Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On January 5, 1882, the Bismarck government of the German Empire began to attack the Netherlands. However, instead of sending troops, it used media and newspapers to attack the Netherlands in a different way. The Bismarck cabinet government only chose to attack the key mouthpiece of the Netherlands.

In Berlin, the German Prime Minister did not directly respond to the Austrian Emperor in Vienna's non-excessive support for the legitimacy of Mexico's seizure of territory, but only expressed that there was a context to be followed.

Immediately afterwards, the German Prime Minister directly delivered a special speech in Berlin, saying that "European Times" is "pro-Dutch".

Bismarck expressed dissatisfaction, "This newspaper in Luxembourg even once provided the power of public opinion to expand the cultural influence of the Netherlands in Europe and even the world, and maintained the global image of the Netherlands.

We citizens of the German Empire have always thought that it is a fair, authoritative and non-border reading book. However, I want to reiterate here that we found that when reporting on all countries, especially the recent Mexican War, this book The Duchy of Luxembourg, William IV's private domain, still sided with its owner, providing the effect the Netherlands wanted to see. "

In response, the "European Times" directly published a special feature on January 6, 1882 to refute Bismarck's accusations, saying that the statement was untrue and the comments were somewhat biased based on established thinking.

"European Times" stated that it published news from an impartial position, expressed its dissatisfaction with Bismarck's slander, and was dissatisfied with "Berlin Daily News" directly following up on "European Times".

The German Imperial newspaper Berliner Zeitung first published an investigative report on January 3, 1882, directly accusing the "European Times" headquartered in the Principality of Luxembourg of being increasingly close to the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which attracted attention.

The Berliner Zeitung, Germany's largest newspaper, investigated the professionalism and neutrality of "European Times" from the perspective of the Netherlands' external influence and the influence of external forces on the Principality of Luxembourg.

In its response on January 4, the European Times summarized the Berliner Zeitung's investigative report in the context of the game between the German Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Naturally, "European Times" will not sit still and wait for the series of discussions in the above-mentioned reports of "Berlin Times".

The Luxembourg headquarters of "European Times" issued a serious and angry official response, pointing out that the relevant report "set the reporting perspective and method based on the existing way of thinking and its own agenda, organized materials and arguments at once, and made a report on "European Times" It is regrettable that a large number of biased comments and unfair statements have been published.”

The "Berlin Times" report also included other inaccurate and false information, such as claiming that "European Times" has 20 million loyal users out of a total population of 60 million in the Netherlands. However, according to the latest survey by the Dutch Media Federation as early as August last year According to public information, the global users of "European Times" already exceeded 90 million in 1881, of which 20 million were in the Netherlands, less than one-third. Therefore, "European Times" is the most widely read newspaper in the world. Naturally, they will not give up other readers for the Dutch 20 million to prove a country. The headquarters of the newspaper also stated that the approach of the Berliner Zeitung is to steal business, because the audience of the Berliner Zeitung is only local people, even in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Allies were also unwilling to believe the report of the Berliner Zeitung, because this was an official newspaper of the German Empire and its position was known to be biased towards German political interests.

The headquarters of "European Times" explained that it is "European Times" on the contrary, because it has a global audience of 70 million, which is more than the total population of the Netherlands. This proves how trustworthy "European Times" is.

In response to the fact that more than 50% of the political commentators used by "European Times" in discussing global political attitudes are from the Netherlands, the newspaper's Luxembourg headquarters responded, "The Principality of Luxembourg, as the private domain of William IV, is different from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In terms of local governance, we are autonomous and have our own government. The Principality of Luxembourg, like the Principality of Belgium, belonged to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Now the proportion is independent, but the position is biased towards the British and anti-Dutch.

The Principality of Luxembourg is not independent, nor is it anti-Dutch, nor will it conflict with Germany or France. We have signed the status of a permanent neutral principality. At that time, the German Empire, the United Kingdom, France, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary and a series of other countries had Sign the consent form.

So in terms of position, we parted ways from the beginning with the pro-Dutch political character that the Berliner Zeitung suspected. Of course, everyone knows that the Berliner Zeitung itself is pro-German government or directly under the jurisdiction of the German government. "

The headquarters of the newspaper also stated that in the daily newspapers of "European Times", you can find many interviews and comments as long as you collect them, and it is by no means only the official statements of the Netherlands.

However, after the Berliner Zeitung was refuted on January 3, 1882, German Prime Minister Bismarck unexpectedly stood up and criticized the "European Times" again, and he did so directly and without leaving any room.

"This newspaper was founded in 1857. Our intelligence department learned that the largest founding shareholder came from the East India Company. In that year, William IV, as the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, officially joined the Indian Company as a major shareholder and took control of this century-old store.

I know that the "European Times" will say that it strives to be fair, balanced and compatible with China and the West, and even makes it clear that they are making newspapers from a global perspective, not a country, a continent or an alliance. It will even be mentioned that "European Times", as an international media, enjoys a rare opportunity to reach the audience in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

But as the German Prime Minister, I think the skepticism can be justified. After all, the newspaper has become dependent on the Dutch market for advertising revenue and readership growth. "

Bismarck even cited 10 unnamed journalists who had left their jobs over the past 25 years quoted in a report in the Berliner Zeitung, pointing out that the management of "European Times" was unwilling to take the risk of being banned by the Dutch government, and regarded not being banned as the main consideration.

In this regard, "European Times" refuted Bismarck, the German Prime Minister, saying that "European Times" strives to be fair and balanced, compatible with Dutch and global views, but maintains the uniqueness and independence of its own position. "European Times" strives to allow Dutch audiences to read international information and perspectives that are not necessarily reported by newspapers in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the same time, it has experienced many long-term blocks and was not allowed to be sold.

Similarly, not only the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Luxembourg headquarters of "European Times" also pointed out that the newspaper was banned during the Kingdom of Prussia until 1867 when the Kingdom of Prussia annexed the German Confederation. At the request of these confederate countries, "European Times" Only then could the Times be able to continue publishing and selling it in Germany.

This may be because various countries suspect that reports such as the "Berlin Daily News" are only news that is beneficial to Prussia's dominance of other confederate members, and do not reflect different views. On the contrary, "European Times" can report different views and visions around the world, and at the same time, it can also allow these participating countries to express their opinions and dissatisfaction in our newspaper. This is a level of trustworthiness that the inherent newspapers of the Kingdom of Prussia do not have.