Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

After the Netherlands has intentionally or unintentionally imposed a blockade on British grain exports in recent years, and the Confederate States of America have imposed a 17-year embargo on British grain since the Civil War in 1861, the only four major markets that Britain hopes to import are the Russian Empire and South America. of Argentina.

Catching up with the three consecutive years from 1876 to 1878, the domestic grain production in the United Kingdom was not good. Food prices in the United Kingdom continued to rise. The British people could no longer bear it, and they demanded that the British Empire ease its relationship with the Netherlands, which was second only to Argentina and was still in the American Union. The country has a relationship with the second largest grain exporter before Tsarist Russia. Let's restore normal trade relations with the Netherlands. At the very least, it would be better to restore relations with the Commonwealth of America.

Creston's Whig Party has always been a supporter of free trade and has always hoped to resolve its relationship with the Commonwealth of America through diplomatic channels to avoid being united in the grain import market and posing a threat to the UK. , you must know that the Russian Empire, Argentina, and the Commonwealth of America are all real strategic allies of the Netherlands. Together with the Netherlands, they constitute the "four major grain exporting countries" with the greatest ability to monopolize the world's grain market. For many countries, these four countries cannot be offended.

So look at Argentina forming the most powerful army in South America by selling food, and it even has an advantage over Brazil.

The Tsarist Empire sold grain to Europe every year. As a result, the Tsarist Russian Empire had huge foreign exchange to import more weapons and arm itself.

Britain also faces the threat of these four countries' monopoly on food.

It happened to be facing a food shortage in Canada and the British Isles, so the Creston government wanted to ease relations with the Commonwealth of America and fully deal with the Netherlands. This was a consensus reached by the two parties in the UK.

But Creston obviously missed the attitude of the Commonwealth of America. On September 13, 1878, the British Ambassador to the United States returned to London and brought with him the President of the Commonwealth of America, Stephen Douglas, who rejected the British plan to lift grain exports this year. In response to the British approach, Stephen Douglas even asked the United Kingdom to abandon its support for the Confederate States of America in the southern United States. The Confederate States of America would only lift the food ban after agreeing to unify the north and the south. Naturally, the Creston government was unwilling to do so. .

He even regarded it as an ultimatum for the Commonwealth of America to support the Dutch and the British in the dispute to help the Dutch strengthen the weak signal, in order to improve the negotiating terms with the British.

Faced with Stephen Douglas' "Lion's Big Opening", he was naturally unsatisfied.

Therefore, after putting aside the Tsarist Empire, which Britain had always checked and balanced, he placed the solution to Britain's food crisis on Argentina.

Therefore, President Miter, who has been in charge of the Argentine government for 17 years, has recently begun to receive an endless stream of guests from the United Kingdom, which has attracted a lot of attention internationally.

At the same time, many people in the Netherlands are very dissatisfied with Britain's poaching of Dutch allies. This, coupled with the recent disputes between the two countries in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, has created a highly anti-British effect in the Netherlands.

Many people even believe that Britain's overtures to the Commonwealth of America and Argentina were an attempt to isolate the Netherlands. So the powerful Liberal Party in the Netherlands began to ask the Dutch Congress to declare war on Britain, at least on the battlefield in Chile in South America.

Prior to this, except for the passive declaration of war in 1863 against Portugal's invasion of the Dutch colony of Congo in Africa, the Netherlands had not officially declared war on any foreign country for 15 years. This is a legal procedure, which is submitted by the Prime Minister to Congress and formally declares war.

Prime Minister Gerrit de Vries suggested directly declaring war on the British army in Chile, because that was the battlefield where the two countries tested each other and controlled the battlefield within a certain range.

But Gerrit de Vries's suggestion was rejected by the Christian Party.

The Christian Party felt that the battlefield had opened and was definitely not limited to Chile, so it believed that a full-scale war should be declared on Britain. The Christian Party leader Theo von Linden suggested that the Dutch Parliament should declare a full-scale war. As expected, he was a Dutch naval general and was an eagle. group.

The main members of the Socialist Party come from immigrants, so when facing a war, many of these immigrants have unsupportive practices. This is a wise move to protect themselves.

As a result, the leader of the party, Jules Danetant, united all the socialist parties in Congress and expressed their preference for peace.

When Prime Minister Gerrit de Vries' request was discussed in the House of Representatives (lower house) of the Dutch Parliament, Jules Danetang first stood up and objected: "There is not enough money, there is not enough army, and there is not enough navy to completely suppress it." Is it mentally ill to declare war on Britain when Britain is under such circumstances?"

However, his statement was directly refuted. Gerrit de Vries retorted: "Nothing in this world is perfect, so when it comes to the British issue, we cannot sit back and wait for death, but should take the initiative."

As a result, the two had a fierce confrontation. As an ally of the Socialist Party, the Christian Party also intervened from time to time to criticize the Liberal Party, but it also played a moderating role.

In the end, the young man who represented a tough foreign policy was delighted to see that Congress still approved the Christian Party's proposal to declare full war on Britain.

William IV, who knew the news, couldn't help but think that the young Dutch people represented by War Eagle had not experienced the Napoleonic War sixty or seventy years ago. Many of them gained their arrogant confidence from the victory in the Dutch-Portuguese War. They had not seen the British The Royal Navy crushed the thunderous means of the Spanish Navy at sea, and it had never seen a maritime suppression of France, so this time the main war faction had the upper hand.

In the Dutch Parliament, the liberals have always focused on trade, while the Christian Party is a hard-liner.

In addition, the newly established Socialist Party has now become the third largest force, and the party is trying to seize the middle votes.

Although the Dutch political scene seemed chaotic at this time, it had become an isosceles triangle and entered a stable period following the period of the Three Kingdoms' struggle for hegemony.

Therefore, this is the time when William IV is most at ease with Dutch politics.

It would not be a bad idea to launch a tentative challenge to Britain at this time.

If the Netherlands wants to become a world power, the term "peaceful rise" that is familiar to later generations is a joke in this era. There is only one way for newly rising powers to challenge the countries blocking the route in front of them, and that is to move away from the other side and seize the position.

It is very difficult for the Netherlands to comprehensively defeat the UK at this time. The Netherlands has no chance to do it in the Atlantic Ocean alone. The same is true for the Mediterranean. The Netherlands currently has the upper hand in the Indian Ocean. The Netherlands can overwhelm the UK in the Pacific direction. In fact, the UK is currently in There is almost no territory left in the Pacific, only the Malayan Islands and a certain port town occupying the southern part of the great country in the north and Far East.

Therefore, William IV chose to launch a regional and local war against Britain in the Pacific this time, but it was the war with the lowest cost and the highest benefit.

William IV acquiesced, and Dutch political policies passed more happily.

Therefore, on September 14, 1878, the Dutch Parliament passed the proposal of Gerrit de Vries, and after adding it, officially issued a strong statement on September 16, 1878 against the British infringement of Dutch rights and interests in the Strait of Malacca in the Far East. At the same time, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced that it would support the new government of Chilean Arturo Lauzon and oppose British interference in Chile's internal affairs.

“We have dispatched a powerful naval fleet to Santiago to help defend against threats from the sea to the government of Arturo Lauzon. We are committed to supporting the government of Arturo Lauzon to change the brutal and brutal previous government of Mascaiano. to support the 1.8 million Chilean people to live a better life. To this end, our Dutch cabinet government has signed an executive order to allow powerful Dutch companies from all walks of life to go to Chile to promote the development of the local economy and benefit the local people. Provide employment opportunities for local people, assist President Arturo Lauzon in easing Chile’s antagonistic civil atmosphere, and calm Chileans’ dissatisfaction with the poor management of the previous government.”

On the same day, the Netherlands Ministry of Defense also solemnly announced, “We will not abandon our South American allies, so the Netherlands is ready to join forces with the four Pacific coast countries of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, and the landlocked country of Bolivia to form a military force. The five-nation land coalition led by the Netherlands, with approximately 50,000 troops, went to Chile to support the government of Arturo Lauzon and maintain peace and stability in the country."

The Netherlands actually declared war on Britain without warning, and it was really natural, as if there was no news beforehand.

The most surprising thing is that the Netherlands actually united 4 countries to form a 5-nation coalition with the Eastern Pacific Coast countries. The number of people reached 50,000, which was already a huge number.

You must know that Chile's current total military strength is only 100,000, and former President Mascaiano in the south has 30,000, while the new government only has 70,000, and it is a mixed new army.

If these 50,000 five-nation coalition troops arrive in Chile, they will definitely be a major change in the local military strength.

You must know that taking Argentina, the second comprehensive power in South America, as an example, its population increased from 2.7 million in 1865 to 3.95 million in 1877, an increase of 46.3%, which was still 4 points short of reaching nearly half.

Argentina, with a population of nearly 4 million, currently has only 150,000 conventional troops.

The 10,000 Russians in the five-nation coalition are worth one-third of Argentina's conventional army.

It has also reached one-fifth of Brazil's 250,000 troops with a population of 8 million.

So when the Netherlands announced the establishment of the International Five-Nation Alliance, it not only attracted attention in Europe and was condemned in the UK, but also in South America. In addition to the other four countries, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay also expressed the expansion of the Netherlands' strength in South America. dissatisfaction.

However, Venezuela did not express any opinions, but everyone noticed one thing, that is, Argentina, the Netherlands' largest ally in South America, although it did not express dissatisfaction like Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, it also expressed concern.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is a signal that Argentina is also dissatisfied with the Netherlands' approach of forming a coalition with other South American countries behind their backs.

Argentina's statement made the British Creston's eyes brighten at this time, so British diplomats went to Argentina more frequently, and the Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom was also summoned more times by the British Foreign Office. The news spread like wildfire. , spread from London to Europe and the world.

Obviously, this is a counterattack by Britain, which continues to dig deeper into the Dutch alliance circle.