Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

William IV was actually very confident about the competition between Germany and the Netherlands for the position of leader in electrical appliance industrialization.

Of course, we should still be wary of Germany. After all, Germany under the leadership of Bismarck is too powerful now. The good national environment in the early days of German unification was also a factor that laid the foundation for the development of German industry.

After the reunification of Germany, due to the Franco-Prussian War, Germany and France became mortal enemies. In order to encourage France, in the first ten years of Bismarck's administration, Germany actively created a good international environment and maintained friendly relations with other countries. In 1873, the German Empire won over With Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they formed the Three Emperors Alliance.

Of course, is this really aimed at the divided French Second Empire (Paris government)?

Who knows, after all, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are obstacles to Germany's continued power ranking battle.

Then, because both Russia and Austria intended to expand their power to the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe, the tension between the two countries gradually intensified. The German Empire was so distressed that it even had to destroy many of Bismarck's plans.

Berlin held the famous Berlin Conference in 1878. Russia and Austria eventually turned against each other over the Balkan Peninsula issue. Faced with the breakup of the two allies, Germany muttered and chose the Austro-Hungarian Empire as its first ally. Therefore, Germany and Tsarist Russia also Relations turned cold.

But at the same time, Bismarck was still trying to maintain relations with the Russian Empire, and arrived in St. Petersburg in person in 1879 to sign the Reinsurance Treaty, an enhanced version of the covenant between Germany and Russia, which eased relations between Germany and Russia to a certain extent.

Naturally, William IV would not believe that Germany would give up and really give away benefits to Russia. This was just to wait for an opportunity for Tsarist Russia to adopt a calm mentality and paralyze the other side.

Because he needs to pay more attention to maintaining the relationship between Germany and Britain, a century-old ally. In order not to irritate Britain, Germany has always been very conscientious in dealing with overseas colonial issues during this period, which can also be called cautious (much like keeping a low profile).

During this period, Germany's attitude towards the Netherlands was even more ambiguous. It publicly stated many times that the Netherlands was an ally of Berlin. However, sometimes when faced with tense relations between Britain and the Netherlands, it became neutral and unwilling to get involved. At that time, I often went to London to enjoy the autumn breeze. Obviously, Berlin may not have received enough benefits from the Netherlands, and thus left more footprints in London.

Generally speaking, during Bismarck's administration, the German Empire maintained good relations with most European and American countries. For example, Germany and Austria were allies, and Germany's relations with Tsarist Russia and the United Kingdom also remained relatively stable. The relationship with the Netherlands was not good. Not bad, they are joining forces with the American Federation to try to challenge the first pair, the Netherlands, among the emerging powers of the electrical industry era. The second-ranked Germany and the third-ranked American Federation join forces.

At the same time, over the years, especially after Stephen Douglas came to power in 1878, the trend of Germany and the United States joining forces to catch up with the technology of the Dutch electrical industry has become increasingly obvious.

Therefore, under these favorable circumstances, the German Empire during this period created various favorable conditions for its industrial development.

The Netherlands at that time was actually the same as the Netherlands' diplomacy in 1860. It was a united country, and the Netherlands was being fought over by all countries. After the Netherlands and Britain became hostile in 1876, Bismarck took the opportunity to let Germany replace the Netherlands' diplomatic status, becoming the biggest diplomatic winner in the world.

There is no doubt that Bismarck and Germany learned all the good things about the Netherlands, and Bismarck went a step further and let Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Alliance serve him.

In fact, in terms of industrial development, Germany may really be following the example of the Netherlands, but because William IV is a man who knows himself, who dares to say that the ancients are not better than those who come later, Bismarck will naturally not continue to follow the German foreign policy according to history. , after all, this is different than in history. Now the world has a top power, the Netherlands.

Therefore, William IV never believed that what happened in history would continue to happen unchanged.

Just like reading history books or short-lived TV series in his previous life, he thought that the German Empire agreed to be completely based on force. If he thought that, then he could tell many people that it was wrong.

Because he personally observed the evolution of German unification more than ten years ago, Bismarck led Prussia to test pressure on the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Hanover, and the Kingdom of Saxony. In the end, a small battle broke out, and then he used military power to test the pressure, and the other party was finally besieged. ,Surrender.

William IV naturally knew the plans of Bismarck and others and defeated these countries. Although Prussia's annexation was more complete, Prussia's population was not large after all. It only occupied half of the population. The rule could consume the energy of the Prussian military. god.

Therefore, Bismarck made a smart choice in the end, as William IV thought. He did not want to see an army divided into kingdoms when he received it, and he would not allow Munich diplomats to pass through Berlin and be stationed separately in Vienna and Paris.

Therefore, under the pressure from Berlin and the watching of other countries, the sovereign Austria was too afraid to stand up to defend them. These countries finally compromised. Prussia took over the national army, the economic market agreed, and the rulers of various countries were left with only formalities. of the Kingdom of the Royal Family and the Grand Duke of the Principality.

Maintained these royal appearances.

The interests of other nobles and capital remained unchanged, so with great joy and astonishment in Vienna, the German Empire was unified.

Germany's strength has become unprecedentedly strong, and the strength of these kingdoms has been injected into it. At this time, the German Empire dared to truly speak out enough to challenge the Russian Empire, not fearing the British, and treating the Netherlands and France toughly.

At this point, Germany has truly completed a radical change, and Europe's largest land power will reach its peak after defeating France. Even Tsarist Russia, which has always been the strongest land power in Europe, is afraid.

Alexander II had to give face to Kaiser Wilhelm I on many issues. For example, Germany put pressure on Tsarist Russia on the Russian-Austrian issue. Tsarist Russia could only choose to make peace with Austria-Hungary.

Another example is the Balkan Peninsula Summit held in the Netherlands. Germany was not invited to participate. Many members at the summit expressed dissatisfaction.

Obviously, despite Germany's pressure on other countries, they still worried about Berlin's face, and finally put the pressure on the host Netherlands.

However, Germany cleverly hid behind it and waited for news.

It's quite smart.

An issue that William IV thought of in Melbourne was that in Crimea and the Balkans, Austria could abandon the inherent interests of other allies in the Triple Alliance for its own interests, thereby dissolving the obligations of the Holy Alliance, Tsarist Russia and Prussia, and pursuing it wantonly during the period. own country's interests, thereby destroying the Austrian Empire.

Can Austria-Hungary now convince Germany that Austria can still fight? Germany was probably also afraid that Franz Joseph I would not be able to fight the war and betray his allies at any time. After all, he betrayed Tsarist Russia in 1856, causing Nicholas I to commit suicide.

Prussia annexed other German diplomatic countries and kicked out Franz Joseph I. Will the latter be willing?

Can the Netherlands create a pig teammate for the German Empire in this regard?