Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Canada is out of business, is it India? Malaya? still?

Palmerston thought of a place that was indeed a perfect fit.

amsterdam.

"Your Majesty, the British actually rejected our request for Canada!"

Hesbert von held the telegram in his hand with a look of shock. At the same time, he felt even more excited in his heart. It’s done!

The entire Dutch Privy Council met again on February 25, 1862.

As the contents of Hesbertvon's telegram were revealed in the entire Privy Council room, everyone's breath froze.

The British actually rejected our request. So wouldn't all our previous plans be in vain?

During this period, the Netherlands spent a lot of manpower and material resources in order to prepare for taking over Canada. But now they discovered that everything was in vain. This made even the military People felt uncomfortable, which led to dissatisfaction with Britain.

"What are you doing?" Hesbert von saw that in addition to him and Prime Minister Tolbeck, plus William IV and the heads of the two major intelligence agencies, including the military's Mark Rudd, these few people Except for an insider, everyone else looked angry.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the UK does not want to follow our lead in doing things. At the same time, it seems that Queen Victoria values ​​Canada quite a lot."

The speaker was Industry Minister Wem Cote, who followed up: "But this time Queen Victoria was really generous, and she was willing to give up the New South Wales Territory and Tasmania to keep it. What does this mean? The British still open their mouths wide, like all our Hawaiian Islands, this is really a lion's mouth."

William IV and several insiders of Hesbert von looked at each other, and then Hesbert von, the lowest-ranking foreign minister among them, said: "What expressions are you looking at? You should be happy, because this is exactly what happened." In line with our Majesty’s previous plan,”

It turned out that from the beginning, William IV never really stated his true purpose in front of Palmerston, the Prime Minister of the British Empire.

"But how are you sure that the British will object to the Canadian issue?" The speaker was Agriculture Minister Ernie Bevin.

"Because, His Majesty has set up all the arrangements from the beginning." Hesbert Feng suddenly noticed that he was in a particularly refreshing mood at this time, so he said, "Don't forget, Your Majesty has revealed to the other party from the very beginning. The most important news”

"Alaska"

"Yes, it's Alaska. His Majesty revealed to the UK that we are discussing the purchase of Alaska with the Russian Empire.

And in order to be more realistic, His Majesty worked from top to bottom to prevent the news from leaking, and has been making various preparations to receive Alaska.

These Palmerstons can get relevant information by simply asking the British Embassy in the Netherlands to check. "

"But what does this have to do with Britain's opposition to our presence in Canada?"

"It's very important." It was William IV who spoke. After looking around at everyone, he said: "Because, if we get Alaska and then Canada, then the Netherlands can use both sides of the Atlantic, and the fleets can even communicate with each other in the summer to find a waterway. If so, you can also go directly from the Bering Strait to the Pacific Ocean from north to south.

Don’t forget, Britain was the country that wrested maritime hegemony from us more than 100 years ago, and it was even better.

We can all find that the British have now set up British-guarded checkpoints in key shipping lanes around the world, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, Malacca and our condominium, the Suez Canal and the English Channel. The devil's claws even extend to the Oresund Strait between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea."

"Therefore, when the British noticed a little bit of this trend in the Netherlands, they naturally wanted to interrupt it.

I have discussed it carefully with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff. It is very gratifying that Canada got it, but with the strength of the British and their now world-famous navy, they will never sit back and watch the rise of the Netherlands in North America.

What's more, it's Canada on the other side of the Atlantic, and the most important thing is, if Canada gave us, if you look down carefully, wouldn't the British mainland and the British Isles' rear area be gone? "

Following William IV's narration, some people now understood that this was forbidden, but His Majesty did it anyway.

"His Majesty's goal from the beginning was Australia?"

"Yes, Australia is surrounded by the sea, and it is also close to our East India and New Guinea islands. The South Pacific islands we just harvested are also like soybeans sprinkled all over the South Pacific. Such a place with the right time, location and people, God Everything has been arranged for us, and if we don’t ask for it, that would be a kind of blasphemy against God,”

"But Your Majesty, the British are now leaving those places in New South Wales. What do you mean?"

The person who asked the question was Agriculture Minister Ernest Bell.

William smiled at him, and then said: "The British always have a hand in everything they do.

Whether retreating or advancing, they will leave themselves a glimmer of hope.

For example, they control the Strait of Gibraltar, but they have never used it to prevent any country from entering or exiting, especially Spain, the original owner of Gibraltar.

They use it as a powerful force, which exists but is not used.

The same goes for Norway. It is clearly encouraging Norway to become independent, but it has not fallen out with Sweden.

Anyway, this is a model of British balance of power diplomacy.

William IV even thought of the unsolved evils left behind by the British in later generations.

The biggest one is the former British colony in the northern part of the Indian Ocean. The remaining issues include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even Myanmar. They deliberately left some territorial disputes for these countries to fight with each other, but he himself hid in them. On the other hand, I was waiting to be asked to be the referee. "

"Last question, Your Majesty, how did you make the Queen change her mind?"

William IV smiled: "Don't forget, the Tories have only been in power for more than one year in the past ten years, and they are already dissatisfied with the Whigs. You know Palmerston's trip to the Netherlands."

"Next, Belgium's good show is about to take place. Everyone must be very energetic. In this game, we can only win but not lose."

"yes"

France, Louvre.

Napoleon III looked thoughtfully at the telegram in front of him. Based on the recent changes in the current situation in Belgium, he prepared to follow up with the Netherlands. In the telegram, it was clearly stated that the Netherlands was indeed going to start attacking Belgium. Take action.

However, the Netherlands has been mysterious recently. Although France is not afraid of the Netherlands, it must be careful.

Is this really the reason why William IV wanted to use France to fight against Britain? There must be a conspiracy.

"Your Majesty, what should we do? I think the Dutch action should be more than that simple from the beginning. The Netherlands actually generously agreed to take the lead and persuaded Prussia to fully support France and occupy the territory of the three southern provinces of Belgium. .

No, it should be said to be incorporation, but the Netherlands did not say what territory they wanted to acquire.

There are five provinces in the Dutch-speaking area!

This is a doubtful point, and the second doubtful point is, if we follow up now, will all the anger of the British be vented on us in the end?"

Olivier, Prime Minister of the French Empire, asked Napoleon III.

Napoleon III was a proud man, and Olivier's problem was actually his problem, but as a noble leader of the French Empire, should he tell his subordinates that he didn't know?

"Okay, just do what the Dutch telegram said. We have decided on the three southern provinces of Belgium. If you eat it in your mouth, there is no possibility of spitting it out. No matter how powerful the British navy is, are we afraid? Can’t they make it?”

Napoleon III, as a dignified monarch, patted Olivier's shoulder affectionately and said confidently: "God will protect our wishes from coming true. Catholicism is with us and France will rise again. Let’s start with Belgium.”

Napoleon III did not mind making a little money as an appetizer first, but he was not a fool. He would not easily get into the fight with the British and let other countries reap the benefits. Therefore, he would not go all out. He would never Spend a lot of money.

But what he didn't know was that his first move in Belgium indirectly affected the security situation and political structure of Belgium as a whole, and even Europe.

Although Europe did not eventually form a large-scale war, it still led to the reorganization of relations between European countries and a burst of scolding from the British Empire government.