Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On October 12, 1869, King William IV of the Netherlands, his eldest son Prince Albert and his two sons, held their own royal dinner at the Old Palace of Greece with William III of the Kingdom of Greece and Queen Sophie of Greece.

Together with Prince Frederik, all members of the Nassau-Orange royal family arrived except King Alexandra and Princess Anna, who were pregnant in Amsterdam.

As the third generation of Nassau-Orange, Prince Albert was naturally loved by William III and Queen Sophie.

After the dinner, William III took William IV for a closed-door meeting, as Frederick had guessed.

Crown Prince Frederick felt uncomfortable in his heart when he saw this.

Looking at Queen Sophie, the mother of Prince Albert, who was teasing Prince Albert next to her, she suddenly seemed to feel a little disappointed.

"Mom, I'm going to prepare for the wedding in two days."

After Sophie Palace kindly pinched her grandson Prince Albert's young face, he smiled at Prince Frederic and said: "Go, Princess Louise is coming tomorrow, you can go and prepare, don't make any mistakes. "

Hearing this, Prince Frederick nodded with a smile, but after turning around, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a deep one.

Hendrick, Hendrick, how come you are always there wherever I go? Now, even your son is making up for your previous shortcomings and robbing my mother of my love. I really can’t help it. willingly.

Thinking of this, he left quickly.

But what he didn't know was that at the moment when he turned around and his face changed, Prince Albert happened to see him. From then on, he never had a good impression of his uncle.

But in the place where William III arranged the meeting between the father and his son, it was unusually quiet.

"My father's complexion has improved a lot recently. He seems to be in high spirits during happy events."

William IV joked.

William III gave him a roll of his eyes and said seriously: "It's better for you. If you run to the Mediterranean alone, you won't be afraid that Napoleon III will deal a fatal blow to the Netherlands due to the risk of being invaded by Prussia."

William IV shook his head: "If he is not in his position, he will not seek political advice. My father has not been on the throne of the Netherlands for a long time. Naturally, he does not know the situation that the Netherlands is facing now."

William III: "I know that the Netherlands is facing a crisis now, and the opportunity has not yet been seen, but it is an indisputable fact that France's 30,000-strong army is threatening the Dutch-French border."

"There are currently 15 regular troops in the Netherlands," William IV said calmly.

Seeing William IV coaxing cattle, William III sneered: "But in addition to dealing with possible revenge from France in the south, these 150,000 troops also need to face the deception from Prussia in the east. Let me tell you, Bismarck is a man He’s not a kind person, he’s helping others count their money when he’s not afraid of being swallowed by others.”

William IV leaned back in anticipation, as if looking for a more comfortable position, and said confidently: "Since I did this, I am naturally fully prepared."

"Complete preparation." William III sneered: "What a complete preparation. I would like to hear what complete preparation can make you so confident."

William IV was unmoved, "Don't you think, father, that France's annexation of the Dutch-French border after Luxembourg was lent to Prussia is just a demonstration?"

Seeing William III's eyes condense slightly, he knew that he had realized something. William IV said calmly: "Because I had prepared multiple plans before lending the road to Prussia."

He said passionately to William III: "Father, my relationship with Sweden and Denmark over the years has finally blossomed. This joint maritime military exercise between the three countries is an alchemical stone."

William III tried to ask: "Are you saying that France has not launched a real actual resistance to the Netherlands now because of the threats from your three countries?"

William IV: "Yes and no"

"What do you mean?" William III asked angrily.

William IV solemnly said: "France has a population of more than 30 million, while the Netherlands now has less than 3 million. The nearly ten-fold gap means that the two countries are not on the same level at all. So if France really wants to take action on the Netherlands, Then it’s not that difficult.”

William III: "It's good to know. I'm very curious about your next explanation."

William IV continued: "However, Napoleon III did not dare to take action casually, because the Netherlands has a powerful navy, which is at least 40% compared to the French navy. France, on the other hand, has a vast land and rich resources, and has three local squadrons. Compared with the Netherlands, Surian has a higher chance of winning but a lot of losses. The Mediterranean faces Italy and Spain in the east, and the Atlantic and even the English Channel depend on the British."

William IV looked at William III proudly and said: "I made the right bet. Britain will continue to marry Nassau and Orange. Napoleon III's current indiscretion has made him even more suspicious."

William III hated iron and said: "I have always reminded you not to place your trust in the mercy of other countries, but in the United Kingdom. When your great-grandfather's time, Belgium was divided because it relied too much on the Tsarist Empire. In the end, there is no way to save the day. If a big country is worried just because of a marriage, then it can only prove that you are still too young in governing for the past ten years. Remember, my destiny is up to me to protect, and I cannot protect it. This sentence It was the main reason why I gave up my throne to you in December 1861. At the beginning, this sentence was the answer you gave me. Do I still need to come back and tell it to you now?"

William IV felt a warm feeling in his heart. His father, William III, looked serious but was actually worried about his situation, which made him feel deeply moved.

So, William IV explained: "Of course I have second-hand preparations."

William III's expression softened and he looked at William IV in relief.

William IV then detailed his plan.

William III: "Marine exercises actually require Britain, France and other countries to conduct close-ground observation?"

William IV: "That's right. Only in this way can they feel the powerful navy of the Netherlands and let them take action."

William III: "What you said about underwater submarines is the same as the underwater submarines mentioned in early Europe??"

William IV: "Yes or no, our submarine is the only submarine in the world currently, and it also has the weapons that can attack surface ships just mentioned. Moreover, currently we only have the Netherlands in Europe. There will be more than 20 ships without rain, and the voyage will not be less than 500 nautical miles.”

William III couldn't help but ask: "It is said that many European countries such as Britain and France have only developed less than 50 nautical miles, but you actually have more than 500 nautical miles?"

William IV: "Yes, in the Far East, more than 100 submarines of this kind have been built so far."

"100 ships" William III was obviously frightened by this data. "This data should be enough to influence Britain, intimidate France, and suppress Prussia?"

"Naturally" William IV said: ""

William III looked at William IV in astonishment, and asked again in disbelief: "Submarines are really so powerful? Can they attack warships on the water from underwater with the torpedoes you developed?"

William IV again replied: "Of course"

At this moment, he finally understood where William IV's confidence came from. With such powerful submarines, the British Empire's surface hegemonic navy no longer seemed so tyrannical.

No wonder, his son William IV moved almost all the Dutch possessions to the Far East, where it is surrounded by the sea. With the navy ranked third in the world and secret underwater submarines dominating the world, the Netherlands is about to become the next British Empire. maybe.

Even Britain might be able to catch up without losing.

At 10 o'clock in the morning on October 13, 1869, William III and Crown Prince Frederik welcomed the arrival of Queen Victoria in Athens. Karl XV, Christian IX and others arrived in Athens that afternoon.

Royal members of other countries attended at least the crown prince level. For example, the United States also sent its secretary of state and other senior officials to attend the wedding.

There is no way, who asked the daughter of Queen Victoria, the maritime overlord of the United Kingdom, to be married this time. Although the power of Greece she married was not very strong in Europe, you must know that King William III of Greece was the biological father of William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Greek she married was Prince Frederick is the younger brother of William IV.

This relationship alone is enough for all countries to give Greek weddings face.

Even Prussia, although William I, Bismarck and others did not come, they also sent the Crown Princess to participate. You must know that Crown Princess Victoria is the eldest sister of Princess Louise this time. This can be regarded as a family card played by Prussia.

This made France more suspicious after knowing it.

After all, it seems that during the Franco-Prussian War, Britain did not delay marrying the Queen's daughter to a member of the Nassau-Orange royal family. When the Netherlands used the Duchy of Luxembourg to support Prussia, the British royal family continued to marry daughters, and Britain was siding with Prussia in disguise. .

Therefore, it can be said that people can't help but be extremely surprised that Queen Eugenie, who was regent this time, after obtaining the consent of Napoleon III, only sent the French ambassador to Greece on the grounds of war.

But this made Queen Victoria a little helpless.

Because originally, she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of meeting William IV in Greece to ask why the Netherlands allowed Prussia to use the Principality of Luxembourg.

If France could get Queen Eugenie or Napoleon III to come in person, they would be able to take advantage of their home field and take the opportunity to suppress the Netherlands and Prussia.

It's better now, I'm worrying too much.

But this is because she does not know the content of the conversation between William IV and his son. If she knew, she would not think so. Because William IV actually included their British Empire, not to mention that William IV actually had some things that he had not told his father, William III of the Greek Kingdom.

In fact, he was also plotting against Bismarck and the others in Prussia, but he was afraid that speaking out would frighten William III.