Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The one with the same idea as William IV was William I of the German Empire.

As the glory of the German Empire, Frederick the Great was William I's idol and lifelong goal.

Frederick II had no offspring, and before his death in 1786, he passed the throne of King of Prussia to his nephew - his grandfather Frederick William II.

Before his grandfather died in 1797, he passed the throne to his father Frederick William III.

In 1840, his father passed the throne to his eldest brother Frederick William IV, who served until he died of illness in Berlin in 1861.

The eldest brother Frederick William IV had no children, and he had established himself as Prince William many years ago and confirmed himself as the heir to the throne of Prussia.

So in 1861, with the death of his eldest brother, William became the King of Prussia.

And his great-great-grandfather Frederick II (Frederick the Great) was his life goal.

He used the arrogant Bismarck and held on to Moltke the Elder tightly.

In addition, in order to continue to maintain the alliance relationship established with Britain during the period of Frederick the Great and become Britain's existence to balance France on the European continent, he finally agreed to the marriage of his only son, Prince Frederick, with Princess Victoria, the eldest princess of Queen Victoria of Britain, to ensure that Prussia continued to rely on Britain to develop under the Anglo-Prussian alliance.

This model allowed Prussia under his leadership to rise faster.

In 22 years from 1861 to 1883, Prussia became a European existence comparable to Britain.

In terms of military, it was not inferior to Britain and the Russian Empire, crushing the once most powerful opponent France and Austria, the opponent within the German Confederation.

Unfortunately, the only flaw was that the unexpected rise of the Netherlands disrupted William I and Bismarck's plan to challenge Britain's status as a world power.

Even had to pretend to be with Britain and continue to recognize Britain's dominant position.

It has to be said that William I's self-attack strategy is no less than anyone else.

There is no way, mainly because his great-grandfather's brother Frederick the Great had a great influence on him in his childhood.

For him, the Seven Years' War was an era of the rise of Prussia with blood boiling.

"I really hope that when I rule Prussia and it becomes the German Empire, I can continue to lead it to become the key factor in the rise of the new Seven Years' War era,"

William I couldn't help but recall the Seven Years' War that his father Frederick William III told him when he was a child.

Before the Seven Years' War in 1756, all the preparations for the war behind the calm in Europe were ready, just waiting for someone to provoke the war.

In August 1756, Prussia's great-great-grandfather Frederick II first sent troops to Saxony, which was also a member of the German Confederation. At that time, Saxony supported the alliance of France, Austria and Tsarist Russia, and stood on the opposite side of Britain, Prussia, Hanover and Portugal.

So Frederick II took the initiative.

But because of this, the war on the European continent was ignited.

Immediately afterwards, Empress Theresa of Austria, who was also a member of the German Confederation, announced that Prussia's behavior violated the unity within the German Confederation and was willing to declare war on Prussia for Saxony.

According to the alliance agreement signed by France and Russia with Austria, Louis XV of France and Elizabeth I of Russia finally decided to join the war against Prussia.

For a time, Prussia was trapped in a passive situation of one against four. Faced with such a difficult situation, the hateful British were not in a hurry.

Instead, when Frederick II was exhausted and almost desperate, and even wanted to commit suicide twice, the British came to Prussia like a charcoal in the fire, and gave Prussia a large amount of regular financial assistance to ensure that Prussia would not fall.

His father, Frederick William III, had told him before that the British could not be trusted, and that the British promises were always shit, and they only had their own interests.

He reminded him that the British could only be used, and not to believe in the promises established on paper.

William I, combined with the beginning of the Seven Years' War, naturally had opinions about Britain since he was a child.

The participation of Britain, coupled with Frederick II's use of diplomats to persuade Elizabeth I of Russia, and the sudden withdrawal of Russia from the war, gave Prussia a chance to breathe.

William I later learned that after Elizabeth I abdicated, Peter III, an admirer of Frederick II, succeeded the Russian throne in 1762. The Russian Empire turned to support Prussia and jointly attacked Austria with Sweden.

A few months later, Catherine II chose to withdraw from the war after she came to power in a coup, because after all, her marriage to Peter III was strongly supported by Frederick II.

This was the biggest opportunity for Prussia to turn things around.

At the same time, France was overwhelmed by the overseas expansion of the rising Britain and had no intention of fighting again. In the end, only Austria, which was obsessed with competing with Prussia for the top position within the German Confederation, was left. Victory began to beckon Prussia and Britain.

The hateful British were really good at calculating. They used our Prussia to provoke powerful enemies around them, and slowly eroded France's colonies overseas. Even Prussia consumed a lot of French energy, and they defeated France overseas. At this point, the victory of Britain and Prussia had become a foregone conclusion.

In 1763, Britain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, and Britain obtained a large number of overseas colonies ceded by France, including North America, especially Canada. Prussia and Austria also signed the Treaty of Hubertusburg and obtained Silesia. In the end, the Seven Years' War ended with a great victory for Britain and Prussia.

The comprehensive rise of the two countries was no longer unstoppable.

Britain gained a lot in the Seven Years War. It completed the merger of Scotland and soon after annexed Ireland to establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In Asia, it controlled the entire Indian subcontinent and almost monopolized it. It established its status as a world power in one fell swoop, allowing it to quietly maintain world hegemony for nearly a century.

However, William I still had to admit that with the support of Britain and in this Seven Years War, Prussia became a real power in Europe, which made Prussia's position as the second oldest in the German Confederation after Austria more consolidated, and even challenged Austria's position from time to time. This made dozens of states within the German Confederation frequently stand in line, which later laid the foundation for him to win over these states to establish opposition to Austria after he came to power, and finally established the German Empire in 1871.

The Seven Years War also made France, the former world hegemon, the biggest loser, making the already very tight French finances even worse. It had no choice but to borrow a lot of foreign debts and increase taxes, which led to the intensification of internal contradictions in France, and finally brewed the great revolution that shocked the world in 1789.

The European situation changed again with the rise of the Netherlands. In this new round of the "Seven Years' War", can Prussia rise again and go further?

Thinking of this, William I was full of longing. Perhaps he could use it to make the German Empire a world power.