Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

February 19, 1862, 8 o'clock in the morning.

Netherlands, Amsterdam, inside the Royal Palace of the Netherlands.

William IV, accompanied by Tolbeck and Hesbert von, was receiving a group of guests from the Russian Empire.

"Your Majesty, this is my brother and my father's second son, Alexander Alexandrovich.

This is our Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, Alexander Gorchakov.”

William IV followed the two of them with a smile on his face, and even though it felt disgusting, he needed to get used to the kissing ceremony.

"It's really an honor for me and the Royal Palace of the Netherlands to have these people come all the way here. I just don't know if they are still used to living here?"

William IV greeted.

Crown Prince Nicholas narrowed his eyes slightly and said pointedly: "It's just a habit. The wind direction in the Netherlands is so random that we are a little confused and can't find the direction to guide the wind direction."

"Oh?" William IV pretended not to understand: "Some areas in the Netherlands are indeed below sea level, so the sea breeze follows the waves and clashes with the small mountains next to it. The wind direction is unstable. Who knows where the Netherlands is? The environment is like this, there is nothing we can do about it, so it’s hard for a few of us to follow us through a few days of uncertainty.”

Hearing this, Crown Prince Nicholas smiled slightly, as if he didn't understand.

Prince Alexander, on the other hand, was a little more impatient, but chose to endure it. However, who was William IV? He did not let go of this small detail, and his heart moved.

Gorchakov suddenly said: "It stands to reason that for such a big event as the European royal family holding a marriage ceremony in Amsterdam, which also involves His Majesty's marriage, the former king, who is now the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, should come back to preside over it. yes"

William IV was stunned and looked at him with a meaningful look.

A trace of dissatisfaction flashed in Crown Prince Nicholas's eyes, but he did not directly stand up to refute the other party.

And Prince Alexander couldn't help showing a little excitement.

Gorchakov didn't take it seriously. He has worked in embassies in various Western European countries for more than 20 years. In these countries, he has met many kings and princes from various countries, so he is not very cold about William IV.

Of course, this is also related to his career promotion in the past ten years, and also to the Netherlands' recent alliance with Prussia and France.

In particular, he had many astonishing diplomatic abilities. From the first contest between Prussia and Austria for the leadership of the German Confederation in 1850, he met Bismarck for the first time at that time. Seeing Bismarck's superior ability, he was worried that Prussia would be in trouble. Therefore, he became even more dissatisfied and chose to support Austrian Prime Minister Felix Schwarzenberg, suppressing Prussia and accepting the shame of Olmitz. He also became the most hated person in the Kingdom of Prussia.

During the Crimean War between Tsarist Russia and Ottoman Turkey in 1853, as Tsarist Russia’s ambassador to the Austrian Empire, he foresaw that the British Empire and France would join the war, so he advised Nicholas I in advance not to make unnecessary sacrifices, but the former did not succeed. Dump him and don't accept it directly.

After three years of the Crimean War, Nicholas I died in 1855 with resentment. Alexander II succeeded to the throne in the same year. In 1856, Nicholas I resigned as foreign minister.

In June of the same year, he became the foreign minister of the new Tsarist Russia, opening his era of foreign minister.

He immediately took it seriously and confirmed that the status of the Russian Empire in Europe and the world was recognized by Europe. At the same time, he strived to establish friendly relations with France and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Although Tsarist Russia and France have always been dissatisfied with France due to Poland, and failed to maintain the friendly relations between Tsarist Russia and France, they have effectively conducted diplomacy with other European countries and gained Prussia's openness to Tsarist Russia's actions in Poland. recognized.

For him now, Prussia's attitude is very dangerous, because his relationship with Prussia is definitely not easy to resolve.

So it also affected the Netherlands.

William IV knew something about this person due to the intelligence in his hands.

At the same time, I also understand where his hostility comes from.

Gorchakov, who believed that his talent was underappreciated when he was young, struggled for many years in his early years in the Pevchesky Bridge Building, a building dedicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tsarist Russia.

So the reason he finally confirmed was that there were too many officials with Prussian ancestry in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Tsarist Empire, so many that they squeezed out the positions of natives and reached a point where it was difficult to get promoted at any time.

Among them, the queen of Nicholas I was the daughter of the late King of Prussia, Frederick William III. She was also the sister of Frederick William IV of Prussia at that time and the sister of the current King of Prussia, William I.

With this relationship, many Prussian diplomats were hired to come to the Tsarist Empire. They formed gangs with each other and controlled the Pevchesky Bridge Building, the symbol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Tsarist Empire.

Now that he knew the reason, William IV said calmly: "My father is doing something big in Luxembourg. As for what it is, I will tell you about it later."

After speaking, William IV said to Crown Prince Nicholas: "I believe that the arrival of everyone here has proved the status of the Netherlands in the heart of the Russian Empire. Our two countries have been friends for generations, and it can be called the most successful model of partnership in Europe." , have supported each other for hundreds of years, His Excellency the Crown Prince will not deny this, right?"

Crown Prince Nicholas nodded and said: "Yes, the Netherlands is indeed an ally of Tsarist Russia in Western Europe. This is what our Emperor Alexander II personally told me before coming here."

After saying that, he looked directly at Gorchakov firmly, warning him not to be presumptuous.

"Speaking of which, I should call Nicholas and Alexander cousins!"

The three of them were stunned when they heard this.

"Why, have you forgotten who my grandmother is?" William IV teased.

Seeing the two people looking over, Gorchakov, who was shocked at first, reacted instantly, so he took a meaningful look at William IV and Tolbeck next to him, and answered the two princes respectfully. The question asked:

"I forgot that the old queen mother of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is Her Royal Highness Princess Anna Pavlovna! She is the sixth child of His Majesty Paul I. She is also the sister of your great-uncle Alexander I and your grandfather Nicholas I. "sister"

Then I thought of the many historical connections between the Netherlands and Russia. Even Prince Alexander and Foreign Minister Gorchakov dare not deny this at this moment, because this has been the national policy of the Russian Empire for hundreds of years and no one has changed it. Pass.

"My grandmother was very excited when she heard that you were coming to Amsterdam. She has been waiting to see you for a long time. Wait a minute, and please ask the two of you to come with me to visit her."

The two Nicholas did not dare to hesitate at all and nodded in response.

Just kidding, this is their father's aunt, how dare they not go?

Seeing this, William IV said with a smile on his face: "The exchanges between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands can be traced back to more than 300 years ago. At that time, Dutch businessmen appeared in the Tsarist Russian city of Arkhangelsk and became the first step for outsiders to come to Tsarist Russia. First person.

Therefore, the Dutch's purchase of grain there opened up business relations between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands, improved Tsarist Russia's original development method, and accelerated its entry into Europe. The Netherlands became a leader during the rise of Tsarist Russia.

After the 16th century, with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the traditional trade routes between the East and the West were cut off. The Dutch began to try to find a trade route from the land where the Russian Empire was located to the Far East. Although it was not successful in the end, it also promoted the development of the two countries. Intercourse.

The economies of the two places have become increasingly close.

After the 17th century, Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands traded a variety of goods. Various grain blanket products from Tsarist Russia were continuously sent to other European countries through the hands of Dutch merchants.

In 1601, the Netherlands sent its first special envoy, Essama Massa, who recognized the existence of Tsarist Russia to the world for the first time.

In 1613, Mikhail Fyodorovich, the founding emperor of the Romanov dynasty, submitted his credentials to the Prince of Orange, proclaimed his accession to the throne as King of Tsarist Russia, and requested the Netherlands to request assistance in the conflict between Tsarist Russia and Poland. ,

The Netherlands, which attached great importance to Tsarist Russia, made diplomatic arrangements for Tsarist Russia when Poland and Sweden attacked Tsarist Russia in 1615, and ultimately contributed to the reconciliation between Tsarist Russia and Sweden. The Dutch were therefore even more respected in Tsarist Russia.

In 1676, Johann von Keller stayed in Moscow after being accepted by King Feodor III of Tsarist Russia. He became the de facto first permanent representative of the Netherlands in Tsarist Russia and the third permanent diplomatic representative of the Netherlands in other countries. This heralds the coming of an era of great development in relations between the two countries.

In 1696, Tsar Peter began to visit the Netherlands and learn from the Netherlands' advanced economic development model.

The Netherlands responded.

In order to win over Tsarist Russia, the Netherlands also taught the young elites of Tsarist Russia knowledge and technologies such as navigation, gunnery and shipbuilding.

In 1699, Tsarist Russia established a permanent diplomatic mission in The Hague, Netherlands. It was the headquarters in charge of Tsarist Russian envoys in various European countries.

After that, Tsarist Russia wanted to integrate into Europe, so the Netherlands became the best choice, because the Netherlands was the Western European country that Tsarist Russia was most familiar with, and became the de facto guide for Tsarist Russia to enter Western Europe.

In the Austrian Succession War, England and the Netherlands became allies and fought against France and Prussia, but Tsarist Russia indirectly provided military support to England through the Netherlands.

Later, during the period of Catherine I, trade with the Netherlands surged, and eventually a neutral alliance was formed with the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden.

In 1795, France invaded the Netherlands. Tsarist Russia formed an alliance with Britain and Austria to fight against France. Tsarist Russia even sent Cossack soldiers to help the Netherlands. However, because the Netherlands was too close to France, it was ultimately unable to save it and became a vassal state of the latter.

In 1814, Alexander I finally defeated Napoleon I and visited Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he was cheered by the locals.

It was also his firm support for the restoration of the Netherlands in the Vienna negotiations, and the Netherlands established the New Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In 1815, Alexander I even directly proposed at the Congress of Vienna that his sister Anna Pavlovna be betrothed to the founding crown prince of the Netherlands, William, my grandfather, the future King of the Netherlands, William II.

The Russian Empire and the Netherlands achieved a dynastic marriage, which also became a symbol of the alliance between the two countries. Queen William II gave birth to four sons and one daughter. The eldest son was William III, the father of William IV.

In this way, Paul I was the father of William IV's grandmother Anna Pavlovna, Alexander I was the eldest brother of his grandmother Anna Pavlovna, and grandmother Anna Pavlovna's younger brother Ni Gula I took over the throne because Alexander I had no descendants.

Alexander II was a cousin of the same generation as his father, William III, and William IV was a descendant of the same great-grandfather as the two Tsarist Russian princes in front of him?

Several people thought so, and the whole scene was no longer as cold as before.

In the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, the victory over Napoleon I raised the international status of the Russian Empire to an unprecedented level, and eventually promoted it to one of the top powers in Europe. At the same time, the Netherlands lost its status as the maritime trade hegemon. The two countries The status was reversed, and the Netherlands began to rely on the strength of Tsarist Russia to endorse it in Western Europe.

Belgium's fate occurred in 1830. Inspired by the British Empire, Belgium resisted the decision to be forcibly annexed to the Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna and fought for Belgium's independence. Finally, it was not until the Netherlands agreed in 1839 that Tsarist Russia made the decision Only then did other countries, including the British Empire and France, publicly confirm that Belgium had become a country.

In 1851, during the demarcation dispute between France and the Netherlands in Guyana, South America, Tsarist Russia also intervened to help the Netherlands mediate, so France did not take excessive actions.

In short, from the beginning of the 19th century to the first few years, another major feature of the relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands was that as the ambitions of the Netherlands faded, the relationship between the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia turned to the economic field.

A commercial and navigation treaty between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands was signed in 1846, which established the principle of most-favored-nation treatment in commercial relations between the two countries. At that time, the Netherlands was still Tsarist Russia’s third largest partner after Prussia and the British Empire.

The Russian Empire also stored some of its national gold in the Netherlands, worth more than 80 million Dutch guilders.

William IV said affectionately: "For the Netherlands, looking back on the relationship between Tsarist Russia and the Netherlands for more than 300 years, we only see love but no killing. This is really rare for a superpower like the Russian Empire. The same is true for the Netherlands. The most sincere partner.

Perhaps everyone has mixed interests. For example, the Netherlands is the bridge for the Russian Empire in Western Europe, connecting Western Europe with Russia and bringing Russia closer to the Xigou world.

For the Netherlands, Tsarist Russia is a difficult market that no other country cares about, but the Dutch have not abandoned it for more than 300 years. The Dutch played a decisive role in helping the development of Tsarist Russia, and accompanied the establishment and rise of Tsarist Russia along the way. , developed the strongest traditional friendship.

To sum it up in one sentence, the two countries are "just there for you" at the right time for each other. This is why I am the first to meet you today.

I just hope that the friendship between the Netherlands and Russia will continue to last for thousands of years and will not be cut off in our hands."

Crown Prince Nikolai and Gorchaskov looked at each other and said to themselves: The king in front of them seems not to let them continue acting.

"The Netherlands and the Russian Empire have naturally had a long-lasting friendship." Crown Prince Nikolai looked at Gorchaskov after receiving his agreement, and said, "I wonder how your Majesty plans to promote the two countries to continue to move forward?"

William IV only said three words, but they were surprised and delighted, and they all lost their composure, because the three words of William IV were

Chapter 3 is a 4,000-word chapter, with hundreds of words of historical information in it. It is just to let everyone know the historical origins of the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia, not because of the word count. After all, this is not a VIP chapter, it is just for the unfolding of the next plot. If you like it, please support and vote.