Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On April 15, 1881, Crown Prince Frederick of the German Empire personally went to Richmond, the capital of the separatist Confederate States of America in the southern United States, and was warmly welcomed by Alexander Stephens, the president of this thirteen-state country.

This aroused dissatisfaction in the northern American Commonwealth.

After all, in recent years, only the United Kingdom and a few small countries with Britain as the leader have maintained tense diplomatic relations with Richmond. Under the face and pressure of other countries publishing the United States, politicians from various countries have not Will visit the southern government.

It is now common practice for Crown Prince Frederick of Germany to take the lead in setting foot on Richmond, which gives the Richmond regime in the south a window of opportunity to break a diplomatic breakthrough.

This naturally made Washington very dissatisfied.

So Washington's Secretary of State Thomas urgently summoned the German Empire's ambassador to the Confederate States of America to express his dissatisfaction strongly.

The German Empire seemed to have a plan in advance. Prime Minister Bismarck in Berlin said directly:

"We have no intention of changing our consistent practice of recognizing Washington as the only legal government of the United States, but facing the Richmond regime of 12 million Americans in the south, we should not ignore their living conditions and the impact on the German Empire. Talking about economic interests, so we do not think that Crown Prince Frederick’s visit is a political action to offend northern Washington. On the contrary, I think it is us contributing negotiation power to both the north and the south.

We hope that Washington and Richmond, with the support of Berlin in negotiations, can peacefully resolve the issue of unity or division between the two parties, instead of appearing as igniting the flames."

Regarding Bismarck's statement, the Richmond government in the south of the United States welcomed it, and Alexander Stephens expressed strong welcome, "We in the Confederate States of America hope that other major powers besides Britain will join us in the confrontation with Washington in the north to ease both sides. We in Richmond are a government that maintains peace and stability in the country and surrounding areas. We are currently in a semi-hostile state like the Second French Empire and the Third French Republic in Paris, which are divided within France. We do not want to maintain this state. relations, we are willing to maintain a fraternal confederacy between Washington, but the premise is that Washington should negotiate with us on an equal footing and hold meetings on an equal footing. We have been frank with Crown Prince Frederick, who came with the opportunity for peace negotiations. to have a conversation.

In addition to Britain and Germany, what I can tell you is that we have also had a lot of communication with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has influence in America. Although our ally the British Empire is also worried about the influence of the Netherlands in Latin America, we We have no objection to Dutch participation in peace negotiations between our South and our North.

At present, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, whether it is the Christian Party, the Liberal Party, or the Socialist Party, has established stable ties with the two domestic parties in our country. We have carried out friendly political-party diplomacy, and we have no objection to the Dutch government joining Join the British and Germans as arbiters in our negotiations between Richmond and Washington.”

President Alexander Stephens of the South made a public appeal and received a response from Melbourne.

On April 22, 1881, Joseph Beit, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said in Melbourne, “The Netherlands supports talks between the divided North and South of the United States, and we support face-to-face negotiations between President Stephen Douglas in the north and President Alexander Douglas in the south. , we are willing to provide fair venues such as our Dutch Guiana in South America.

In principle, we are not opposed to frank negotiations between the two parties.”

The United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands have entered North America and been involved in the division of the North and the South in the United States, causing other major countries to express their stance on it.

For example, after becoming Alexander III, Alexandrovich, who had ascended the throne and became the new tsar, directly stated in St. Petersburg that he would not destroy the friendly relations with Washington. “Our position of supporting Washington has always been Nothing has changed. I will soon issue an order to have more close contact with Washington, and then with Washington’s understanding, we will start contacts with the south.”

Others, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Second French Empire, have joined in trying to increase their international presence in an attempt to demonstrate their diplomatic capabilities as major powers.

On April 24, 1881, Crown Prince Frederick of Germany arrived in Washington after leaving Richmond.

Secretary of State Thomas, on behalf of Stephen Douglas, personally welcomed the other party's arrival at the pier, and President Stephen held a grand welcome ceremony at the White House on the next day.

During this visit to Washington, the capital of the Commonwealth of America, Crown Prince Frederick was met by Stephen Douglas, President of the Commonwealth of America. As soon as the two met, Crown Prince Frederick talked a lot about Germany's attitude in Latin America.

I saw Crown Prince Frederick: "When the Americans cannot even solve the problem of the reunification of the North and the South in the United States, how can they say convincingly to the problems in the entire America: 'If you encounter foreign interference and do something wrong, we, the Commonwealth of the United States, will Congress steps in?’ That’s what you’d do if you really wanted to escalate tensions.

The last two sentences are actually exactly what the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are doing in the Americas.

The weak American Commonwealth hopes for peace and stability in America and Latin America, and the situation will not escalate. This is consistent with what our German Empire is doing in Latin America, emphasizing not to add fuel to the vicious political struggle between Britain and the Netherlands. "

After Stephen Douglas stared at the other party for a few times, he said: "We do not object to Berlin's accusation of the British. In fact, we have always suspected that the British and the Dutch were fanning the flames like the German Empire. This makes them suspicious."

Stephen Douglas's statement made Crown Prince Frederick very happy, so the two started a "frank" communication.

They also exchanged their respective opinions and views on the Richmond government in the south.

Netherlands, Melbourne.

In the recent Privy Council meeting that William IV attended, he saw one after another about the friendly relations between the United States and Germany, etc., which made him frown.

Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands all joined in meddling in the internal affairs of the United States. In fact, William IV knew that Washington would not be satisfied. However, due to the powerful presence of various countries, Washington could only swallow this bitter pill alive.

You must know that since President Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1818, Washington has not wanted European powers in Latin America to compete for influence, not to mention that it is still exerting influence directly on the United States itself.

However, in the past, internal fighting among European countries could be used to check and balance. The problem now is that almost all European countries fight without defeat, leaving Washington unable to resist. In the end, I had to accept it. At this time, President Stephen Douglas must be very unhappy.

Chapter One, there are five chapters in total.