Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

After a brief thought, King Leopold I chose to compromise. If he had to choose between the Netherlands and France, the Netherlands would definitely be better, but he could not make an immediate decision. He needed to seek the support of the Belgian people. Opinion.

Augustus said to Leopold I, "If Belgium makes a decision, Prussia can act as an intermediary between Belgium and the Netherlands. If France still resolutely chooses war, Prussia will support Amsterdam and Brussels."

After receiving Prussia's guarantee, King Leopold I finally felt better, but what could he do? Belgium would have perished in any case, and when Leopold I returned to Belgium on October [-], he found that the whole of Belgium had fallen into a state of pessimism.

Obviously they had heard that neither Britain nor Prussia would lend a helping hand. Prussia was not strong enough and Britain could not get away. No other great power could guarantee Belgium. And Leopold I held an emergency meeting in front of the whole country. He said, "There is a huge difference in national power between Belgium and France. We cannot defeat such an enemy. What if we cede territory? Will France let us go? It's impossible. France wants to annex the entire Belgium. There is only one way to go now." , is to merge with the Netherlands, no matter what, surviving is more important than anything else."

On the same day, August and Tina personally visited Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. This trip was grandly welcomed by King Lodewijk of the Netherlands, also known as William III of the Netherlands. Military bands lined the streets of Amsterdam. They played the Dutch national anthem and the Prussian national anthem to welcome August.

This is a very common thing. The welcoming ceremony in the Netherlands is obviously not as grand as that in the UK, so August doesn't feel that big. But he still has to talk about business. In the Dutch Parliament, August met the person who spoke to him. Johann Rudolf Tolbeck, an important political figure in the Netherlands.

This is the second time that Tolbeck has become Prime Minister. He is famous for his bold policies. He single-handedly amended the constitution and diluted the power of the king. He is an important founder of Dutch democracy, so he is more sophisticated than other politicians. He knows Auguste also knew the thoughts of French Emperor Napoleon III.

Tolbeck still agrees with August's plan. "Of course we are willing to merge with Belgium. This would of course not be a problem in other times, but now Belgium is facing the threat of France, which also makes us have to consider France." Thoughts on Home Country.”

Tina said, "If France annexes Belgium, as long as Prussia disappears, France will be able to invade the Rhineland before Britain can react, and then conquer the Netherlands like Napoleon I did. The Netherlands must fight back with Belgium. As long as France is blocked , you can have freedom and democracy, otherwise everything is empty talk."

Tolbeck: "What if we refuse? Belgium will be annexed, and then we can still sit back and relax."

Tina: "Can you sit back and relax? Mr. Tolbeck, do you trust the conscience of Napoleon III so much? If the French Empire is allowed to trample on the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, the next one to suffer will definitely be the Netherlands, unless you really think that you You can withstand France, I am not kidding, if France is serious, your army will not be able to hold out for even two hours."

Tolbeck was very calm. Of course he knew that the Netherlands would definitely not be able to defeat France, but would France still be interested in the Netherlands after it captured Belgium? Or is Napoleon III really not afraid of being sanctioned by Britain?

Tolbeck just wants to ask for more prices. If Belgium still exists, of course it will be good. Merging with the Netherlands will not cause much loss to the Netherlands. The Netherlands is not a big country and has no idea of ​​hegemony, but if it can get more through bargaining, If there are many benefits, that’s still great.

What they want is a bigger market. The European Union, a trade-focused military alliance, is very attractive to the Netherlands. Compared with other small European countries, the Netherlands is richer and has quite a few colonies overseas. , his weak military strength makes him the object of protection in wars. After all, you can't expect a small country to help you withstand the impact of other big countries.

To sum up, although the Netherlands is weak and should have been bullied by other European powers, it still relies on its big brother Britain to survive. However, if it mixes with the EU, it can get industrial products from Prussia and Italy without tariffs, and can also From the perspective of the Netherlands, the advantages of receiving help from two powerful countries during the war outweighed the disadvantages.

But there is also a disadvantage, that is, if a relatively poor country enters the EU, the Netherlands will have to provide some help according to the terms of the EU. However, Tolbeck investigated the recent situation in Prussia and found that Prussia did not allow Denmark to join the EU. Instead, the richer Netherlands will be considered first, which shows that they will not let poorer countries enter the EU casually.

Since everything is fine in this way, Tolbeck has done most of the advance work. Since the EU is not a charity organization, it can be said to be completely in line with the interests of the Netherlands. After all, it is expensive to use Prussian tariffs. ah.

"Maybe we can talk to France..." The Dutch Foreign Minister suddenly said, which can be said to be very inappropriate.

August's expression was still calm. She said to Tolbeck, "How many lessons do you need to learn before you learn to be smart? Past history has proven to us that when a tiger bites your head, At that time, you can't reason with it! It's impossible for a tiger to be petted into a kitten. If you want to share peace with the invaders, you will have to surrender completely..."

Tolbeck knew that August rarely got angry. It seemed that he had gone too far and made the Prussian regent unhappy. That was a very bad thing. "Well, August Your Highness, if Belgium has no objection, we will accept the merger with Belgium."

Tolbeck signed the merger document, followed by the signature of King William III of the Netherlands, and then the signatures of other ministers.

This merger document is called the "Dutch-Belgian Joint Declaration", which roughly means that politically the two countries will merge to form a new country, and the system will be a dual constitutional monarchy. Belgium and the Netherlands can have two different sets of laws. , the people of both countries will have the right to vote and be elected at the same time, and the people of both sides will have religious freedom, and agree to respect each other's culture.

This is also to prevent the recurrence of the divisions, and finally the independence of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Belgium will be guaranteed by Prussia and the United Kingdom of Japan.

What remains is whether the Belgians will accept this clause. In terms of actual value, this merger treaty is a lonely one. Basically, everyone is in charge of their own affairs. The Belgians are in charge of Belgian affairs, and the Dutch are in charge. In the case of the Dutch, there can even be two kings and two sets of laws, which is almost completely absent in the entire history of Europe.

After all, the merger itself was a helpless move. The Netherlands agreed to merge with Belgium in order to enter the EU, build a good relationship with Prussia, and protect Belgium from being annexed by France. Belgium was even worse. It was completely forced.