Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On August 5, 1881, a document said to be from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs first appeared in the British Financial Times, and then spread to the entire world, once again causing a global sensation.

Many people in the world today know that the Netherlands has surpassed the United Kingdom in terms of economic size in 1876. Even before 1870, the Netherlands' per capita income exceeded that of the United Kingdom, making it one of the richest countries in the world.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands has allies around the world.

The alliance is crucial to the Netherlands, because it is the best helper for the Netherlands to compete with the United Kingdom in the world, and is an indispensable part of maintaining the rise of the Netherlands to directly surpass the United Kingdom and become the hegemon.

The Netherlands will classify its allies into three levels, and this document "leaked" by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a document on the classification of Dutch allies. In the document, how does the Netherlands distinguish between different levels of allies, and who is there?

In this British newspaper, we first introduce the newspaper's method of obtaining secret information and obtaining the true content of this document.

The article introduces that the Dutch document first records the core allies.

Although the Netherlands has many allies, it only has four core allies, two of which are Denmark and Sweden in Northern Europe, and Greece in southeastern Europe.

The newspaper went on to point out that for the Netherlands, the most important part of its hegemony is Europe, because there are many powerful countries in Europe, and overall it is difficult for the Netherlands to match it. Even countries such as Britain, Germany, Russia, and France are not weaker than the Netherlands. Moreover, with the rise of Germany and the current serious spillover of influence from European powers, the Netherlands is currently paying more attention to Europe than to other regions. It is understandable that the Netherlands is afraid that these countries will create obstacles to the rise of the Netherlands.

If the European powers are on good terms with the Netherlands, then the Netherlands' rise to hegemony is just around the corner and will be extremely stable. On the contrary, if the European powers unite against the Netherlands, the Netherlands' rise will be shaky.

The British "Financial Times" stated that the Netherlands' policy towards Europe is to attract European powers except the United Kingdom, which is an inherently hegemonic country, for the rise of the Netherlands, and to prevent European powers from following the United Kingdom to become one. A fragmented Europe is in the interest of the Netherlands.

Sweden, Denmark, and Greece are the Netherlands' best allies to divide Europe and prevent Europe from becoming integrated. Why do you say that?

The "Financial Times" said that since the rise of the steam industry revolution, Britain has always acted as a troublemaker in Europe, resolutely resisting the alliance of European continental powers, and has long implemented the policy of balancing and dividing the European continental powers. Balance of power national policy.

To sum it up in one sentence, Britain is also afraid of the integration of the great powers on the European continent.

However, although the United Kingdom and the Netherlands now have the same interests and both believe that the European continent should not be integrated, their respective relations with the European countries, plus the fact that the two countries are currently competing for maritime supremacy. This makes the two countries seem to be in conflict over the issue of the balance of power on the European continent.

The "Financial Times" regretfully said that if Britain and the Netherlands had the same origin and similar cultures, it would be inevitable for the two countries to unite, but unfortunately it is not the case, so the two countries have become rivals.

Sweden is the ancestral homeland of all Germanic countries and the ancestral homeland of the Vikings.

More than 80% of the population of Denmark, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands are Germanic people from Scandinavia, which is now ruled by the Kingdom of Sweden.

The Germans currently make up the majority of the most powerful countries in the world, and they are extremely powerful in the world. The United Kingdom, the German Empire, the Netherlands, the United States, Sweden, Denmark, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, etc., together, these countries are enough to defeat France, Russia, Italy, etc. The country is intimidated.

The ancestral homeland of the Germanic people in the world is Sweden, so whoever has the strongest relationship with Sweden will have the best impression in the hearts of the Germanic people.

The British originally wanted to split Sweden in order to gain a share of the Germanic ancestral land in Norway.

It is a pity that William IV of the Netherlands knocked off the British hand that year, making Sweden extremely wary of the British, and the British did not succeed in the end.

There are two reasons why Sweden and Denmark have become the core allies of the Netherlands. One is because Sweden and Denmark guard Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea, giving the Netherlands room to maneuver in northern Europe to deal with big countries such as Britain, France, and Germany.

The European part of the Netherlands was under threat at that time. William IV's alliance with these two countries increased his weight in Europe, and finally gave Prussia, France and the Netherlands room to bargain against the United Kingdom.

Later, with the rise of the Netherlands in the 1870s, these two countries also became an important bargaining chip in the competition between the Netherlands and Britain for maritime dominance. The alliance to guard the Oresund Strait in the Baltic Sea allowed the Dutch influence to overwhelm Britain there.

The combined number of new immigrants to the Netherlands from these two countries each year exceeds 200,000. This is definitely a huge boost to the Netherlands, which has a relatively large population gap.

Moreover, the location in Northern Europe has a way for the Netherlands to retreat, which is very important. It is a strategic location that William IV of the Netherlands has long wanted to master.

Denmark's Iceland and Greenland have currently been sold half to Sweden and the Netherlands. In Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Spain form a joint Nordic Alliance garrison there to guard against the possibility of a British invasion from the north.

Therefore, these two countries are the anchor of Dutch influence in Northern Europe.

The Kingdom of Greece is a chess piece of the Netherlands embedded in the chaotic Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is a thug that helps the Netherlands control the Balkan Peninsula.

In addition, the wealth of most households in the Netherlands is still controlled by the three major Dutch groups, and the current parliamentarians and officials of the Kingdom of Greece are the spokespersons of these Dutch consortiums. Therefore, the Greek economy and politics, dominated by the Dutch consortium, are closely related to the Netherlands, and the current Greek King William III is the father of William IV. Greece has naturally become the Netherlands' closest brother.

This is the first level, and the Netherlands also has several second level allies.

The newspaper reported that Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia are the veteran members of the Thirteen Latin American Group.

These countries face the Pacific region of the Netherlands and are considered neighbors of the Netherlands. Their location determines that the Netherlands and these countries are inseparable economically and politically.

These countries are vast in territory, sparsely populated, and rich in resources, which the Netherlands has inexhaustible. , inexhaustible resource pools, and the Netherlands has long been integrated with the economies of these countries.

These countries are related to the Dutch homeland security in Dongdaemun. The size of the threat from the sea depends on whether these countries are strong enough. Therefore, these countries are absolutely very important to the Netherlands, even no less important than Sweden, Denmark and Greece mentioned before.