Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On August 15, 1862, the Dutch government officially announced that it had completed the takeover of the Australian mainland and the entire island of Tasmania from Britain.

In order to facilitate management, the Netherlands announced that from now on, the Australian mainland will be divided into 6 administrative provinces.

They are the western province of Western Australia, with its capital Perth; the capital of South Australia, Adelaide;

New South Wales, capital Sydney;

Queensland, the capital is Brisbane.

The Northern Territory was renamed Northern Australia, with Darwin as its capital;

Tasmania is the sixth province of Australia - Tasmania, with its capital Hobart.

In addition, the Dutch government also announced that the original British-ruled Victoria state in southern Australia will be changed to Wilhelm Province.

Melbourne, the largest city in Wilhelm Province, became the administrative center of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Far East and was also selected by the Kingdom of the Netherlands as the deputy capital region of the Netherlands in the Far East.

The Tolbeck cabinet will promote the immigration of 300,000 Dutch natives to Australia in the remaining four months of this year from the government level, and plans to immigrate more than 1 million people next year.

In addition, the Dutch government has issued a policy to encourage Dutch citizens to have more children. The corresponding multi-child policy will be accompanied by various benefits that will be gradually issued.

In short, the ultimate goal of this wave of actions by the Dutch government is to let you have more children.

Beginning on August 20, strange scenes appeared in the Netherlands. Groups of immigrants were everywhere. Many low-income families from Rotterdam and Amsterdam to the north began to join the migration. in.

A reporter from a Dutch newspaper interviewed a large family of eight members during the migration.

"Why does your family support this government relocation?"

"Why not move? Although I also want to continue living in the Netherlands, there are too many capitalists and nobles here. They have passed it down from generation to generation. The fertile land here has long been divided up. How can we still have it?" share,

It's different in Australia now. According to the current newspapers, although it is desolate, the land is fertile and easy to cultivate. The place we moved to this time is the eastern province of Queensland.

It is said that there is enough water there, the climate is similar to ours, and each person has 10 acres of land, so the eight of us have 80 acres. Just thinking about it makes me drool.

Even if our family has no business acumen, we can support ourselves on 80 acres and even become landlords and ranchers. Why should we give up on such a good thing? We would be fools not to participate. "

Many people know that the Dutch government has described the benefits of reclaiming wasteland. For example, each immigrant can obtain 10 acres of land. However, these data are pale and there is no appropriate description.

But after the above-mentioned reporter reported the family’s reasons for immigrating, especially after the newspaper specifically circled the words landlord, rancher, etc., everyone who read or heard it was moved, yes, anyway, the government How can such a good thing like subsidizing boat tickets and giving land for free? Maybe you can really become a landlord?

So, there was another wave of migration.

By the end of September, just one and a half months later, more than 150,000 Dutch people had arrived or were leaving for Australia by sea. This should be easy for 300,000 immigrants to be completed in four months by the end of the year. loose things.

Moreover, the Dutch government's last resort has appeared again, because now Europe has entered autumn, and in two months, it will enter the cold winter.

What the government promotes is that the climate in Australia is exactly the opposite of that in Europe. Spring has just begun there, which is a good time to cultivate and reclaim wasteland in Australia. If you miss it, you will be a year later than the one that arrived first.

When many people think of having to stay at home in the winter in Europe, they might as well go to the Southern Hemisphere for a try. Even if they fail, it can still be treated as a long-distance trip.

There are many people who think this way.

In short, the Dutch government has tried its best this time to get Australia on the right track quickly.

At this time, Africa was entering the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in the Far East, and was in chaos.

From the beginning of August, after the four countries of South Africa, Britain, Prussia, Portugal, and Britain had been in confrontation for a period of time in Southern Rhodesia, as Britain completed the elimination of the Zulu Kingdom in the south, the Zulu Kingdom was officially swept into history.

However, Kai Zhiwayo, the actual controller of the Zulu Kingdom, disappeared with him. Some people said that he fled to northern Africa with him.

Some French and Germans finally got on the northbound ship to return to their homeland because of France's negotiations with Prussia and Austria. Chiwayo also followed suit and left for France or Prussia.

However, some say he visited Dutch territories such as Congo and Tanzania.

Some people even think that he went to hide in Mozambique, which is ruled by neighboring Portugal, waiting for the opportunity to make a comeback.

South Africa ended this half-year war.

With the fall of the Zulu Kingdom, the pressure on the other three countries doubled, especially the Kingdom of Portugal.

Because the terrain of colonial Mozambique is long and narrow, running north to south, it is a coastal zone, from Maputo close to the Zulu Kingdom in the south to Beira in the middle and then to Mozambique City in the north. The coastline is not much less than that of South Africa. It is obvious that the threat from the sea is, in fact, For Mozambique, the threat is much more serious than on land.

Moreover, in terms of strength and influence among the four countries, Portugal is also at the bottom, so it has become the target of the other three countries.

It is precisely because of this that the coastal areas of Mozambique are facing repeated threats from the British fleet.

British warships demonstrate almost daily outside Maputo.

For this reason, Portugal protested to London and asked the United Kingdom not to provoke disputes between the two countries.

But for some unknown reason, one day on August 16, a British warship made many provocative moves while cruising the Mozambique Channel, so the coastal defense artillery in the port of Beira suddenly opened fire in response. It was a good death. Immortal hit the level 6 sailing battleship. Not long after the 180 people on the battleship sent the telegram, everyone sank into the Mozambique Channel along with the battleship.

That’s okay!

This shell was so accurate that everyone in South Africa was stunned.

Among them were the British Governor-General of South Africa, Joe Boone, the Dutch Leon Booker, the Prince of Prussia, Frederick Carl, and the Portuguese Governor-General of Mozambique, Felipe Niuse.

The latter, in particular, was even more terrified.

Because in addition to secretly cursing the wrong person for causing him trouble, he also thought about the serious consequences.

Sure enough, not long after, London, England, sent a deadline warning to Lisbon, Portugal, requiring Portugal to hand over the murderer and compensate for losses of more than 1 million pounds. Otherwise, if the United Kingdom does not get a satisfactory answer before September 1, it will Will retaliate against Portugal.

This shocking news was reported by European newspapers on August 20. People from all over Europe were stunned and looked to the southwest, the country in the west of the Iberian Peninsula.

"Portugal dared to provoke Britain, and also dared to directly sink a British warship?"

“Did Louis I get kicked in the head by a donkey?”

"I think the Kingdom of Portugal is crazy. They must have seen that the Netherlands, which is almost the same size, has been very prosperous recently, so they want to follow the same example and step on the British to complete their station. The idea of ​​ascending to the top of a giant, but William IV was born in 1840 and Louis I was born in 1838. Do you really think that you and William IV are about the same age and have the same abilities?"

“Let’s see if Portugal can withstand Britain’s anger.”

On August 25, 1862, the British First Fleet set out from the southern military port of Portsmouth and headed southwest.

Meanwhile, in the port of Gibraltar

The Mediterranean Squadron also sailed northwest.

Storms are coming, and all Europeans are holding their breath, preparing to see how the Anglo-Portuguese dispute will develop.

Thanks to book friend momo for the tip of 579 points.