Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On May 16, 1869, William IV attracted King William I of Prussia to the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

With their arrival, William IV knew that a new era was coming that would change the pattern of Europe in the next few decades.

The meeting between the two attracted worldwide attention.

Even the British Empire and the French Empire, which were created by the war in Burma in the Far East, are no exception.

Especially in the British Empire, many people speculate that the proximity of Prussia and the Netherlands is the effect of the Netherlands to win over Prussia against the United Kingdom. This is also the reason for the visit of King William I of Prussia.

William IV held a grand welcome ceremony at the entrance of the palace to welcome a man of the same age as his grandfather William II.

After the two men held a welcome banquet popular among European aristocrats, they wasted no time in holding a secret meeting.

Wilhelm I had only one prime minister, Bismarck, and Wilhelm IV also had his own prime minister, Tolbeck.

All four of them are familiar with Dutch and German, so there is no difficulty in communication. Translation is not required.

So after some polite words, William IV went straight to the point: "In principle, we still stick to the request we made last time. Now that His Majesty has come to the Netherlands, there is obviously a result. I wonder when Qatar will hand over?"

William I's smiling face suddenly froze, and Bismarck's resolute face also showed embarrassment.

William IV and Tolbeck looked at each other and understood that this was obviously a bargain.

William I stroked his long beard and said: "It is currently difficult for Prussia to withdraw from Qatar. I wonder what other conditions His Majesty William IV thinks can be used as replacement conditions."

"The Netherlands believes that Qatar is the best condition. Maybe you two also understand the future direction of the Netherlands. We value Qatar very much.

William IV raised his eyebrows, "But to show our sincerity, we can only need the general territory of Qatar, well, just the Bahrain Islands in the north and the part of Qatar close to Bahrain, how about that?"

Bismarck suddenly said: "But in that case, we might as well give it all to the Netherlands. In that case, we can at least do it more simply, so that the Prussian people will not worry about this matter."

William I: "Yes, I think in that case, the Netherlands should not only go through the Principality of Luxembourg. The Prussian people are extremely emotional, and I'm afraid I can't stop it. At that time, it may be necessary to go through the Dutch mainland, but I don't know William. Is His Majesty the Fourth willing to help this Prussian citizen?"

Taking advantage of Bismarck's views, he took the opportunity to make new demands.

William IV: "Okay, I admit that I don't want Prussian soldiers to step into the Netherlands, because it will easily cause a backlash from Dutch citizens and European countries. You two should know that now that we are meeting, several neighboring big countries Maybe spies have already been deployed around the Dutch Royal Palace, I'm afraid I've touched their nerves."

"That's true." William I laughed, as if the person who just suggested it was not him.

He stared at William IV and said, "Can you tell me why William IV is so enthusiastic about Qatar?"

This is where Bismarck has been puzzled since he returned to Berlin and learned about the request made by Wilhelm IV.

"During this period, I sent people to collect all the information about Qatar, but I didn't find much special news. If I insist on talking about a special place, then it is only in the middle of the Persian Gulf, which has a few strategic significance. But in this case, In my opinion, it is not as important as East Oman. Because of this, I don’t understand why His Majesty William IV did not choose the Mauritius Islands, which is more important to the Netherlands.

Even the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean are even more important to the Netherlands. "

Speaking of this, William I said extremely seriously: "If there are no reasons that can convince me, then I can make the decision and cede the Bahrain Islands in the northern sea off the Qatar Peninsula to the Netherlands."

Bismarck seemed to want to stop it, but in the end he failed to do so.

Because he was also curious about William IV doing this.

At this time, he saw Tolbeck's eyebrows twitching slightly next to William IV. Was he tempted by this?

Bismarck and William I immediately guessed that this might be the bottom line of the Netherlands?

In this way, the two of them felt relieved.

William IV smiled and said: "Qatar cannot afford to lose anything to the Kingdom of Prussia, but if the Bahrain Islands, which are not within the Qatar Peninsula, are given to the Netherlands, it would be deceiving others, which makes sense. Okay, I admit that I am moved."

William I and Bismarck breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, they guessed correctly.

Next, the secret of William IV's special liking for Qatar should be revealed soon.

Don't blame them for being curious.

Kings and Prime Ministers are human beings too, and they share the same urge that curiosity could kill a cat.

"Actually, someone discovered black oil on Qatar."

oil?

William I and Bismarck were both surprised. Bismarck asked: "Is it possible to make oil that can be refined and used for lamps?"

William IV nodded and said: "Yes, our people discovered oil in Qatar, so I am very interested there."

Now is not the future, the two people are more curious and more excited than to take the bait, which is easy to understand, because this is related to the current limited scope of use of oil.

Petroleum has been around for a long time, but its actual use only started more than ten years ago, and it was still used on a small scale.

In the 1840s, a pharmacist in Lviv, the Ukrainian region of the Russian Empire, made a kerosene lamp with the help of a blacksmith.

In 1846, a man named Abraham Jisner in the British Canadian Territory invented a method of extracting kerosene from coal.

In 1852, Polish Ignac Lukashewitz invented methods such as using more easily available oil to extract kerosene.

The first modern oil mines were opened the following year near Krostano in southern Poland, and these inventions soon spread throughout the world.

In 1854, kerosene for lamps had become a commodity on the market in Vienna, Austria.

By 1859, Europe began to exploit oil, with an amount of about 36,000 barrels. The main production areas came from Galicia, Austria, and Romania, in and around the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In 1861, the Ottoman Empire built the world's first oil refinery in Baku, later Azerbaijan. At that time, Baku produced 90% of the world's oil.

Later, the Battle of S-da-Lingrad was launched to capture the Baku oil fields.

The development of oil was slow throughout the 19th century, and the main use of refined oil was as fuel for oil lamps.

But even so, Europe now. When everyone only has an oil lamp at home, the market is huge.

Both William I and Bismarck exclaimed: "I thought it was a barren land, but I didn't expect that thousands of households would have to use 'bright food'"

William IV smiled and said: "That's why I'm interested in that place."

William I suddenly stared at William IV with suspicion: "His Majesty William IV could not have known that there was oil there many years ago, so he roped us in to win Qatar, and the Netherlands got the UAE. Hey, your UAE wants to come. I think I have a lot of oil."

William IV did not answer the question: "Actually, the reason why I agreed to the Bahrain Islands is that since there is oil in the Qatar Peninsula, how come there is no oil in the mainland next to it?"

Bismarck: "Your Majesty wants to use that place as a springboard to explore more oil producing areas in the western continent?"

"Yes." William IV did not deny it. "Anything that can enhance the economic strength of the Netherlands and improve the living conditions of the people is worth having, isn't it?"

William IV asked William I: "What's the reason?"

"Although it is beyond our expectations," William I said, "it does meet our conditions."

"So your Majesty agrees?" William IV asked again: "The Bahrain Islands will be assigned to the Netherlands?"

William I glanced at Bismarck, who nodded. William I smiled and said: "The Bahrain Islands can be given to the Netherlands, and the French Empire of East Oman can also be given to the Netherlands as previously agreed. This seems to make Prussia feel a little disadvantaged. , I think so, we also need to add a request."

Dutch Prime Minister Tolbeck helped William IV and asked: "I don't know what the request is?"

Bismarck smiled and then proposed: "Prussia hopes that the Netherlands will use this crisis with Britain to contain the British Empire before we attack the French Empire."

Good guy, what a great idea!

William IV asked calmly: "Why do you think the Netherlands has this ability?"

It seems that King to King, Prime Minister to Prime Minister, King William I of Prussia replied: "Because the Indians in Canada caused Britain to lose its moral high ground, and Burma in the Far East made the British Empire seem to be dragged there like the French Empire. Escape from suspicion. Dispersing British energy to various places will provide the best support for Prussia's plan."

Afterwards, William I said: "I think it makes sense that the Netherlands can help Prussia in this regard. His Majesty William IV is the master of this."

William IV did not refuse and said: "In this case, in the next period of time, our Prussian friends must become public opinion friends and intelligence friends of the Netherlands in this regard. Moreover, we hope that Prussia can provide some of the technologies we want to obtain."

Bismarck asked: "I wonder what kind of technical compensation your Majesty wants?"

William IV: "Learned Prussian Army military technology when he accompanied the Prussian army to attack the French Empire"

William I did not answer immediately, which was understandable for William IV.

Prussia's army strength has become world-renowned after the Prussian-Danish War and the Prussian-Austrian Seven-Week War. For the Netherlands to gain such experience, it seems a bit difficult for Prussia.

In fact, William I and Bismarck might be able to guess it. William IV made this request to make the Netherlands familiar with Prussia's military operations and to prevent Prussia from having bad intentions towards the Netherlands.

If they don't agree, it means that the two people in front of them have different ideas about the Netherlands. If we agree, the Netherlands will be safe for some time to come.

Will William I and Bismarck finally agree to William IV's request?