Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

In the mid-19th century, with the establishment and development of the capitalist system, social contradictions in Europe and the United States and the shortcomings of private ownership became increasingly apparent. Europeans had to observe reality calmly and objectively analyze Western societies led by Europe.

At the same time, the development of science and technology and the rise of the German Empire, the United States, and the Netherlands gave rise to new ideas in literature across the West.

The formation of two major trends of thought, classical philosophy and utopian-social thought in these three places, has enhanced your ability to observe and analyze society. In this context, the literary trend of critical realism emerged and soon developed into the mainstream of European and American literature in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Especially since the 1830s, realism has gradually become the main trend in literature. By this time, classicism has almost disappeared, and romanticism has taken a back seat. Realist literature implies the description of life. Many works are also called critical realist literature because of their strong criticism of the existing order. These works analyze in detail the conflicting tendencies of human behavior and depict individuals overcoming the challenges brought about by the surrounding environment. Realists like to use the form of novels to deal with the frustrated middle-aged struggle, so the creation of novels has seen an unprecedented prosperity.

The reason for the popularity of the critical realist literature trend is that after the industrial revolution unfolded in Western Europe, the capitalist economy developed rapidly, and the contradictions and drawbacks inherent in the capitalist system were gradually exposed, truly reflecting real life, Realistic literature that does not expose and criticize the darkness of society has gradually become the mainstream of literature.

It even eventually evolved into literature that emerged in Europe in the 1830s, describing life based on facts and making strong judgments on the existing order.

Among the outstanding ones are: "The Red and the Black" by the French critical realist writer Stendhal.

On February 25, 1879, Dutch social reform thinker Henry Lloyd published a novel at an alumni meeting hosted by the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Melbourne. It directly accused many previous elections in the United States of being fake elections. And alluded to the integrity of this month’s election in the United States.

His critical novels make everyone who is anti-American can't help but shine. Especially British newspapers have published this novel one after another.

In the report, he directly pointed out that the Civil War broke out in the United States from 1861 to 1866, with the north victorious but the south independent. At this time, the American capitalist economy developed rapidly, formed a monopoly capital, controlled the country and political power, and implemented internal policies. The two-party system, under the guise of democracy and freedom, implements cruel class oppression and exploitation, exports foreign capital, and carries out plunder and expansion.

He then directly criticized the U.S. presidential and gubernatorial elections. The governors of each state were elected through two-party elections. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party each sought votes and paid heavily to win the election. The two parties attacked each other and did not hesitate to spread rumors and slander. other side.

This dark social reality is reflected in Henry Lloyd's novel called "The Campaign for President and Governor," which paints a wonderful caricature of American "democracy."

The novel was published 13 years after the end of the American Civil War, and 1879, the first time in history that two parties jointly formed a cabinet government in the world.

The publication of his novel immediately triggered a wave of modern European literature.

Various European literary writers have given extremely high evaluations. Suddenly, Henry Lloyd seems to have become the leader of new critical literature.

In this novel, as soon as the war in the United States ended in 1866, Johnson, who succeeded the assassinated President Lincoln as the northern president, pardoned some of the rebel northern slave owners, and absurdly proposed to accept the re-establishment of the southern rebel states on the principle of equality. Join the United States Commonwealth.

At the same time, speculators in the North, slave owners in the South, and the notorious Three? The K. K. Party was rampant. Under the pressure of the American people's struggle, the U.S. Congress even passed laws to reconstruct the South, and successively promulgated the Black Civil Rights Act and promulgated the Constitutional Amendment. But writing it on paper is one thing, but What actually works is another matter.

However, Henry Lloyd mockingly pointed out that the South did not abandon the North, but continued to stand on its own as a country. He pointed out that part of the inspiration for the United States in his novels came from this background.

"In this novel, in terms of character, the candidate of the Independence Party is a decent person, but in terms of will and quality, he is a coward. All kinds of unscrupulous slanders made by a group of political hooligans about his opponents. He was framed, but he was helpless and gave in step by step until he withdrew from the election.

On the one hand, this result is naturally due to the fact that the external evil forces are too strong and despicable; on the other hand, it is due to the blind concessions of the candidates of the Independence Party themselves. In a certain sense, the Independence Party People's own tolerance and cowardice lead to the rampant evil.

The Independent Party candidate's performance during the gubernatorial election was weak and vulnerable. He was criticized for accepting anti-democratic behavior and was helpless. This reflected the true scene of American politics at that time. People were In the face of hypocritical democracy, we can only sigh secretly. "

The world-renowned British writer Dickens was immediately shocked after reading the entire novel, so he wrote a long review of the novel in the London Times.

Dickens's strong influence immediately gave the novel a great promotion.

As the influence of "Running for President and Governor" expanded, it immediately attracted the attention of European and American writers, and began to publish its own critical realist literary works.

On March 2, 1879, Maupassant, the famous French master of critical realism, released the semi-finished "The Necklace" in advance. It was originally completed in 1884. This novel created the image of a petty bourgeois woman, thus satirizing and criticizing Vanity and the pursuit of pleasure in capitalist society.

On March 10, 1879, the emerging American writer O. Henry published "The Cop and the Hymn". The work describes a poor, unemployed and homeless homeless man who deliberately commits crimes in order to find a place in prison and gets into trouble several times. He failed to achieve his goal, and later wanted to change his ways, but the police arrested him. This work reveals the dark reality of capitalist society and reflects the life and spiritual pain of the lower class people. It aroused great resonance in the United States. With this work, he became a well-known writer in the United States.

As if not to be outdone, the French writer Balzac launched a masterpiece called "The Human Comedy" in Paris. It vividly reflected the decline of the French aristocracy and the rise of the bourgeoisie, and profoundly exposed the rule of money. all the evils caused