Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

With the compromise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although Italy was not reconciled to the success of the Netherlands in Albania and was recognized by various countries, it has to be said that Umberto I was still not as tough as his father, so he still compromised. Because Italy used to rely on its relationship with the French Empire, as the French Empire split into two countries, the north and the south, Italy was a little panicked.

What's more, the Netherlands' ally, the Kingdom of Spain, is also in the western Mediterranean. Queen Louis I of the Kingdom of Portugal is the biological sister of Umberto I. Italy and Portugal have a close alliance, but Umberto I still chooses to continue to sit back and watch. Countries in Europe and even the world are fighting against each other in an attempt to reap the benefits of others.

So Italy also ostensibly participated.

In the past, the Tsarist Empire naturally hoped that the Balkan Peninsula would be as chaotic as possible, so that they could take advantage of the troubled waters, promote the Pan-Slavic movement, and promote the expansion of the Tsarist Russian Empire's power in the Balkan Peninsula.

However, with the death of Alexander II, Alexander III, who had just come to power, had just registered. There were too many things waiting for him to deal with, so he chose to send senior diplomats to participate this time, which showed that the Russian Empire was trying to ease relations with all parties in the Balkans. , to ease the relationship with Ottoman Turkey due to the invasion of Moldova and Romania by the Shah Empire a few years ago. It also made countries lower their vigilance against the Pan-Slavic movement implemented by the Tsarist Russian Empire in the Balkans.

Therefore, it makes sense that the Russian Empire chose to participate in the meeting.

Therefore, although these countries came to Albania to participate in the summit under the name of their own children, they all expressed their willingness to participate. Invisibly, the influence of the Netherlands was thus established.

Joseph Beit, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, emphasized in Tirana, the capital of Albania: "The cooperation between the Netherlands and the relevant parties in the Balkans is not a third party, and the business has competed with other mechanisms."

He said, "As long as it is truly conducive to the stability and development of the Balkan Peninsula and the common prosperity of this region, the Netherlands is willing to support it."

"According to Dutch official statistics, in 1880 last year, the trade volume of Dutch products with neighboring countries, including the Dutch province of Albania as a transit, reached 50 million guilders (2 million pounds), a year-on-year increase of about 30%, hitting a record high. This year In the first quarter, Albania’s trade with this region increased by 50% year-on-year, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the Netherlands’ diplomacy with other places during the same period. Data from the Dutch Ministry of Industry and Commerce adds more legitimacy to the Netherlands’ policy in the Balkans.”

On May 29, 1881, Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Beit met with the visiting Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Alexandros Kumundoulos in Tirana.

Kumundoulos took the lead in saying that the relationship between the Netherlands and Greece has opened a new chapter. The two sides should firmly support each other, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, seek development opportunities together, and promote the construction of a Dutch-Greek community with a shared future in which the two countries have ever-lasting friendship, a high degree of mutual trust, and share weal and woe.

Joseph Baite strongly agreed with this and appreciated Greece's support to the Netherlands during the Anglo-Dutch struggle. The Dutch people will remember this and the Netherlands will not forget it.

At the same time, Joseph Baite introduced at the briefing held for the summit that with the promotion of the Netherlands, relevant parties in the Balkan Peninsula will jointly sign an important political document at this summit and witness the signing of a number of cooperation projects. The documents are designed to further enrich and expand the connotation of the relationship between the Netherlands and the region, including trade with the Netherlands, investment in Dutch capital, and mutual rescue among maritime countries.

In an interview with "European Times", Bowie, assistant director of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies at the University of Melbourne in the Netherlands, analyzed that the Netherlands' continued escalation of contacts with countries around the Balkan Peninsula will inevitably increase the concerns of the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Beit may have communicated with the Russian Empire while attending the funeral and enthronement ceremony in St. Petersburg, and Joseph Beit directly visited Vienna after leaving St. Petersburg. This made it possible for the senior leaders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to communicate with the Dutch diplomat. After the talks with the ministers, Austria-Hungary will gain understanding to a certain extent.

The scholar interviewed analyzed that the Balkan Peninsula has always been the traditional sphere of influence of the Tsarist Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. In name, many countries have just been forced to split from the Ottoman Empire, so the latter has Any change in the Balkans is deeply disturbing.

For example, Albania was a territory of the Ottoman Empire 10 years ago, but it was only because of the promotion of the Netherlands that it began to break away from the Ottoman Empire. Later, Montenegro, Croatia, etc. all broke away from the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. They all turned against each other.

Therefore, the Ottoman Empire is traditionally the most powerful power holder. The Netherlands’ latest statement is to reduce the antipathy between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Tsarist Russia. At the same time, it actually invited Constantinople to participate in the conference. It may also be that the Netherlands intends to Reduce Constantinople's strategic doubts.

Although the Ottoman Empire was dissatisfied, it had a bad relationship with the Russian Empire and was deeply involved in it. Hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed on the border between the two countries, and they had no time to worry about the Netherlands and other countries using the key positions of Greece and Albania to gain power in the Balkans.

What's more, the Ottoman Empire may believe that Albania is not on the side of the Balkan Peninsula close to the Ottoman Empire, but on the side close to Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This helps reduce the pressure on the Ottoman Empire to deal with these countries. Therefore, Constantinople finally agreed to participate in the meeting, which gave it an opportunity to ease its support for the British Mediterranean exercises and almost offend the Netherlands.

Brown, chief researcher and director of the Amsterdam Institute for Peace, assessed that the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Tsarist Russian Empire all have more or less control over the Balkans because of the chaotic security situation at home and around them. The peninsula’s influence is declining, and it “definitely cannot take into account” the Netherlands’ entry into its traditional sphere of influence.

The South American Union, led by the Netherlands, will hold a summit at the speaker level of the South American Union in Kiel, Ecuador on Friday. According to Brown, chief researcher and director of the Amsterdam Peace Institute, the Netherlands will hold a meeting on the Balkan Peninsula issues with neighboring countries on the Balkan Peninsula at this time. A summit at the level of the Foreign Minister, does this show that the Kingdom of the Netherlands is trying its best to demonstrate the Netherlands' ability to hold international meetings, and at the same time, it also tries to let people see the Netherlands' ability to communicate with its international allies or partner countries? This is a kind of strength of the Netherlands towards the United Kingdom. Rolling and beating.

At the same time, many people found that the Netherlands did not invite the German Empire to the Balkan Peninsula Summit. This was very surprising to many people. Obviously, there was something wrong between the Netherlands and the German Empire, otherwise it would not be like this in the past.

Therefore, like the United Kingdom, the German Empire did not participate in the conference, but it became one of the protagonists on the sidelines of the two Dutch-led summits.

Does this indicate that the Netherlands is expressing that Britain and Germany are not the only global power order that dominates the world? Without them, the Netherlands can also push other countries to formulate stable solutions to the world?