Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On October 15, 1869, Crown Prince Frederik of the Kingdom of Greece and Princess Louise of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom held a grand wedding in Athens. Crown Prince Frederik seemed to cherish this opportunity to promote himself. He told "European Times" at the wedding in Athens that he wanted to make this marriage not bound by Greeks or foreign dynasties; "I like a woman I love and respect more than a woman. A woman who has both advantages and disadvantages when marrying in a strange tone.”

Crown Prince Frederic's assertion that the new Crown Princess Louise is a bit like the former Queen Josephine of the French Empire, she has the virtues of Queen Josephine.

Subsequently, Crown Princess Louise also cooperated very well with her husband Crown Prince Frederic to show this side. The Crown Princess of Greece’s clever move on that day was to reject the diamond jewelry presented to her by the city of Athens and give the money for these jewelry dedicated to an orphanage in Athens, among other things

The secular wedding was held at the Greek Palace at noon on October 15, 1869. All the dignitaries were present. Feld, the Minister of State of the King of Greece, was the officiant. A one-hour concert ended the ceremony.

The Orthodox religious wedding was held on October 16, 1869. Athens was decorated with blue and white striped Greek flags, and there were colorful interlinings and fir trees draped with ornaments of the same color as the Greek flag.

The delegation huddled together on land, and the Acropolis in Athens, where the wedding was held, was filled with viewing platforms. The ceremony was based on the 1836 wedding of the former King Otto I of Greece and Queen Maria of Oldenburg in the German Confederation.

Chief Charioteer Person rented horses from London and restored the splendid carriages of the ousted former king Otto I.

The Honor Guard Cavalry Regiment is the main part of the Honor Guard.

At noon, the large group of people left the Greek Palace and headed along the new main street of the Acropolis to the Parthenon, Erechtheion and Erechtheion in Athens.

The Greek army and the Greek Royal Guard formed a human wall.

Amid the sound of bells, salutes, bugles and drums, the huge queue took an hour to reach the Parthenon. Although it was winter, the weather was still very good.

Overall, there was more curiosity than cheer on the streets of Athens.

When arriving at the Parthenon's vestibule, Princess Louise turned to the crowd and performed a curtsey, which attracted the attention of everyone present and elicited cheers in return.

Later, in the Erechtheion Temple and the Erechtheion Temple, she also used various methods to win the favor of the Greek people.

This made William IV, who watched the whole process, sigh. Sometimes, you have to admit that ambitious women have inexhaustible energy.

Suddenly, he saw the deep gaze of Queen Victoria not far away, "It seems that the Queen of England is also amazed by the various behaviors of her fourth daughter. That girl Louise finally left London and jumped to the European continent. This can be said to be amazing." Like a fish in water, a dragon has the ocean."

He looked at his brother, Crown Prince Frederic, who was the groom's official today, and thought to himself: "Frederick will never be able to handle that girl Louise, but I don't know how long that guy Frederic can withstand it. Alas, it seems there will be a lot of trouble in the future."

After the ceremony, the large group of people returned to the Greek Palace via the main street, where congratulatory delegations from various countries were received. Later, Ceylan and the bride left the wedding entourage and attended the dinner banquet at the palace.

On the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Louise, King William III of Greece announced that nearly 5,000 people had been pardoned, leaving only 600 people who had been expelled or exiled.

After the wedding, William IV had received an invitation from Queen Victoria to meet them.

Naturally, William IV would not refuse.

However, unlike the last time when William III and others were present, this time the two met only Queen Victoria and William IV. The meeting took place inside the British Embassy in Greece.

16, 1869, 10 a.m. Athens time.

Both of them can speak the language of the other country, so there is no barrier to communication.

When a 29-year-old King of the Netherlands and a 50-year-old Queen of the British Empire meet alone, there will naturally be no topics of love-love-love-love between them.

The meeting between the two unfolded with ease and calculation.

The first to fire was Queen Victoria.

"This wedding is the first 33 years since 1832, when the 17-year-old Prince Otto from the Kingdom of Bavaria was elected as Otto I, the newly restored king of Greece by various countries, and held a grand wedding in 1836. This is the second king’s wedding held in Greece. No wonder the whole country of Greece is celebrating.”

Queen Victoria smiled and said: "This wedding seems to be more grand than the last wedding of His Majesty William IV and Queen Alexandra. Do you have any objections? After all, the status of a brother and a crown prince is actually higher than that of the previous one." The king’s favor is more solemn, and it’s normal to have opinions.”

"Actually, I think the wedding of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie in 1853 was even more unparalleled, but so what, we are not facing the threat of war now."

William IV slowly reminded the Queen: "Many countries don't understand why the crisis suddenly comes. It's because of the short-sightedness and the sensitivity that everyone is in danger."

Queen Victoria asked: "Isn't it shocking and high-profile enough that His Majesty William IV is currently lending the Duchy of Luxembourg to Prussia to attack the French Empire?"

William IV said matter-of-factly: "The position of the Netherlands means that we can only assess the situation and stand on the side that is beneficial to our own interests."

"In favor of the Netherlands? Do you think Prussia will be the final victor?" Queen Victoria.

"At least I don't think that the chaotic Second French Empire led by Napoleon III would be the opponent of the iron triangle of Prussia's William I, Bismarck and Moltke. Is it difficult for the Queen to think that Prussia will not win?"

It was William IV's turn to ask the question.

Queen Victoria was stunned, yes, the Prussian soldiers were strong. If Prussia properly arranges its troops, it seems that it is not impossible to reach Paris.

But she never imagined that Prussia would occupy Paris. If she had known, she would not be discussing as calmly as she is now, but would directly return to London to mobilize troops and support France openly or covertly to prevent Prussia from expanding too much.

"But although France suffered a defeat in the east, it only lost less than one-twentieth of its territory and only a quarter of its army. The main force is still there. Besides, France has a population of 33 million, and it can be mobilized at will. A million troops are nothing”

William IV laughed and seemed to be sarcastic about this: "In the two countries of Prussia and France, the Kingdom of Prussia has much stronger decrees than the French Empire. As far as I know, many people in the French Empire have begun to miss France - The First Republic (1792-1804, replaced by Napoleon I and established the First French Empire) and the Second French Republic (1848-1852, Napoleon III, as president, proclaimed himself emperor in 1853 and established the First French Republic). Second Empire)?"

Queen Victoria suddenly became furious.

The French Empire has always been the largest source of revolution in Europe. The influence of the birth of these two republics broke through the scope of France and impacted the rule of European monarchs and royal families. It seemed to echo the United States, especially in 1848. It took the entire European monarchy to change to a constitutional monarchy to calm the anger of those affected in each country.

William IV was very satisfied with the change in Queen Victoria's mood. He warned: "Your Majesty, Her Majesty Napoleon III suppressed those people with the dignity of president in 1853 and then used the support of the old French aristocrats to become the French emperor. This is not justified in itself. , It was okay to be strong in the past, but now facing Prussia’s pressing pressure, those who were once suppressed by him are now extremely happy. Under the combined attack from both inside and outside, the fate of the Second French Empire this time is really hanging in the balance."

Queen Victoria suddenly stared at William IV and asked: "Bismarck's people saw the instability within France, so they took the opportunity to attack and get angry in order to shake the rule of Napoleon III. At this time, Napoleon III can't defeat him unless he wins a battle." , can greatly promote one's own dominance. On the contrary, the dominance will be corrupted, and the 33 million people in France will no longer return. At this time, Bismarck, William I and others took the opportunity to scatter the French people's hearts, and France became an easy bone to chew. The Netherlands took advantage of this choice.

But what I don’t understand is that even if the situation is not good for France, there is no need to side with Prussia and become the wrath of the French, right? "

Faced with the Queen's question, William IV seemed to answer very frankly: "Because, after Prussia decided to defeat France, it gave East Oman, the French Empire's Middle Eastern territory, to the Netherlands."

What?

Queen Victoria's eyes widened and she said, "What a Dutch king, his calculations are so accurate. Aren't you afraid that you will lose the bet?"

William IV shrugged, looked at Queen Victoria with a half-smile and reminded: "If losing is possible, then why did the Queen invite me to attend today's meeting?"

The Queen was immediately speechless. Yes, as she received information that was becoming more and more unfavorable to France on the Franco-Prussian battlefield, she panicked a little.

"I'm not going to take Royal Cologne. If I'm going to trade the New Zealand Islands with you, what are you going to let Britain get?"

She finally relented, but the queen was not one to compromise easily. William IV was prepared to throw another bomb to stun the other party.

"In that case, I would be willing to persuade a war between Burma and the British Empire"

Seeing the Queen's expression change for the first time, he further said: "Her Majesty the Queen should know that the Netherlands has this ability."

Queen Victoria couldn't help but change her face. William IV showed his minions in front of her for the first time, and he was still a serious threat.

Although everyone had tacitly agreed that the Netherlands was supporting Upper Burma, on the surface it was the French Empire that was supporting Upper Burma, but in fact the Netherlands was also one of them.

At this time, Britain and Upper Burma were still fighting small battles, and the current development of the situation in Europe made it difficult for Queen Victoria, who was watching, to be distracted by the war with Upper Burma in the Far East.

At this time, William IV proposed to exchange Royal Cologne for the New Zealand Islands. It was false. Now it is true to cut off support and go to Burma in exchange for New Zealand.

However, after she originally transferred the Australian mainland to the Netherlands to help the British capture South Africa, she and Viscount Palmerston worked out the New Zealand Islands to balance the Netherlands. It was the British who prevented the Netherlands from rising to become the most powerful country in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. A means of effective checks and balances against large opponents.

Now it seems that William IV understands their thoughts quite well. Now you choose this moment to break the situation?

For this reason, Queen Victoria immediately chose to be among the choices in the pull.

If William IV is agreed to, Britain will lose a bargaining chip to balance the Netherlands.

If it does not agree, Britain is currently at a disadvantage in the Upper Burma War. The weapons previously supported by the French Empire, coupled with the vague intervention of the Netherlands, make Britain seem to have entered a cycle in the Far East where France is holding back a large number of troops.

What if Britain fell into the same war vortex as France?

Are the British mainland troops strong enough to resist?

Of course, the British navy is still the most powerful, but Britain also has many colonies in Africa, such as the Canadian territory. If the Commonwealth of America raises its ambitions in Canada again, the British army will be entangled in the Far East. At that time, in what to do?

"I'm embarrassed to imagine that the Queen is so distressed. Well, now it's October 16th. How about giving me the answer in three days? The Queen should have the answer by then."

Queen Victoria asked sternly: "So confident?"

"Yes, I am very sure that the Queen will agree." William IV stood up, straightened the wrinkles on his clothes, then looked at Queen Victoria who was still sitting still and said: "I think the British Empire should be able to Allow for a strong Netherlands, because really speaking, we are all monarchical and constitutional countries, and the relationship between the United Kingdom and France cannot be applied to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Moreover, the Netherlands, like the United Kingdom, will be a maritime power in the future. We feel that when facing land powers such as the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the French Empire, our Dutch and British positions are consistent, that is, to protect our Only by dividing the great powers on the Eurasian continent can we, the countries whose main territory is isolated overseas, be able to more effectively find a way to survive that is beneficial to us. "

William IV said extremely seriously: "The Netherlands recognizes the British Empire as the world's largest sea power country, but also hopes that the British Empire will increase the Netherlands' weight among sea power countries to a sufficient level. I feel that only in this way can the Netherlands be able to Let’s live in more harmony with the UK instead of being suspicious of each other.”

His works include "The Pivot of History", "The Sea of ​​Britain and Britain", "Ideals of Democracy" /And/Reality" The future world-famous British geographer and geopolitician Mackenzie was born in 1861. He said in 1919, "Whoever rules Eastern Europe rules the hinterland of the continent; Whoever rules the hinterland of the continent rules the world island; whoever rules the world island rules the world." Before the appearance of William IV, Queen Victoria's eyes lit up with William IV's nonsense.

William IV finally left the British Embassy in Greece, but he knew that New Zealand might soon be acquired. At that time, the Netherlands would really have an enviable land with a natural barrier in the Far East.