Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On June 25, 1869, when everyone was stunned by the failure of the British war in Burma, including the French media, they were rushing to join in the mockery of the British Empire, trying to retaliate for the British mockery of France's war situation in the Kingdom of Siam. During the period of hatred, the press conference of British Prime Minister Disraeli made the media and newspapers of the entire French Empire lose their voice from the beginning.

But other international newspapers are in disbelief.

After working on it for a long time, it turned out that there was an inside story?

Is the French Empire to blame for Britain's defeat?

Look what Prime Minister Disraeli said.

“When the British Empire rebelled in Canada in May, it was called an uprising by the French. In order to weaken the British Empire, the then French Prime Minister Olivier supported the Canadians in the so-called uprising, and at that time A written note from the major powers was sent to the British Empire."

"The British Empire has just sent a similar note to the French Empire. The reason is naturally the well-known French invasion of the Kingdom of Siam. However, several notes from the British and Dutch international peace guardians have been rejected by the French Empire one after another, and even The French Empire intensified its suppression of the innocent Kingdom of Siam."

Disraeli said sternly: "When the French invasion of the Kingdom of Siam could not be resolved peacefully, I gave Olivier and Napoleon III a stern declaration of war."

He claimed that since Napoleon III and Napoleon III had destroyed their peaceful image in the Kingdom of Siam, they had no obligation or authority to condemn the British Empire on the issue of Canada and the Kingdom of Siam. If one wants to condemn the British Empire, it has no right to continue to rule Cambodia and South and North Vietnam.

What is significant is that the next day, France was resuming its response, saying that Prime Minister Olivier and Napoleon III did not receive the note from Prime Minister Disraeli, but quickly made the French aware of the contents of the message.

On the same day, Dutch Prime Minister Tolbeck demanded that Britain and France should ease relations and "hold talks and not complicate the Far East issue. We believe that the French Empire should not participate in the war between Britain and Burma because Laos is the territory of the Kingdom of Siam. Normally, Laos is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Siam, so France cannot intervene in the war between Burma and Britain. I don’t even know where the logic of the great Prime Minister Disraeli came from?

Only anyone with a modicum of normal consciousness knows this is impossible. I had a quarrel with my neighbor on the left. Would you allow the person next door to dig two holes in the two walls of your yard and create two doors to go in and out every day to steal things from the neighbor on the right? "

Countries around the world were originally led by British Prime Minister Disraeli to believe that Britain's defeat was caused by France's involvement in Burma, and criticized France for only allowing itself to be a robber, but not allowing others to steal things.

This powerful logic once made people look away, but before Disraeli could recover, the Dutch Prime Minister directed international attention back to its original direction, which angered Disraeli. If France hadn't been the most important thing at hand, he would have really wanted to give Holland a slap in the face.

Perhaps seeing the Dutch coming forward, Napoleon III immediately shouted in Paris: "The French Empire does not recognize the British accusations. We do not want the British government to shirk responsibility to other countries after suffering a defeat. The same is true for the British defeat in South Africa five or six years ago." In this way, they are doing the same thing against Myanmar now, which casts doubt on the combat power of the British Empire. I don’t think this is Queen Victoria’s style. No, it’s really not her. She has ruled the United Kingdom for 30 years. Great King"

"The Dutch Prime Minister did this to put on an offensive posture and instigate the French Emperor Napoleon III and the British Empire of Queen Victoria to fight. His purpose was to weaken the two dangerous competitors, Britain and France. I thought he The Netherlands wishes to maintain the balance of power in Europe in the future. However, at this time, Napoleon III’s statement seems to be rejecting war.”

William I’s question was placed in front of Bismarck. Bismarck shook his head and said: “Your Majesty, it seems that Dutch Prime Minister Tolbeck and William IV behind him seem to be in trouble because they want to promote the war between Britain and the French Empire. However, I still firmly believe that William IV still has the next step to determine the outcome."

Bismarck got it right.

At this time, the French Empire made a 180-degree turn. On June 27, 1869, Napoleon III publicly shouted: "Neither France's obligations nor France's honor and interests can force us to fight against the powerful British Empire for the sake of Burma."

"If the Canadian uprising is perceived as such in France at least, and the British are dissatisfied, they can try to change the French's thinking. The Indians will be suppressed by the British, and Upper Burma may be suppressed by the British. occupied"

Napoleon III loudly said in the French House of Commons that the very idea of ​​France and Britain launching wars for these places was a kind of "nervous disorder". He even repeatedly asserted that if the Indians in Burma and Canada believed in such a war, Possibility, that is, it can only be blamed on "Indians or Burmese suffering from myopia"

Bismarck in Berlin shook his head and thought: "Napoleon III was obviously weak, but he still did not bring back the dissatisfaction of Britain. Because Tolbeck had blocked Britain's retreat, or in other words, Britain's failure this time The failure was so complete that the British Disraeli government and even Queen Victoria had to find a scapegoat, whether it was real or not. The French Empire was just fat enough, powerful enough, and ambitious enough to become the British Empire. The best person to vent to.”

On June 28, 1869, three days after Disraeli's press conference, the streets of England were covered with banners, all pointing to slogans hostile to the French.

Not surprisingly, Britain's hostility to France reached unprecedented levels.

Even under Disraeli's propaganda, the Tories led conservative Britons to launch an anti-French wave across the UK. In fact, the cunning Disraeli took advantage of the situation and gradually linked this anti-French wave with this year's mid-term election of members of the British Empire.

Under such circumstances, Creston and Russell could only lead the Whigs to align their positions with the Tories, and their relationship with France turned cold. At this point, the relationship between Britain and the French Empire deteriorated overall.

Bismarck in Berlin, Prussia, and William IV in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As relations between Britain and France deteriorated, the plans of Prussia and the Netherlands could finally be put into motion.