Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

In the Royal Palace of the Netherlands, William IV was facing Bismarck for the first time, facing the pressure brought by William IV.

Bismarck secretly thought: After so many years, apart from looking up to Metternich, the Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire, and facing Viscount Palmerston, the Prime Minister of the British Empire, the William IV in front of him gave him a sense of reunion after a long separation.

At this moment, Bismarck had placed William IV in a position almost equal to that of Metternich and Palmerston.

Bismarck exclaimed: "In the past, some people made Britain face military or diplomatic difficulties, but His Majesty William found another way. Now Britain is facing unprecedented diplomatic and domestic difficulties. It can be said that the method is brilliant."

Until now, Bismarck had to admit that William IV was on the right path, step by step, and the Netherlands was on the road to rise.

William IV reciprocated the courtesy and praised: "Prime Minister Bismarck's methods are even more subtle. Before the seven-week war between Prussia and Austria, few people would have thought that His Excellency Bismarck's target would be the Austrian Empire. I never expected that His Excellency Bismarck would successfully kick Austria out of the German Confederation. When I reminded Tolbeck, the latter still didn't believe it. It wasn't until Austria really left the German Confederation as a single family that he believed that Prussia was really here. We won under your leadership.”

Don't think that flattering me will make me relax my guard. No one in the future will dare to take your iron-blooded prime minister lightly.

Bismarck changed the topic and said: "In Prussia, no one thought that the Netherlands would get the greatest benefit from the South African issue. But in the end, France and Prussia became foils. The Netherlands took the Australian continent from the British. From then on, it finally had a The deep rear area. It can be said that the Netherlands has soared to the sky with this, and the rise of the Netherlands to the status of a great power can no longer be stopped."

Bismarck couldn't help but think that if Prussia also had overseas territories in the Far East like the Netherlands, perhaps he would not desperately let Prussia expand its homeland. After all, there were too many powerful neighbors here. Instead, he would learn from the Netherlands to develop the Far East. Everyone knows that tigers and monkeys are kings, so Bismarck was envious of the Netherlands' good luck.

William IV immediately laughed and said: "Prussia has captured all the territory except Austria, which is the maximum territorial expansion in the mainland, and the depth is doubled at once. Prussia's current war potential and comprehensive strength are already among the top. With all due respect, the current strength of Prussia has surpassed that of the Austria-Hungary Empire, which merged with the Austrian Empire and Hungary. Its strength is not weaker than that of the Russian Empire, and is even vaguely comparable to France. Only the British Empire can surpass Prussia."

The rise of Prussia was unstoppable, and William IV knew that there was a kind of destiny called fate. As the protagonists of World War I and World War II, Britain and Germany had an unavoidable fate. Even if Prussia wanted to avoid the British Empire, the huge size of Prussia was still there. If Prussia went to the Far East to develop, Britain would even have a crush on Prussia. There are more scruples, so as long as the relationship is not damaged, when the eldest brother, the second brother, and the third brother are fighting for the position of the eldest brother in an international battle, the other brothers after the fourth brother are free to be the backbone or choose to be beneficial. They choose sides based on their own interests, but those in front cannot.

Bismarck once again gave a high hat to William IV: "The Netherlands does not seem to be strong in Europe, but its military cannot be underestimated, especially the alliance between Sweden and Denmark, which makes it difficult for the major powers in Europe to ignore. Sweden's powerful army and Denmark's occupation The top ten navies in the world are a huge boost to the Dutch Army and Navy. To be honest, the Prussian Army may be able to defeat the Netherlands and Denmark after heavy losses, but it will face harassment from attacks from the sea. , this is absolutely unbearable for Prussia’s strategy.”

Bismarck is such a thick-skinned man. In this case, I will stay with him until the end.

William IV: "Prussia's strategic dilemma lies in its unwillingness to see that Prussia's powerful Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are also facing the plunder of the French Empire, the hegemon in Central and Western Europe. For countries such as the Netherlands, perhaps a calm strategy is understandable. , but the Netherlands will never put its own destiny on the pity of others, and I don’t think the Netherlands should trust any country.”

Bismarck asked with a half-smile: "Even allies are not worthy of trust?"

William IV asked: "Doesn't Prussia have no allies?"

The two looked at each other for a long time and then smiled at each other, saying nothing.

However, in this round of confrontation, it seemed that there was no winner, but in fact, as a guest, Bismarck was still at a disadvantage.

Bismarck also realized this, so he said frankly: "The law of the jungle is the only mainstream in this cruel and realistic era. People are unpredictable. When a person who has been spoiled by his appetite and his desire is turned on, he will Not only will your desires not stop, but they will become more and more intense with indulgence and the passage of time. Fight for favor and bear hatred for rice!

Since the British Empire has established maritime hegemony in the Napoleonic Wars, I don’t think London will let the Netherlands develop its navy in the Far East. After all, Britain’s naval hegemony is global, not the Atlantic. The Netherlands has challenged Britain in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The British Empire, which has a monopoly on maritime hegemony and views the world, is now facing the rise of the Netherlands to share its power, and part of the British hegemony comes from the Netherlands. His Majesty William may think that I am meddlesome, but you should admit that, The Netherlands has become a target of the British.”

Bismarck was indeed still Bismarck, and his conspiracy was open and above board, but he was also very subtle.

I have to admit that although the conflict between the native Dutch and the white people in Africa was provoked this time, it has been reported through channels in London that it was caused by Crown Prince Edward's own initiative and had nothing to do with Disraeli and Queen Victoria. Moreover, when the British Foreign Office was asked about this issue, it also stated that Princess Louise's marriage to her brother Frederic, the Greek Crown Prince, would proceed as usual in October. Obviously, the British Foreign Office was implying that Queen Victoria was not prepared to worsen the situation in the United Kingdom. relations with the Netherlands.

However, William IV did not think that Anglo-Dutch relations had really not deteriorated, so William IV fought back against Britain.

The Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck in front of him saw this clearly and told him the current nature of Anglo-Dutch relations - Britain has entered a stage of wariness and suppression against the Netherlands.

William IV: "Although your Excellency has some discrepancies, they are still consistent. But even so, I think there is still room for improvement in the current Anglo-Dutch relations, but it is Prussia."

He pointed out: "The preparations are now complete, but the arrow has to be fired. However, Britain has almost recovered from the heavy losses in South Africa and the injuries in North America and the Balkans. The target of Prussia's next war weapons is actually Beware of triggering a strong backlash from the UK and ultimately falling short.”

Bismarck's face straightened, "Because of this, all our Majesty King William I sent down here is to ask for help from the Netherlands."

William IV did not refuse: "How to support France? What can the Netherlands get from it?"