Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The Netherlands, Tsarist Russia, Greece, and Serbia signed the "Albanian Defense Agreement" to strengthen defense cooperation among the four countries in the Balkan Peninsula!

On June 7, 1881, in Tirana, the capital of the Dutch province of Albania, the Dutch Foreign Minister, as the host, welcomed the first guests to attend the event, Gorchakov, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, and Kumundu, Prime Minister of Greece. Ross's visit.

Milan Obreno IV, who had only been King of Serbia for two years, was also present in person on the same day.

As early as three days ago, Gorchakov had visited Serbia, which is also a Slavic country. This time he just stopped by Albania directly.

The Dutch province of Albania is adjacent to Greece, so the prime ministers of both countries naturally came to Tirana very quickly.

Joseph Beit and Gorchakov, as well as Kumunduros and Milan Obreno IV, signed the historic "Albania Agreement" in Tirana on June 8, aiming to strengthen the Hoosce defense cooperation among the four countries.

This agreement immediately became the focus of all countries around the world that day. The "Balkan Peninsula Summit" was still a few days away from being held on June 10. Many people originally thought that breaking news would be released then, but before it started, the Netherlands created such a deal. The breaking news came, which surprised everyone.

As a result, global attention began to shift from the fact that Britain, France and Germany had not yet decided whether to hold a royal summit, to the Balkan Peninsula.

Gorchakov ended his visit to Serbia on June 6 and passed through the city of Kukes in southern Serbia by land. He entered the Albanian border on the same day and arrived in Tirana on June 7.

Greek Prime Minister Kumundoulos arrived in Tirana on the same day, where he held four-way talks the next day.

The four participated in the Four Nations Summit on June 8, 1881 on Friday. The four countries later announced the promotion of cooperation on the Balkan Peninsula issue, and the Netherlands and the Russian Empire nodded in agreement that the two countries would provide more security assistance to Serbia and Greece.

After Prime Minister Gorchakov met with Joseph Beit and Kumunduros and Milan Obreno IV and issued a declaration, the Imperial Government of Russia stated that Gorchakov would later visit Zavzo, Albania Province Tai military port and confirmed new defense cooperation between the Netherlands, Russia, Greece and Serbia.

As part of the agreement, Gorchakov promised to develop a partnership with the Netherlands and Greece to safeguard the security of the Balkan Peninsula, in order to promote the maintenance of Sango's interests in the region amid increasingly fierce competition in the division of spheres of influence.

After Gorchakov reached a defense agreement with the other three countries in Tirana and prepared to attend the Balkan Peninsula Summit in Tirana two days later, he pointed out in Tirana that the "Albania Agreement" aims to deepen Military cooperation between the Netherlands and the Russian Empire, Serbia, and Greece to jointly develop economic and scientific and technological expertise, and the four countries agreed to build a line from the Ukrainian region of the Russian Empire (Russia) - Moldova (Russia), Romania ( The land channel connecting the four countries is Russia)-Serbia-Albania (Netherlands)-Greece (Greece) and serves as an artery for mutual support of land military supplies between the four countries.

The Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Beit publicly stated that Dutch companies invested 500 million Dutch guilders (20 million pounds) to participate in the construction of this artery. After completion, Albania will become the main link between Serbia and the Russian Empire in the Balkan Peninsula. It is an outlet to the sea and is also a land bridge connecting Serbia, the Russian Empire and Greece.

This is great news for the four countries.

Milan Obreno IV said that this represented the Netherlands' huge vote of confidence in Serbia's economic development.

Greek Prime Minister Kumundoulos said that while Greece enjoys economic benefits, Greece will definitely benefit a lot from the security of Greece's surrounding areas by further developing defense relations with the three countries.

When Bismarck, the German Prime Minister, who was visiting Vienna of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, knew the news, he was in talks with Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When he heard the news, Joseph I saw an obvious displeasure on Bismarck's face. , although it disappeared quickly.

Franz Joseph I said at this time: "Obviously, the four countries of the Netherlands, Tsarist Russia, Greece, and Serbia signed the historic "Albania Agreement" on June 8, 1881, which strengthened the multilateral relations among the four parties and promoted defense. , cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and technology. This is really not a good thing for our Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fortunately, the disputes between us and the Tsarist Russian Empire have been reduced a lot recently, and the hostility between the two countries has been reduced.

Who was Bismarck? He was a man known for his many tricks in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. He naturally understood the other party's temptations.

Bismarck responded: "Although the hostility between the Tsarist Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has decreased, your Majesty doesn't know that this is because the Tsarist Russian Empire is anesthetizing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and then using Serbia to compete with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Territory of the Balkan Peninsula, it is said that the Tsarist Russian Empire has recently complained to the Austro-Hungarian Embassy in Tsarist Russia many times, accusing the Austro-Hungarian Empire of intervening in Serbia’s internal affairs and the unfair treatment of the Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.”

He raised his head and said: "I don't think Tsarist Russia has relaxed its vigilance against Austria-Hungary. On the contrary, I think Tsarist Russia is using another method to keep Austria-Hungary busy in the south, and then take advantage of it when the north relaxes its vigilance. Attack Serbia in the south from north to south, and seize Slovakia, Hungary and other territories close to Tsarist Russia in one fell swoop. What do you think of my analysis?"

Looking at the gloomy expression of Franz Joseph I, Bismarck knew that he had the initiative again.

So he said: "The German Empire sincerely believes that the relationship between our two countries has never been as strong as it is today. We have signed a partnership agreement. I think it is time for Germany and Austria-Hungary to further strengthen and deepen their partnership. "

Franz Joseph I was shocked when he heard this, and his eyes fell on Bismarck, who was looking directly at him calmly.

Bismarck said without fear: "Prussia and Austria have always been important members of the German Confederation. Now the German Empire has risen. I'm sorry, although I know this is a bit displeasing to Austria-Hungary and His Majesty, but this is the fact. Facing the British Allying with the Second French Empire, facing the Netherlands' extensive alliance circle around the world, as a member of the once great German Confederation, we have the obligation to safeguard the great glory of Germany, so many people think that I am just trying to disgust the Netherlands. It’s just the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In fact, what they don’t know is that the purpose of His Majesty and I is to hope that the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire can establish the most reliable alliance system.”