Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Faced with criticism from a small group of countries at the Global Strategic Security Summit hosted by London, the Netherlands' counterattack came.

On July 20, 1881, a piece of bombshell news arrived that shocked the world.

Just after hosting the Balkan Peninsula Summit, Joseph Beiter, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, held three consecutive days of meetings and consultations with the visiting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire Gorchakov. The two countries jointly announced that the Kingdom of the Netherlands and The Tsarist Empire will cooperate in the Far East and conduct various military exercises in the Japan Sea and the Pacific region, and the two countries will firmly stand on each other's side and support each other when their interests are involved.

The two countries also announced that their relationship has officially become a treaty-binding semi-alliance.

The treaty stipulates: First, the Tsarist Russian Empire supports the security of the Dutch territory in Europe from being invaded by other countries. The Tsarist Russian Empire has the obligation to help the Netherlands drive away the other party when the Dutch European territories are invaded; the Netherlands supports the Tsarist Russian Empire in Europe. strategic interests.

Second, the Russian Empire supported the Dutch presence in the Balkans and understood and supported the Dutch alliance with Greece;

The Netherlands recognizes the relationship between the Tsarist Empire and the Slavic country Serbia, and officially recognizes Rome, Moldova, etc. as territories notified by the Tsarist Empire.

Third, the Russian Empire recognized the existence of a series of Dutch interests in Latin America and was willing to recognize the Dutch influence there; while the Netherlands supported the close partnership between the Russian Empire and the Commonwealth of America, and the two countries jointly supported each other's development in the Americas. synergistic relationship.

Fourth, the Tsarist Russian Empire promised to support all legitimate investments and interests of the Netherlands in the Tsarist Russian Empire, and expected the Netherlands to expand capital investment and increase employment opportunities in the Tsarist Russian Empire; while the Netherlands supported the Tsarist Russian Empire’s move to expand its market and open it to the Netherlands, the Netherlands teamed up with Tsarist Russia for nearly a year. The market with a population of 100 million expressed great interest and promised to invest no less than 100 million Dutch guilders (4 million pounds) per year into Tsarist Russian industry.

After the news was confirmed and spread in Tirana, Albania Province, Balkan Peninsula, the world was once again shocked by the Netherlands in just a few days.

The last time it was the Netherlands' frequent electrical industry inventions, this time it was a move by the Netherlands and Russia to form a semi-alliance.

Facing British oppression, the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia will definitely strengthen mutual trust and interaction. The prospect of not being an ally is better than that of Mengniu. It will have a huge impact on future international relations.

This reminds people of the funeral of Alexander II and the ascension of Alexander III to the throne some time ago. The Dutch government sent Foreign Minister Joseph Beit, and the royal family sent Queen Alexandra, who were the second-ranking figures in their respective places.

After that, a series of actions of the two people were spent in the chaos of Britain.

British Crown Prince Edward's "harassment" of Queen Alexandra attracted world attention. Joseph Beit hosted a summit on the Balkan Peninsula without the participation of the United Kingdom. The two countries had many confrontations in the air. There were wins and losses, and generally speaking, Britain was at a disadvantage.

After the Balkan Peninsula Summit, the Netherlands formed a cooperative defense system with Tsarist Russia, Serbia, and Greece. This shocked the United Kingdom and other neighboring countries.

Many people woke up at this time. It turns out that the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia may have begun preparing for this semi-alliance treaty since Queen Alexandra and Joseph Beit visited St. Petersburg.

Everything after that is just implemented concretely.

On July 23, 1881, in the face of the announcement of the semi-alliance treaty between the Netherlands and Russia, British Foreign Secretary Greville stated in London that Britain was facing serious challenges from the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia.

Obviously, the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia held together to keep warm, which made Britain feel a shocking threat.

Well-known British politicians such as Viscount Palmerston have long called on the UK to avoid a situation in which the Russian Empire and other European powers unite, believing that it would be a nightmare for the UK.

During the Napoleonic Wars, when facing Napoleon of France, although Britain temporarily cooperated with Tsarist Russia, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the two countries began to fight for their respective interests, especially on the Dutch issue. In the end, Tsarist Russia The empire succeeded in making the Netherlands independent again, and the price paid was that Britain also obtained other overseas territories of the Netherlands, such as South Africa, which the Russian Empire originally wanted.

The Tsarist Empire officially borrowed Dutch capital and technology to allow Tsarist Russia to develop in the technological era in Europe. Although it was difficult to keep up, it did not fall back too far behind in technology.

Now that the Netherlands has developed, the worries of the British Viscount Palmerston and others have come true. During his administration, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom fought without breaking through. The Netherlands even stood on the side of the United Kingdom for a long time, making the United Kingdom's position very stable in the 1860s. , and finally gained the upper hand in all kinds of battles.

Even Viscount Palmerston warned in his last autobiographical book, "The Grand Chessboard", that if the Netherlands and Russia come together, Britain will go to a series of regions such as Europe, Asia, the Near East, the Balkans, and the Middle East. initiative.

Now, his prediction has come true successfully, both Creston and Disraeli pushed the Netherlands out,

This has the same effect as the old American saying: Shoot yourself in the foot.

Relations between the two countries broadened as these two heavyweights from the Dutch royal family and cabinet government visited the Russian Empire.

Beit and Gorchakov met in the Balkans. The two parties had fruitful talks. The two parties signed a number of cooperation agreements and expressed their intention to further deepen bilateral cooperation and provide guarantee for contributing to regional security and world peace.

In an environment where the United Kingdom is stepping up its containment and counter-containment efforts with the Netherlands, this semi-alliance treaty between the Netherlands and Tsarist Russia undoubtedly has far-reaching international geopolitical significance.

Britain has been suppressing the Tsarist Russian Empire for more than 60 years. In the Middle East, Britain supported many Crimean Wars, allowing the Tsarist Russian Empire to seize the south passage, but failed. In Central Asia, the Afghanistan region has become the biggest barrier for Britain to keep the crown colony of India, so the two countries have fought fiercely there.

In the Far East, Britain is now cultivating Japan. On the one hand, it is to increase its chances of winning against the Netherlands. In fact, on the other hand, it is completely blocking the Tsarist Russian Empire's seaport and preventing the Tsarist Russian Empire from expanding its navy there. It is difficult to achieve great results.

On the other hand, Britain also used its influence to influence the process of the Balkan Peninsula, making the Balkan Peninsula always a powder keg state, allowing Tsarist Russia to be plunged into war at any time and unable to extricate itself.

Furthermore, Britain also formed an alliance with Berlin, which was still the Kingdom of Prussia at the time, and trained it to deal with Tsarist Russia and Austria. After arriving, he successfully alienated the Russian-Austrian relations during the period of Nicholas I. In 1856, Nicholas I even sent troops to threaten the Russian border because Austria was standing idly by, causing Tsarist Russia to mobilize troops from the Crimean front to defend the Russian-Austrian border. The Crimean War failed, and Nicholas I was so angry that he vomited blood and died.

It can be said that Britain went to great lengths to contain and suppress the Russian Empire. Coupled with the various suppressions and precautions that the UK is now taking against the Netherlands, it seems that the UK has succeeded in wooing Germany to its side and wants to use the same methods it used to deal with Tsarist Russia on the Netherlands. This is obvious.