Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Before the meeting between Director of the National Security Council of the Netherlands Cantur and the Minister of Military Affairs and Logistics of the German Empire Ron in Amsterdam, on the sidelines of the Balkan Peninsula Summit, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Reichberg met with the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tirana, Albania Province. Foreign Minister Joseph Beit held a meeting.

The two started talks on this. Obviously, the private negotiations between the German Empire and the Netherlands were stimulated by the contact between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Netherlands, so Bismarck couldn't help but take action after all.

William IV in Melbourne sarcastically said: "There are no eternal interests between countries. The German Empire once hurt the Austrian Empire. As the successor of Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is absolutely unwilling to be suppressed by the German Empire forever. This is something Berlin itself can imagine.

So as soon as Bismarck received the news, he immediately compromised with the Netherlands. Look at their meeting, they were strong first and then soft. It can be seen how much they distrust the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”

Next to him, Mexican President Manuel Gonzalez nodded.

He has been visiting the Netherlands for more than two weeks. This week, except for meeting His Majesty William IV at the Royal Palace in Melbourne on the first day, he spent the rest of the time "wandering" between the new capital of the Netherlands, Melbourne, and the largest city in the Netherlands, Sydney. , it’s not like he hasn’t seen big cities in the world. He has seen New York in the Federal Republic of the United States and London in the United Kingdom. He has also been to the Second French Empire to see Paris and Berlin, Germany. Even Amsterdam, the tulip capital of the Netherlands, has also been to Many times, but the Netherlands' new capital Melbourne and Sydney, the largest city in the Far East, completely shocked him.

The neat layout of urban construction, the organized and planned green environment, and the most shocking thing were the spacious crisscrossing avenues about a hundred meters wide. These all made him feel that the city he had seen before was being planned. How messy and disorganized it is, what a petty spirit.

Not only Sydney and Melbourne, but also Adelaide is the headquarters of the Dutch Liberal Party. It is said that every time the Liberal Party is in power, South Australia will receive a lot of development like other provinces and cities governed by the Liberal Party. Development is rapid, so Adelaide has been confirmed as the third city of mainland Australia.

The Socialist Party is headquartered in Melbourne. However, as the third largest political party in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the establishment of the coalition government by the United Christian Party, it currently occupies important cabinet member positions in the coalition cabinet government, such as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Jules Ney. Tang, Foreign Minister Joseph Beit, Education Minister Mari Philip, and Energy Minister Hester accounted for four of the nine cabinet ministers.

Therefore, under this force, the New South Wales province currently under construction in the Netherlands is Canberra, the second city after Sydney. Trying to make Canberra the headquarters of the Socialist Party.

At present, he learned that in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, many people know that the Socialist Party is expanding its territory. However, New South Wales has always been the stronghold of its ally the Christian Party. Will the Socialist Party’s current actions in Canberra affect the coalition cabinet? The Mexican president does not think it is suspicious that his ally the Christian Party has turned against him.

Perhaps, this coalition cabinet government has begun to have conflicts, and Manuel even speculated that next time he visits, maybe another political party will come to power in the Netherlands.

Manuel Gonzalez completed these thoughts in an instant. Facing William IV (born in 1840) who was in his prime, he was 7 years older than him, but he had just taken charge of Mexico. And there is former President Porfirio Díaz, also a member of the Liberal Party, a strongman in power in Mexico, who checks and balances him.

Compared with William IV's stability, he himself was precarious.

In addition, he now wanted something from the other party, so he couldn't help but lower his head and said: "Your Majesty's chess-making skills are really exquisite and breathtaking. But I have met Bismarck before in Mexico City when he visited there. He often He looks like he has a chance to win, which is quite intimidating.”

William IV said nonchalantly: "That's because you didn't have more contact with him. If you had more contact with him, it would feel normal. In fact, it is like that. Who can let me admit that the other party has done a good job in balance of power diplomacy, but also He is trapped in here, so he will never get out for the rest of his life."

Although Manuel couldn't understand, he still looked attentive and serious. Seeing this, William IV understood that this was the behavior of a ruler in a backward country.

Think about how your motherland was backward in the past life. The most common thing for people in the motherland is that the sun and moon in foreign countries are rounder than those in China. These are all reactions of the natural ecology.

The person in front of me now actually had this reaction, it was just a normal phenomenon.

"Everyone has weaknesses. Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has always been arrogant. I just caught the weakness of his character that was unwilling to bow to William I, a guy he used to look down on."

Just as Manuel Gonzalez was about to digest William IV's words, William IV continued: "In fact, in the entire Austria and Hungary, who has ever truly admired their former little brother, the Kingdom of Prussia?"

As a dynasty established in the Middle Ages, the pride of the Habsburg Dynasty began with the emperor Rudolf I who established the empire in the 13th century.

The founder of the Habsburg family defeated the Bababen family entrenched in the Principality of Upper and Lower Austria, and annexed Upper and Lower Austria to supply Styria for the family, making the dynasty one of the political forces in Central Europe.

However, the dynasty in this long period was already a feudal dynasty with the family as its core and relying on medieval legal principles to connect various territories. It ruled people who spoke various languages ​​and could hardly be called a closely connected whole. .

It is difficult for a Hungarian peasant to realize the significance of the Vienna court to him, because this dynasty did not have a mature bureaucracy-government, nor a standing army. The palace was highly dependent on local councils and dignitaries for the control of the territory. Overall, the clan-vassal relationship was loose. , the Habsburg dynasty was far from realizing the centralized rule of the absolutist era.

This policy has been continued by Queen Theresa, Charles VI and now Franz Joseph I. The current Austro-Hungarian Empire is still the same.

Therefore, William IV knew the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Bismarck naturally also knew that although he was an ally, he was also a piece of weakness in the eyes of the German Empire.

The failures of unification and centralization in the past few hundred years often failed rather than successfully inspiring the people's ambition to create the future. It was often a disastrous defeat rather than a victory that prompted the country's rulers to think about ways to optimize national governance.

The construction of the new unified country of the Habsburg dynasty began after Bismarck led the Seven Weeks War. It was only after Austria gave conditions to Austria-Hungary that Hungary and others agreed to join the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

And this willingness to join is the shortcoming of the national unity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It can be said that the current Austro-Hungarian Empire is the most disorganized among all the great powers. Therefore, Franz Joseph I, the dual-system Austro-Hungarian emperor, also has the smallest power.