Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On September 20, 1881, just as the Austro-Hungarian Empire was preparing to expand its territory in southeastern Mexico, occupying the town of Latam and then advancing to inspect the port of Cuarcos,

The Thirteen Latin American Group has openly announced that it will support arms against Mexico. If Mexico asks for help or Germany and other countries intervene, other members of the Thirteen Group of Latin America will not hesitate to send troops to join the war to support Mexico in driving away the invaders. .

The public attitude of Thirteen International Group shocked Europe.

Even the highest level of the German Empire in Berlin did not expect such an effect. This hindered the original plan that Mexico would be slowly eaten away and that the German Empire would also launch plans in South America.

So much so that Germany has chosen to stand still for more than a week.

This made Austria-Hungary, which had publicly expressed its request for help, angry.

On September 22, 1881, the Kingdom of the Netherlands belatedly expressed its stance. Both the Upper House and the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament passed common content. Both houses issued a security report: the possibility of invasion by Germany and Austria cannot be ruled out!

This report stated that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's invasion of Latin America and Mexico further lowered the threshold for the use of military force and was able to accept great political and military risks.

This report of the Dutch Parliament pointed out that the beginning of the transatlantic war of aggression and counter-aggression between Austria and Mexico opened the door for possible escalation of aggression against other countries and the use of various means to create excuses. Austria and Mexico eventually became the trigger for wars between other countries. Realistic model.

This report pointed out that the Netherlands, like most countries, has not had any real wars with other countries since the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic War in 1815. Many of the Netherlands' allies have only increased in recent years. The military spending and military capabilities of many of the Netherlands' allies are not enough to fight against the European military powers. For example, the Netherlands' current ally, Mexico, is fighting against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The report stated that in the past 10 years, Mexico purchased 50,000 Mauser rifles and supporting ammunition from the Netherlands, as well as 20,000 semi-automatic rifles, 50 front rifled guns, and 20 rear rifled guns.

The rest are old-fashioned British and American guns. The Mexican army has 100,000 troops, and almost everyone is equipped with just one gun.

In contrast, the Austrian Empire of Austria-Hungary was a European power for hundreds of years, and now the united Kingdom of Hungary forms the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The centuries-old heritage of a great power is definitely not comparable to that of Mexico, a former Spanish colony that has only been a republic for more than 60 years. What's more, Mexico's economic and industrial level is hardly comparable to that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe.

This report pointed out that the Netherlands needs to make a response plan. For example, with the Netherlands' strong military manufacturing capabilities and complete Dutch domestic supply chain, the Netherlands can provide its allies with sufficient self-defense weapons systems.

This Dutch parliamentary report suggests that the Dutch government should speed up its cooperation with allied countries and promote the Netherlands' arms sales. This can provide Dutch weapons to allies to increase their security, and at the same time increase the development of the Dutch military industry and provide enterprises with sufficient supply. income to develop new weapons.

This report also criticized the views of many Dutch military experts. The Austro-Hungarian Empire dispatched a large number of land troops and surface warships to attack Mexico, making it difficult for the latter to hold its position. This seriously exposed the coastal defense gaps of the Netherlands' Latin American allies. Due to insufficient naval battleship systems and coastal defense artillery, Mexico is currently unable to respond to the Austro-Hungarian invasion on good coastal waters.

The Defense Committee of the Dutch Parliament, composed of a cross-party group of MPs, issued a report on Monday (September 22), stating that the Austro-Mexican War may escalate into attacks on other countries, and that the Austro-Hungarian invasion may cause other major powers to follow suit. It puts everyone in the small country in danger.

“Therefore, the Netherlands must design its own security policy and adjust defense measures based on the threat that Austria-Hungary will pose for a long time to come. The Netherlands needs to consult with its allies on how to respond to a similar invasion by Austria-Hungary. Protect yourself.”

Krim, director and chief researcher of the Netherlands Australia Institute, said at the meeting that in the past week, many countries around the world have sent telegrams asking if there are any ready-made purchase transactions in the business of the three major arms dealers in the Netherlands. Obviously, Austria The Hungarian Empire invaded Mexico, causing panic in small countries. Everyone wanted to buy more weapons, so that the perpetrators did not dare to act rashly. He pointed out that in the next 10 years, Dutch arms dealers will become guests of governments of various countries. Everyone hopes to obtain the most advanced and most profitable weapons in the world to protect themselves from harm, so they will become the focus.

The Defense Committee of the Dutch Parliament, which received the assistance of security experts, also reported that Austria-Hungary has further lowered the threshold for using huge military forces, and has thus destroyed the balance of power previously created by world powers, increasing the risk of government occupation among major powers.

Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Empire launched a war across the Atlantic, which showed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was capable of using its navy and army to travel long distances across the sea to attack Mexico. Such an approach was only available to a few countries in the world before. Currently, only the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are on this list. France, Spain, and Germany barely count as one. Austria-Hungary's approach shows that it is no weaker than Germany's overseas mobilization capabilities. It means that overseas, Austria-Hungary has become a powerful country, which is the Tsarist Empire.

The actions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire affected the interests of global powers and weak countries. Each country has different positions and represents different interests.

Krim, director and chief researcher of the Netherlands Australia Institute, publicly said in an interview with "European Times": "You will see a lot of discussions about the capabilities of maritime warships and submarines. The improvement of ocean combat capabilities will undoubtedly become a major military market, because In the future, I estimate that the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Tsarist Empire, the United States, Italy, and a series of other countries that did not pay much attention to maritime power in the past will accelerate the construction of maritime power. This may cause the manufacturers of sea power to have hot business with supply exceeding demand. "

This arms and policy expert said that the Netherlands must speed up sending weapons to its allies, because only in this way can the allies improve their capabilities and the Netherlands can carry out military cooperation with them. Otherwise, the weapons of the allies will not be enough. When the time comes, the Netherlands wants to help each other, and the other party will If you don’t know how to use Dutch weapons, then it will be too late by then.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire shocked the world when it invaded Mexico.

Many allies of the Netherlands immediately strengthened their defense capabilities and accelerated the purchase of weapons from the Netherlands. However, many countries are still waiting and watching, such as the Netherlands' allies Venezuela and Colombia. The lack of finances in these two countries makes it difficult to purchase Dutch weapons. Weapons. Currently, these two countries are applying to the Netherlands for a credit arms purchase treaty. During the negotiations, both parties are making mortgage conditions. The Netherlands hopes to obtain the port use rights of these countries, but these two countries are unwilling. Instead, they hope to sell some Island, trying to tie the Netherlands to the maritime border between the two countries and making the Netherlands a neighbor, that would be a good idea. Will the Netherlands say no?