Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

“How should the Netherlands respond to the provocation of the German-Austrian Alliance?”

William IV went on to give a speech at the Netherlands Diplomatic Academy.

"In short, no one likes the German Empire at the moment, but they all need Germany, and Germany wants to make as many commitments as possible to attract partners, but does not want to assume obligations for this. The reinsurance treaty is a concentrated expression of this policy , Germany was unwilling to put itself at the core of the contradiction between Austria and Russia, such as the Balkan-Bataan issue, but hoped to continue to defend the Triple Alliance. For this reason, it did not hesitate to create the Triple Alliance to stabilize Austria-Hungary, but secretly borrowed the power of the United Kingdom to escape its own confrontation with Tsarist Russia. The obligations of the empire, and at the same time, it is hoped that the Tsarist Empire will not flirt with France. Although Alexander II did not fall into his trap, his death made the relationship between Tsarist Russia and Britain move in the direction that Germany hoped for. However, the new Tsar Alexander III At present, it seems that I am not fooled by it at all.”

Everyone was brought in by the vivid portrayal of William IV.

"If you hear this, you may say that his diplomatic achievements are entirely due to his adaptability and speculation. But let me tell you, I am actually opposed to this statement."

"The overall level that has lasted for nearly ten years after the Berlin Congress cannot be just the result of the upright speculation of its founder. Diplomacy makes principled people adapt to the art of adapting to circumstances. adapting to circumstances without principles is pure political speculation. The result was the Prussian occupation of Paris before Napoleon III, a diplomatic bitter fruit interpreted by the Second French Empire.”

At this time, William IV asked a student in the audience: "This classmate, what do you think is the most important consequence of the war between Prussia and the Second French Empire?"

The student asked: "The Franco-Prussian War ended France's status as the hegemon in continental Europe, and Germany's official rise was confirmed."

"Good answer" William IV: "So what is Bismarck's principle? In my opinion, it is the principle of balance of power. At this point, he is a loyal believer of Metternich, Prime Minister of the Butterfly Kingdom (Austria)"

"Because the diplomacy he believed in and used was almost all based on the principle of balance of power. Nobility and French constituted the diplomatic pattern of old Europe. Every country will compete for the interests of the situation on the premise of balance of power. Although the military meaning in their eyes is different They are different, but they will try their best to avoid the collapse of the balance of power. The belief in the balance of power and the fear of the consequences of the destruction of the balance of power pattern make diplomats in old Europe generally believe in the moral norms and principles based on the balance of power.

In Europe, whether it is Metternich, Castlereagh, Palmerston, Kolchakov, Talleyrand, Beust, Schwarzenberg, Hardenberg, Bismarck, etc., they all This is a group of people, not just Bismarck. "

"The above-mentioned example of Napoleon III, who had no principles and loved to play speculation, was that his problem before the Franco-Prussian War was that he was overly optimistic about France's national strength and international status. He did not realize that France's international reputation was no longer good after the Austro-Prussian War. .

Nor have we seen that the security and greatness of such a progressive liberal empire came from the good relations between Britain and Europe and its neighbors. France has angered these two countries at the same time on the Italian, Belgian and Polish issues. France has taken land from the Sardinian royal family to restore natural borders, restricted the southern invasion of the Tsarist Empire on the Near East issue, and expressed its desire for Belgium. In fact, it threatened the balance of power, and she hoped to attack Prussia on the side of France on the South German issue that the great powers did not care much about. Without getting a clear stance from the great powers, Cao Cao showed a very strong attitude. An aggressive posture, as if France could still form a German empire."

William IV said extremely seriously: "The result of such speculation is that France is unprecedentedly isolated on the issue of the Franco-Prussian War, the British are unwilling to intervene because of the Belgian issue, the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire stand aside because of the Near East issue, and Austria-Hungary The empire just wanted to profit from France's victory, so South Germany simply joined Prussia."

On the contrary, Bismarck had much firmer principles than Napoleon III on issues of principle. "

William IV summed up the dynastic war when he asked: "Prussia is full."

Under his control, what we see is that he hopes to establish a new balance of power to replace the Vienna system with Germany, or the three empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and the Triple Alliance. The purpose of uniting Tsarist Russia is to create what he believes is the most reliable in European politics. Political alliance - coordination among monarchs, uniting the Austrian Empire or later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was to oppose the liberal ideal of Greater Germany. The essence of establishing the alliance of the three major empires was to establish a conservatism that opposed the revolution. The Holy Alliance, like the Holy Alliance in 1815, will bring long-term peace to Europe. To put it more romantically, it will return everything to the old Europe in the eyes of the Juncker aristocratic chicken group. Bismarck never changed this point, nor did he speculate with anyone on this point because this was a principle he adhered to.

Interestingly, Bismarck's attitude towards France also showed his adherence to the principle of balance of power, and he swore that it was an integral part of the balance of power in Europe. After Bismarck defeated Napoleon III's Second Empire in 1871, he later gave Britain some face and treated France as an integral part of the balance of power. Napoleon III returned to Paris, but he supported the independence of southern France and established the Third French Republic with Lyon as its capital, allowing it to confront Paris in the north, achieving a certain degree of balance of power for Berlin and also for Berlin. The UK supports Paris as a buffer, and the UK should also be aware of this, but this is also in line with the UK's expectation that it does not want to see France become powerful enough to challenge British interests again. So Bismarck understood the British's urinary nature, so he successfully divided France."

"Everyone can see that it is the 20th anniversary since he came to power in January 1862 until 1881. When Bismarck was the Prime Minister of the German Empire, reconciliation and fuel consumption with France were also part of his policy. The reason he did this was to check and balance the United Kingdom and beat Austria-Hungary. The empire is also a sign of vigilance against the Tsarist Russian Empire. This is based on the principle of returning to his heart."

When William IV said this, his throat was hoarse. After he drank warm water, the audience fell silent and allowed him to continue speaking: "Finally, I want to give Bismarck's summary of the content of my speech this time.

Since Bismarck presided over the Berlin Conference in 1878 with the participation of all major powers, the German Empire has been recognized by various countries as a great power.

Bismarck's diplomatic pattern, to a certain extent, can be said to have a strong flavor of the behavior of outstanding old European diplomats. They believed that diplomacy was a matter for smart people and aristocrats. In short, it was a matter for the cabinet. The thing is secret room politics.

He rejected popular politics from the bottom of his heart and used public opinion as a political tool. This is easy to understand. After all, the envoys from various European countries are all from noble families.

In the early 19th century, France first introduced public opinion into politics during the period of Napoleon I. However, before the Crimean War, no one believed that public opinion would affect the country's diplomatic relations. "

"The above is what I am talking about in this issue: the German-Austrian Alliance and Bismarck!"

At this time, William IV's speech was basically over.

But then came the problem of William IV.

Because it was agreed from the beginning that William IV would ask questions to all teachers and students after his speech.

"This student is you." William IV pointed at the bright-faced female student in front of him. After the other party stood up in a panic, he asked: "Excuse me, in the face of Germany like this, what are we in the Netherlands currently doing? Responses?"