Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Netherlands, Royal Palace of the Netherlands.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Fonseca proposed to us a plan to purchase weapons, ranging from pistols to artillery, and even proposed to purchase a rifle production line."

William IV knew that Brazil's Fonseca also had the interests of arms groups. The Netherlands had long established close relationships with these guys, especially in the past twenty years. The most important thing for the Netherlands to formally maintain their relationship with Fonseca was One of the links is that it was precisely because Fonseca received strong support from these military people that the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II had no choice but to choose Brazilian double-headed politics.

In this Brazilian election, the Netherlands has already had the means to intervene. The Brazilian military has long privately stated that it will continue to support Fonseca, who is recognized by the river bank. Therefore, William IV knew that these people would definitely take action, but he did not expect him. They The only way is to buy weapons, and there are such a wide variety of them.

It's right to think about it. The Dutch were the strongest in mechanical equipment in this era, followed closely by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the United States. Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Spain had imperfect industrial systems, so they were even further behind.

The United Kingdom, Germany, France and other countries are now waiting to see Brazil. They have always been indifferent to the Brazilian Fonseca government, so they will not sell to them. The United States, on the other hand, is afraid of offending any party due to invasion and is unwilling to get too involved in Brazil's internal affairs. As for other products with much inferior technology and imperfect technology, Brazil is afraid of buying defective products, so it is unwilling to do so.

Look at the mechanical equipment produced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not to mention the high maintenance costs, the performance of the equipment can only be said to be just right to start up. The production efficiency is far from being compared with its peers. All countries with second-rate equipment and technology have been regarded as inferior. A few countries have been selectively deleted.

Therefore, countries with no technology like Brazil can only purchase finished products or production lines of foreign weapons and are forced to do so.

Both the Dutch and British camps have a lot to learn. The Netherlands, the Thirteen Latin American Group, Sweden, Denmark, Greece and even the Netherlands' ally Tsarist Russia all imported weapons production lines from the Netherlands, with varying levels of technology.

As for countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Austria, they have their own set of technical systems, while Portugal uses the British production line, and the same goes for Belgium.

Therefore, the Fonseca government and the Brazilian military, which have always been pro-Dutch, dare not use them even if they can purchase production lines from countries such as Britain, Germany, France, and Austria. Weapons production equipment is still very sensitive. It means civilian materials. If they are smuggled, they are smuggled.

If it is not impossible from these countries, it implies that if the military does not agree with these countries to support Pedro II and agrees to release some military bases of the Brazilian military for the use of the other side, then the Brazilian military will face These production lines cannot be maintained.

In Brazil's evenly matched political ecology, it is difficult for the military to do this. Therefore, the Brazilian military can only go all the way to the end, pro-Dutch or pro-Dutch, otherwise the weapons used by the Brazilian military will be short of ammunition. It is a "wish" that will come true immediately.

Hehe, with the financial resources of the Brazilian Imperial Government, don't expect them to be able to discard weapons and combat preparations worth 1 billion guilders (40 million pounds). The annual maintenance of these equipment is also a maintenance business of tens of millions of guilders.

Capitalists will not struggle with money. In order to maximize profits, it is normal to purchase Dutch weapons production lines. It is not like Fonseca and the Brazilian military do not know how to calculate a few people carefully.

William IV: "Sell it to them, but even if it is the same equipment, we need to ensure that all our active weapons have higher performance than the other party. Of course, our R\u0026D department needs to be one generation more advanced than the active weapons. This is why we are leading the world." Weapons in active service require preparedness”

This is not a realistic problem of William IV, but a relationship that requires a security concept. The most important way for the Netherlands to protect itself is to use technology to suppress its global opponents. Naturally, it will not dig holes for itself.

Of course, as to whether the Brazilian military and Fonseca will take risks and cut corners because of corruption, in order to enrich their own pockets, that is not something that the Netherlands needs to worry about.

The situation in Brazil is tense now, so the ready-made weapons they buy are 50% higher than usual. Therefore, it is better to buy them than to make them. Perhaps this is why Fonseca and the military have the opportunity to purchase production lines. Think about it.

The import of weapons production line equipment from the Netherlands shows that while the domestic budget remains unchanged, the military budget can do more things or share more pork. Of course, it all depends on the integrity and ability of the Brazilian officials dealing with it.

Prime Minister Linden said vigilantly: "Your Majesty, do we need to supervise the flow of equipment? I am afraid that if these equipment are sold to Brazil, if Fonseca fails in the election and the anti-Dutch Collet comes to power, I am afraid that these equipment will be If the British and Germans get the entire equipment production line and have it thoroughly studied by these countries, it will also be a trouble for us in the future,"

William IV frowned when he heard this. It must be said that Lyndon's idea was very based on the consideration of the position of prime minister.

In this era, there is no such thing as a technological blockade for future generations. However, in the field of military industry, countries are still like workshops. Each country has strict control, and the ban on the sale of formulas is very serious. It is not possible to buy any weapons you want, let alone Or something as large as a weapons production line that can increase the unemployment rate in a military-industrial country.

Finally, William IV shook his head: "It doesn't matter, as I said before, it is worse than the current equipment we think, but it is more than one generation worse than our R\u0026D department. In that case, as long as we maintain daily technological innovation and change with each passing day, these equipment will It soon became our obsolete position, and by 1900, 20 years later, it should be several generations behind us. I am afraid that the weapons produced are all obsolete products."

William IV sneered at Lyndon and said: "Moreover, if Brazil puts all their annual military budget and finance on us, Brazil will become increasingly inseparable from us. They will not have the extra financial resources to flirt with other countries. Brazil is bound to us”

The situation got deeper and deeper, and in the end, even if people like Kelezi came to power, they could only stare blankly. If he wanted to change the court, the military would never agree to it.

It is definitely a good news for us that the Netherlands will send us money for a long time to keep the money needed for our military research and development.

In fact, it’s not just Brazil. Those buddies in the Netherlands are not just giving away money. Even the Tsarist Empire, a powerful country, in terms of military weapons production, more than 50% of the weapons are produced in the Netherlands.

Therefore, the relationship between the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia has changed over the years. It is no longer the Netherlands that relies on each other, but the Tsarist Empire breathing the Dutch breath as arms suppliers.

The Netherlands is simply taking advantage of Tsarist Russia's global influence and intimidation.

Just take what you need.