Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Belgian politics is facing the beginning of a new round of turmoil.

The Belgian election is going on in a lively manner. The major candidates are showing their talents and their dazzling methods are even more astounding.

The general election polling day is the day after April 1st, April Fool's Day, and the official vote will be held on April 2nd. Interior Minister Lawrence, a member of Orbang's cabinet, said on the 25th that this will be a test that reflects whether Belgian voters trust the Orbang government. A vote of confidence.

Focusing on the Belgian general election on the first day of voting after April Fools' Day on April 2, Belgium's ruling and opposition parties will debate foreign and security policies.

Orbán, the leader of the royalist faction of the largest Liberal Party and current Prime Minister, called for fundamental strengthening of local defense forces, including discussing the purchase of the latest steam-armored battleships from the British Empire to combat the bullying of powerful powers.

“Our country is a multi-ethnic country. We need unity and independence, so we need a bond, and this bond is weapons. What we need to use is the world’s latest battleship to support Belgium’s security.

Therefore, our alliance with the British Empire is our cornerstone and cannot be challenged. It is also the basis for our governance.

And King Leopold I is our closest uncle to the British Empire, the most powerful country in the world, and their king, Queen Victoria. Is there a more useful relationship network than this?

Therefore, please citizens to continue to support the royalists and me is to support Belgium’s safest and most stable foreign policy choice. Please support us, and we will work with you to protect the integrity of Belgium.”

——

This is the campaign diplomacy outline proposed by Alban in an interview with the British "Times of London".

However, unlike him, Jules Danetang, the Dutch candidate of the Liberal Party and the current senator of West Flanders who is pro-Dutch, said in an interview with the Netherlands' second largest-selling newspaper "New Rotterdam Zeitung" Emphasis on exclusive defense.

"The Netherlands and Belgium once belonged to the same country. I never thought the Netherlands was a threat. On the contrary, our two countries are connected by mountains and rivers and blended by blood. We are all one family.

On the contrary, I think Belgium is too dependent on the British Empire, thus losing the foundation of self-reliance as a country. A free Belgium looks up to the British for everything, and only waits for the British to nod their approval before doing anything in Belgium. It’s scary to think about it in practice.

Therefore, protecting the country independently is closer to the hearts of the Belgian people and more in line with the basic position that we are still one country. "

The second candidate of liberal Dutch origin, Joseph Beiter, a senator from the Limburg province in eastern Belgium, when asked by the Dutch newspaper "Echo" about Belgium's foreign policy, he emphasized,

“Speak out what needs to be said and ask for commitment to various issues. Belgium should use its own status to do things that are relevant to it and do its best. It should also be committed to various historical issues that already exist in Belgium. .

For example, the previous positioning issues with the Netherlands, how to get along with the people in the UK, and whether France in the southern French-speaking area will implement a customs union similar to the North German Confederation to divide the interests of the various language areas in Belgium. relation.

In short, I don’t think Belgium needs to go head-to-head with other countries, but should use clever methods to resolve crises with neighboring countries, especially Prussia, its new neighbor. We can learn from them because they are leading the North German Confederation. The effectiveness of the customs union has been well done.”

Beit believed that relations with the Netherlands should be based on friendship, no matter how much His Majesty Leopold I resisted the Kingdom of the Netherlands and how unhappy he felt.

But the largest ethnic group in Belgium is the Dutch, and this cannot be changed. Including the current cabinet members of the Belgian government, the Dutch account for one-third.

Parliament also accounts for 60% of the seats.

So Belgium is naturally pro-Dutch, what's wrong with that?

On the contrary, those people who are deliberately messing up the relations between the Netherlands and Belgium are now trying to mess up the relationship between the Netherlands and Belgium. What are your intentions? Are you happy if you let the Dutch beat their own people?

He very much agrees with the unity that Prime Minister Orban mentioned before, because no matter whether they are French or Dutch, everyone is Belgian, and it seems that this has not changed so far.

He finally emphasized the security aspect: "We cannot hand over this country to absolute pro-British factions who are out of touch with reality even in terms of basic security concepts. That will plunge Belgium into the abyss of war and the hegemony of the British Empire." And lead to the quagmire of war."

He also clearly stated in his campaign platform the need to improve containment capabilities. Be more vigilant about the possible ambitions of Belgium in neighboring countries, including increasing military recruitment, purchasing ships but not limited to the United Kingdom, and increasing loyalty to the people.

Many people speculate that as a pro-Dutch supporter, his final proposal to increase troops and purchase ships was obviously a move to ensure that voters who had doubts about the Netherlands would dispel their doubts.

The idea of ​​improving loyalty is the finishing touch.

The reason is that Belgium and the Netherlands are on heightened alert. Especially recently, many northern provinces have ignored the warnings of the cabinet and directly led by senior officials to visit the Netherlands one after another to seek to sign an economic agreement. Even in terms of security policies, they have Move closer to the Netherlands. Therefore, many people in Belgium are wary of the Netherlands.

Beit's words were to dispel their reaction.

Melant of the Catholic Party advocated that Belgium should carry out internal reforms and that the king should delegate more power to local governments so that governance could be completely improved. When he was speaking, he also put forward the traditional Catholic tradition. It is hoped that Belgium will be more inclined to the economic development of the southern French-speaking region.

His main purpose is to win people's hearts, secure the basic base of the French region, and sit back and watch others.

The "European Times" analyzed the Belgian candidates one by one in the news on February 26, 1862.

"Belgian Prime Minister Valttere Freire Orban and Catholic Barthelemy de Merante are currently the two most promising candidates in Belgium's general election in April.

Alban represents the representative of the Belgian royal family.

After Belgium implemented a constitutional monarchy in 1848, this force has been wooing the Dutch, maintaining its advantage over the French in the south, and winning the final victory in every election.

The core areas are in the provinces of Flanders Brabant and Walloon Brabant, where Brussels is located.

Therefore, he was supported by King Leopold I and was the current Prime Minister of Belgium. The use of governing resources made him the first candidate for re-election.

Merant is running for the Belgian general election on behalf of the southern Catholic party. French people account for about 40% of the population in Belgium, and more than 80% of people believe in Catholics. That is, more than 30% of people in Belgium believe in Catholics. This is also The party's largest source of votes.

Therefore, he has firmly occupied the ranking of the second candidate. His supporters are mainly in the provinces of Hainaut, Namur and Luxembourg.

However, he took this position mainly because of the support of Paris. Among the French people, there are other candidates competing with him, but they are mainly French people who have naturalized Belgian national identity. Whether they are loyal or not is unknown. People can know.

Ranking third is Liberal Joseph Beit, who is a candidate elected by the three provinces of Limburg, Antwerp and Liège.

Another candidate of the Liberal Party, Jules Danetang, received support from the provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders.

"On February 10, 1862, West Flanders Senator Jules Danetant faced off against his opponent in the liberal party's primary election, the same old West Flanders Senator Nathan, and the two directly started a debate on the spot. , the battle was fierce.

Just when everyone was eagerly looking forward to seeing another big drama next time, unexpectedly, Danai Tang actually produced evidence and exposed Nathan's falsified academic qualifications.

This made Nathan, as a senator of East Flanders, his opponent who had been a senator for five years panic. When the evidence was conclusive, he chose to directly withdraw from participating in the Belgian election and recognized the victory of Jules Danetang. Victory, becoming the only candidate in the province, the first winner in Belgium.

Suddenly, the Belgian and European media took notice of him.

I would not have paid attention to such an election. After all, European countries have many general elections or mid-term elections every year, and many even

Great powers are doing it.

However, Belgium has been the focus of European attention many times this year. Especially in the past two months of this year, it has frequently entered newspapers in various countries and has become a frequent news visitor.

And for some reason, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Prussia are all paying close attention to the situation here. In recent days, newspapers in these countries have been reporting on relevant news. Even the statement of one of the senators may be criticized by them. News from various countries, this puzzles many people.

Many people even complain about whether it is superfluous to care so much about Belgium, but how do ordinary people like them know that the current situation in Belgium has reached a point where every move will lead to the future trend of the development of the European situation, and even only a few There is a well-known plot inside, and the stakes are so large that they are comparable to 70% of the territorial trade volume in Europe.

(Your vote can make the ongoing general election in Belgium more lively, please vote for it!

In addition, readers, please save it after reading it and kick it into the goal like a football!

Let’s go to the previous chapter first, Chapter 2 around 17 o’clock. )