Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

"The Group of 7 of the Union of South America has expanded its membership to the Group of 13! America has finally entered the international stage" - American President Stephen Douglas. No one knows the bitterness in this American president's heart.

"Mexico, threatened by Germany and Austria, turned around and joined the South American Union at full speed. It officially became the coalition with the military background of the group. Along with Mexico, it also joined the five Central American Federation countries. In addition to the original 7 countries, a total of the South American Union organization was formed. The Group of 13. We are opposed to highly group-oriented organizations in Latin America. As an extraterritorial power, the Netherlands has always been opposed to the Netherlands’ expansion in Latin America.” - Argentine President Miter’s 1879 anti-Dutch opposition Since then, I have continued to rush to the front.

"The Netherlands has 30,000 people, Mexico has 15,000 people, Colombia has 15,000 people, Venezuela has 15,000 people, Chile has 10,000 people, the five countries of the Central American Federation have 10,000 people, Bolivia has 5,000 people, Peru has 5,000 people, Ecuador has 5,000 people, and the multinational coalition of 100,000 people is composed of 100,000 people. Whether it is a blessing or a curse for South America is not yet known, but one thing I have to say is that this is definitely not good news for Germany and Austria, which have just expressed their interest in Latin America.”—— Queen Isabella II of Spain, since establishing an alliance with the Netherlands, has become the Netherlands' most reliable and steadfast ally of the same level on international issues. Even compared to the Tsarist Empire, Spain is more reliable. Compose some music.

"No one would think that the Netherlands is hostile to the Brazilian Empire, but sometimes as a country's rulers, we do not believe in basing security on the goodwill of other countries. Therefore, the Brazilian Empire has currently responded to the American Commonwealth through Stephen and Louis I. Based on the Portuguese king's idea, our three countries soon started consultations on forming a mutual benefit team.

At the same time, as a major country in the region, Brazil is willing to carry out maritime security cooperation with the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire from afar to maintain a safe environment on the Atlantic shipping lanes of Latin America." - Pedro II of the Brazilian Empire, who just recently In the confrontation with Prime Minister Fonseca, the domestic political giant, he had just gained a slight upper hand and regained the military's dominance.

Different from the economic and cabinet politics, Pedro II has more direct lineage and power in the military, so this time, he stood up first and made a statement on his behalf. At the same time, this was also a show of goodwill to the United States. , Portugal, Germany and Austria.

However, as soon as the emperor expressed his stance, his opponent, Prime Minister Fonseca, directly expressed his stance in Rio de Janeiro: "The Brazilian Empire does not need to participate in the competition in Latin America, because Brazil has been a big country from the beginning. I believe that no matter who it is, When countries from outside the region come to South America, they need to say hello to Brazil instead of making things difficult for Brazil. Brazil has traditionally had a good relationship with the Netherlands, so my cabinet government will continue to maintain this friendship."

This time, even Queen Victoria, who had not shown her face in public in the UK for a long time, attended a charity banquet in London and publicly stated her position on the matter: "In the early 19th century, Latin America kept saying that it would break away from Spanish colonization and become independent. , take charge of the country, but now it seems that everything is just words. Their current rulers, except for a few countries such as Argentina and Brazil, have forgotten the original intention of those who established the country. , We in the British Empire oppose the Dutch expansion in South America and throughout Latin America, and we call on Latin American countries to remain neutral in the Anglo-Dutch struggle.

At the same time, we call on the G13 not to get involved in the fight between the Netherlands and the UK,"

Alexander III, the new tsar of the Russian Empire, made his first public statement after he succeeded to the throne: "The Netherlands is our ally of Tsarist Russia, and we will not abandon each other. This time we sent Tsarist Russia's Speaker of the House of Commons Thaksov as a partner of the South American Union Group to participate in the event. After understanding the organization, we believe that the Russian Empire will continue to cooperate with them as a partner country. We strongly oppose Europe's threats and coercion of Latin American countries on behalf of other countries. We do not agree with the coercion of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The way other countries stand up to express their position is just like Belgium siding with Britain in the Anglo-Dutch dispute from the beginning. I don’t understand why the Dutch allies are wrong when they team up with the Netherlands?”

This issue of Alexander III immediately aroused huge international attention, mainly because as soon as he came to power, he showed an anti-British face, which made people understand that the Tsarist Russian Empire was still the familiar anti-British Tsarist Russian Empire for decades. Unchanged.

At the same time, it is also known that the Tsar still attaches great importance to the Netherlands, and this time, those who oppose the expansion of the South American Union to the 13-nation Group include the United States, Portugal and Brazil, as well as the close neighbors of the Russian Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary. .

This is definitely a huge gift for the Netherlands.

Therefore, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly publicly expressed its gratitude to Alexander III for his support.

At the same time, the Netherlands naturally would not let the opponent go easily, and they chose to fight back.

On June 13, 1881, the newly enlarged 13-nation South American Group issued a statement supporting the Dutch policy toward the United Kingdom. All member countries would immediately implement the current Dutch policy toward the United Kingdom from that date and expand sanctions against the United Kingdom.

The summit of the Group of 13 continued for its third day in Kiel, the capital of Ecuador, on June 13, 1881. On the first day, the issue of expansion was discussed and passed. On the second day, the global situation and economic issues of developing member states were discussed. On the third day, the summit was also held. Before it even started, it was immediately announced at 10 a.m. that the first issue was approved by all members. That is to support the Netherlands in sanctioning the UK.

All member states voted in favor.

The Speakers of Representatives of the participating countries subsequently issued a statement to increase export and import controls on the UK and restrict investment in the UK from member states. The draft joint communique released at 10 a.m. that day emphasized that dependence on British investment and goods must be reduced or even eliminated. All member states agreed that from now on, no member state is allowed to purchase British weapons.

Baron Caslen, Speaker of the Dutch House of Commons, said at the summit: "This is to make the UK pay a price, and we hope that partner countries will follow suit in order to increase the intensity of sanctions."

All member states immediately approved it.

On the same day, based on the "Military Defense Action Plan of the Group of 13" proposed by Baron Caslen, the summit issued a statement on member states purchasing Dutch weapons and increasing the defense capabilities of each member state. In addition to condemning the United Kingdom, it also criticized the The German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire expressed their dissatisfaction and concern over the alliance's attempt to increase their presence in Latin America. The statement emphasized that they would unswervingly adhere to the security of their respective territories, and the countries vowed to cooperate in mutual defense, resist the invasion of other countries, adhere to the alliance of mutual defense, and called on Germany Austria should not let the adoption of the Group of 13 generate hostility towards them.