have a good impression of the British Empire.

When Huntington visited Spain and the UK reacted strongly, many Italian newspapers, including La Gazzetta dello Milano and La Corriere di Roma, discussed the matter at length. Many experts on international politics from famous Italian universities believed that Huntington’s visit to Spain was very important. It is normal, but very hasty and unwise. You should not announce your itinerary before going there. In the end, Britain found an excuse to threaten the Netherlands and Spain militarily. Instead, the situation was unfavorable to Spain, and the situation worsened and fell into crisis.

They agreed with the Netherlands. Prime Minister Tolbeck of the Netherlands had dissuaded Huntington not to visit Spain and not to make any political statements about Gibraltar. However, Huntington insisted on refusing, and the Dutch Prime Minister with the separation of powers could not do anything to him. , he is the Speaker of the House of Representatives after all, but his actions further worsened the relations between Britain, the Netherlands and Spain.

These Italian experts also said that before Huntington visited Spain, the United Kingdom had warned the Netherlands not to play with fire because it had violated Britain's core territorial governance rights.

They can further point out that if Britain did not respond strongly after Huntington visited Spain and further publicly supported Spain's sovereignty over Gibraltar, it would not only lose face, but the world might view the British Empire as a sign of stagnant hegemony and weakness, and even think that Britain is weak and can be bullied. .

How can Britain swallow this bitter pill?