Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The world situation is changing every day. While the major powers in the world are paying attention to their own development, they are also paying close attention to the dynamics that affect the world process, such as the progress of the scientific and technological competition between the Netherlands and the German Empire, the United States of America, and industrial powers led by Britain and France.

In addition, all countries are paying attention to the direction of the war in Mexico in Central America.

The German Empire is keeping a close eye on the sudden predicament that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now facing in Mexico, especially the fact that Mexico is still able to attack the southern Mexico occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which shocked the German Empire.

After all, according to the plan of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Bismarck, Mexico will gradually become smaller under the invasion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The expansion of Austria-Hungary's territory there will directly affect the idea of ​​the Netherlands to establish a back garden there.

Even Bismarck said that Britain and the Netherlands competed in the Gulf of Mexico to attract attention, and then the German Empire would start in other parts of the world.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was, after all, just a pawn in the hands of William I and Bismarck and others.

The "black swan" event is what the Netherlands hopes for, and what Britain and the German Empire do not want to see.

Previously, in March 1883, the summit of peace in the Americas initiated by the Netherlands was held in Dutch Guiana. The German Empire did not appear and Britain was not invited to participate.

The American Peace Conference to resolve the Austro-Hungarian and Mexican war disputes without the participation of Britain and the German Empire was actually meaningless and could not achieve substantial results.

As the most important ally of the invader Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German Empire's attitude towards the turning point of the war between Austro-Hungarian and Mexican in Mexico attracted attention.

Of course, as a key ally of Mexico, the role of the Netherlands in the Austro-Mexican War has always attracted attention.

The Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph Franz I said last time that Austro-Hungarian Empire could attend the American Peace Summit, but he put forward conditions including Mexico's recognition of the Mexican territory occupied by Austro-Hungarian Empire for more than a year, and the statement of giving up the ambition to continue to occupy this Austro-Hungarian occupied land, which was difficult for Mexico to accept. After Austro-Mexico counterattacked the Austrian-occupied territory, Joseph Franz I reported the convening of the Austro-Hungarian Security Conference and publicly said angrily that peace talks with Mexico seemed to be increasingly meaningless.

Franz Joseph I also had his reasons for being tough. After all, Mexico was suffering from a shortage of troops. Whether it could hold the current defense line was still a question mark. After the battle line was extended, if the supply could not keep up, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would take advantage of the opportunity to attack Mexico's side close to the Pacific Ocean, or catch a turtle in a jar around Mexico City. Mexico would lose more than it gained, and it might even rebound and trigger its own political infighting.

However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's support for Mexico from other countries was unknown.

The "black swan" event was still what Mexico hoped for, but it was not what Britain and the German Empire did not want to see.

Queen Victoria of the British Empire boasted that she could end the Austro-Hungarian Empire's invasion of Mexico overnight, but William I of the German Empire believed that King William III of the Netherlands only needed to write a letter to resolve the crisis. The reason was that Mexico was very dependent on the South American Alliance formed by the Netherlands. Even if the Netherlands stopped supporting Mexico, it would only take a week for Mexico City to be taken by the Austro-Hungarian army. Therefore, William III believed that Britain, the German Empire, and even the countries in the Americas could not do it.

Mexico's counterattack against the Austro-Hungarian Empire became more and more intense. Even on June 5, 1883, more than 1,300 Austro-Hungarian soldiers died in a small city north of the capital of Veracruz.

This news was originally blocked by the Vienna government, but the source of the news was unknown, and it slowly spread in Europe. Finally, the Austro-Hungarian government in Vienna had to admit that it was true.

The official confirmation immediately caused panic among Austrians and Hungarians, and weakened the trust of the elites in Austria, Hungary and other Austro-Hungarian territories in His Majesty Franz Joseph I.

Obviously, the success of Mexico's counterattacks seemed to have hit or even defeated the cohesion of Franz Joseph I's regime from within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Many people predicted that according to this development trend, although the door to negotiations between Mexico and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not been opened, even the hesitation between Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Latin American allies to contact them privately to ask for a ceasefire seems to be unable to keep up with the changes.

This counterattack by Mexico also made the so-called European power in the hands of Franz Joseph I shaky.

The Netherlands has not yet approved the Dutch army to participate in supporting Mexico, and even the Latin American allies only supported Mexico with the comments of volunteers, because of Austria-Hungary's powerful status and strong military force.

The support of Britain and Germany is still secondary.

But now the Austro-Hungarian Empire is so fragile that it can't even beat Mexico, so the countries of the South American Alliance have already looked down on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In this situation, Britain and Germany seem to be careless in shouting slogans to mediate, pressuring Mexico to make concessions, but they have not increased their support.

William IV watched Mexico's counterattack succeed, and couldn't help but think of the previous world = on the eve of his crossing, there was a country called Ukraine that also spent the same time, but at that time his support was the Western world, and now Mexico's supporter is himself.

However, both are the same. In the face of invasion by powerful countries, Ukraine and Mexico have fought back and succeeded.

Mexico currently needs to do several things to get more advantageous negotiating positions.

First, in the face of various unfavorable conditions, Mexico must create a more favorable negotiating position for itself within a limited time window, so that it can get closer to the goal of fair peace it wants to strive for, that is, the peaceful space based on the territory occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Second, improve the bargaining chips on the future negotiation table. If more than half or even the entire territory of Veracruz can be taken and consolidated, then in future negotiations, even if that is not all the territory occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it can be used as a consolidation of the actual control line, that is, the Austro-Hungarian Empire completely withdraws from the territory gained by launching this war.

Finally, if Mexico expands the number of casualties of the Austro-Hungarian invasion force, it can hit the reputation of Franz Joseph I. Finally, in order to maintain the status of the Austro-Hungarian emperor and Hungary's continued support to stay in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it must compromise and withdraw troops and admit defeat. This is the biggest help in negotiations.

Under the guidance of William IV, the Dutch and Mexican governments are currently using this strategy to promote Mexico's counterattack, and they have also been successful.

However, William IV did not dare to take it lightly, because Britain and Germany behind the Austro-Hungarian Empire would surely change their current approach. After all, they did not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to lose too thoroughly.

However, I don't know what Queen Victoria, William I and Bismarck will do?

William IV was looking forward to the next move of his opponent.