Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

William Hendrick looked back on the public opinion during this period with some pride, and was extremely satisfied with the results of his operation.

“From the late 16th century to the second half of the 17th century, with the rapid rise of the Dutch naval power, the Netherlands established a global trade market, accompanied by cultural export.

This period is known as the Dutch Golden Age.

However, in the four European maritime hegemony wars with Britain, it was the Netherlands that had the second and third most miserable victories, but Britain won both.

find the reason?

It was the French Empire that helped Britain reap the benefits. After defeating the Netherlands on land, it gained the status of land hegemony.

On the contrary, the loser Dutch overseas colonies began to shrink, leaving only the Dutch East Indies and Aruba in the Caribbean.

In addition, there are the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname in South America.

Especially after the Principality of Belgium became independent in 1830 with the support of the British Empire, the influence and strength of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe declined sharply.

Your Majesty, I wonder how you will lead the Netherlands to move forward in the face of such a predicament for the Netherlands? "

Netherlands, Amsterdam, inside the Royal Palace.

January 6, 1862.

The 21-year-old new King Wilhelm Hendrik and the Prime Minister Johann Rudolf Tolbeck, who also started a new term, had their first monarch-minister dialogue.

Tolbeck was very curious about Hendrick.

The eldest son of former King William III, who was crown prince last month.

The Prince of Orange, who used to be famous in Europe for his literary masterpieces and brought glory to the entire Netherlands, now appears in front of everyone as the King of the Netherlands. What will this look like, and where will he lead the Netherlands?

However, Prime Minister Tolbeck's question gave William IV a pause.

I saw him saying: "If we want to solve the dilemma that the Netherlands is facing now, we must first understand the impact of the Vienna system established by the Vienna Agreement in 1815."

Hearing this, Tolbeck nodded secretly, yes, this is the most basic source of the current European structure, and it is also the most recognized signing system for the territories of various countries.

Hendrik continued: “Only by formally confirming the status pattern of the new balance of power system composed of the four countries of Europe, Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria after defeating Napoleon I, can we prescribe the right medicine.

However, France in the south of us has cleverly used a series of small moves to fully integrate into the ranks of the top four in Europe. As a result, the situation in Europe is somewhat different.

It joined this system in 1818 to prevent it from being isolated by other countries and became the de facto fifth party in the European Condominium.

This meeting also officially announced the status of the Netherlands, which has completely become a de facto second-class European country. After all, it is not even qualified to be on the negotiating table, so how can it dare to be called a big country?"

“The Congress of Vienna confirmed the restoration of the Bourbons to the French Empire and Spain and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to the rule of the House of Bragança over Portugal, and to the rule of our House of Nassau over the Netherlands.”

"Austria conquered Galicia, Tyrol, Istria, etc. It turned out that the Austrian Netherlands was assigned to us, the Netherlands, and the Italian Lombardy Venice was given to Austria as compensation.

Most of the Duchy of Warsaw formed the Kingdom of Poland, with the Tsar of the Russian Empire serving as king.

Krakow and its adjacent areas were established as the Free City of Krakow, under the co-administration of Russia, Austria and Prussia.

It was also confirmed that Finland, which the Tsarist Empire captured after defeating Sweden in 1809, became a principality of the Tsarist Russian Empire, and Bessarabia was also owned by Tsarist Russia.

Prussia occupied Danzig and Posen in the Principality of Poland, and obtained two-thirds of the territory of the Kingdom of Saxony.

The Rhineland was Bavaria and Pomerania, formerly part of Sweden, as compensation for the loss of Poland.

The British Empire occupied the Mediterranean island of Malta and the Ionian Islands, as well as the islands of Great Britain and Helgoland from Denmark, the Dutch island of Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope and Guyana, the French island of Saint Lucia, Tobago, Seychelles and Mauritius.

This system formally established the split between the German Confederation and the Kingdom of Sardinia (later the predecessor of Italy).

In the German Confederation, 34 monarchies, principalities, and 4 free cities including Prussia and Austria were established to form the German Confederation, and a Confederation Assembly with Austria as the chairman was established in Vienna.

The principalities of Tuscany, Modena/Parma and other parts of the Kingdom of Sardinia were assigned to the Austrian Habsburg royal family territory, and Genoa, Savoy and Nice were merged into the Sardinian dynasty.

The Austrian Netherlands was annexed to the Netherlands and was called the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway was annexed to Sweden to form the Swedish-Norwegian Union, and Denmark acquired Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg in Prussia.

According to the "First Peace of Paris" and the "Second Peace of Paris" in 1815, France maintained the national borders of 1790 and paid 700 million francs in war compensation to the Anti-French Alliance, and the Allies stationed troops for three to five years.

However, the French were extremely cunning. From being a defeated country, they quickly became involved with other countries.

In particular, France quickly regained its strength by taking advantage of the British to guard against the emergence of a hegemon-level country in Europe and the British's fear of threatening their offshore balancing hand. "

Hendrick lamented: "It is a pity that the British are too cunning and will dig holes for others. They gave us the Netherlands at first, but took it away in other ways 20 years later, and it became Belgium today.

The UK, on ​​the other hand, has actually acquired overseas territories from our countries. It is a pity that our Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Cape of Good Hope and Guyana, such fertile land, are just gone.

Especially Ceylon Island, which is the largest bridgehead into the Indian subcontinent and the largest island in the northern part of the Indian Ocean. It guards the east-west direction of the Indian subcontinent's sea. Now it has become a colony of the British Empire that wants to dominate India."

Tolbeck secretly agreed with Hendrick's analysis and said: "Your Majesty, what do you think about the Netherlands? In other words, how do we need to cooperate with you in how to govern?"

Hendrik knew there was something in Tolbek's words.

Tolbeck taught at the University of Ghent in the Netherlands in 1825. He was successfully elected as a member of parliament in 1840 and was recognized as the chairman of the Dutch Liberal Party that year.

In 1844, he and eight other liberal members jointly proposed to amend the draft constitution of the Netherlands, but was blocked by conservative members and failed to pass.

In 1848, he presided over the amendment of the constitution to restrict the rights of the king and expand the power of parliament, which was passed.

In 1849, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives (the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the Prime Minister of the Cabinet in the Netherlands) and Prime Minister of the Interior. Unfortunately, he was forced to resign due to religious issues soon after. Last year, he was elected for the second time on behalf of the liberals.

During the campaign, he enacted navigation laws, promoted free trade, and abolished slavery in the colonies.

However, the forced cultivation system was still retained. During the first term of the cabinet, someone else took away the Prime Minister's seat. However, the third term began in 1872 and he died of illness that year.

And his father, William III, originally wanted to show off his grand ambitions, but it was because the other party was arguing all day long to limit the royal power, so the monarch and his ministers had a huge quarrel.

Even Hendrik, no, now it should be said to be William IV. William IV even suspected that William III might have been involved in the resignation of Tolbeck when he first formed a cabinet, but this time Tolbeck's return was It is a situation where the former monarch and his ministers are exchanged, and the chosen minister will not see the king, and the king will not see the minister for a long time.

William IV looked at Tolbeck with a deep look: "Although our operation this time is secret, my Prime Minister should know that no matter how we wrap it, the paper can't cover the fire. Sooner or later, it will be leaked. Therefore, We need to quickly consolidate my position and yours in order to face all changes in the future."

"I have almost completed the cabinet formation, but Your Majesty, if I go against His Majesty, will it harm your reputation?"

"No, don't forget. After these few years, the newspapers in the Netherlands are now under my control. I have controlled the public opinion in the Netherlands. The change of the wind direction is something I do as I please. But the main thing is What we are facing is the problem of my father, William III. Therefore, your existence needs to continue, so that my father can continue to stay in Luxembourg and not come back, and let him settle down."

Tolbeck lowered his head and sighed: Although the new king in front of him was young, he was decisive in killing. He came to him 5 years ago, and with his eloquent mouth and the many benefits he promised, he finally convinced him to join. His shadow team,

And from then on, the first instruction was received, which was to continuously lead the liberal attacks in the opposition. Crown Prince Hendrik's father, William III, asked him to appear to comprehensively restrict the king's power.

For more than five years, although conservatives have tried their best to defend William III, as parliamentary power has grown in Europe, the Netherlands has been unable to stop this trend.

Therefore, conservatives could only slowly change their stance for their own interests, and finally formed the current Dutch management structure.

With the extensive revision of the Dutch Constitution in 1848, the constitution stipulated that the Netherlands was a hereditary monarchy, with legislative power belonging to the king and parliament, executive power belonging to the king and the cabinet, and the Privy Council as the highest state consultative body, chaired by the king. Himself, the other members are appointed by the King.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the head of government of the country and is appointed by the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.

Last year, the leader of the liberals was Tolbeck. Therefore, the current Dutch military and political parliament is in the hands of King William IV and Tolbeck in the room. Many people outside do not know this, even because the two will continue William III. During this period, the evil struggle between kings and ministers for power and profit continued.

Little did they know that their young King William IV and the newly-appointed Prime Minister Tolbeck were already sharpening their knives to reshape the development of the Netherlands in the next few decades five years ago, preparing to make a big move to revive the history of the Netherlands. Brilliance on.

"Has the cabinet formulated a diplomatic development plan?"

"We are prepared to make good friends with Prussia in diplomacy and at the same time cooperate with Belgium to maintain a mutual offensive and defensive alliance. However, we are deepening cooperation with France again."

William IV suddenly said: "As William III entered Luxembourg, Napoleon III repeatedly asked us, the Netherlands, to sell Luxembourg to him. My father William III was a little moved, but the sale failed every time because of Prussia's obstruction. This will Won’t this make Napoleon III angry?”