Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On November 27, 1864, Denmark, Prussia and Austria negotiated in Gothenburg, a city in southwestern Sweden. Witnessed by Sweden, Tsarist Russia, Britain, the Netherlands, France and other countries, they signed the Gothenburg Contract. In this contract, Denmark declared that In the Duchy of Schleswig, on the Jutland peninsula, from west to east, start from the southern part bounded by Husum and the northern part of the city of Schleswig, including these two cities and Holstein. Because the duchy and Lauenburg were permanently ceded to Prussia and Austria.

In the western sea, when the South Island Beach and Pelworm Island were also insisted by the two countries, Denmark ceded them to the two countries.

Fortunately, Beidao Beach was defended by Denmark with the support of various countries.

Surprisingly, however, the day after Denmark signed the contract with Austria and Prussia, Denmark signed an island lease contract with the United Kingdom, Tsarist Russia, the Netherlands and Sweden respectively.

In the contract, Denmark leased the North Beach Island for 100,000 pounds to the French Empire for 50 years.

France used 300,000 pounds, the same 50-year lease term, leased the Isle of Foer.

The UK leased Amrum Island for 50 years for £300,000.

As for the Netherlands, it used 300,000 pounds to win a 50-year lease on the northern island of Sylt.

As for the south, it was also leased by Sweden for 50 years for 300,000 pounds.

With this contract and a contract signed by the countries, they are recognized by the countries and take effect immediately.

Although it seems that the final loss seems to be Denmark. But think that in the past, Schleswig was just a principality governed by itself.

But now it is the place north of Schleswig and Husum that will be recognized by various countries as an official addition to the Danish territory, just as the Danish negotiator said in the Gothenburg negotiation in neutral Sweden, Denmark will create a new district there - Schleswig.

This is an important step for Denmark, and even since then, they have thoroughly clarified the dispute between Schleswig and Holstein between the German Confederation, allowing Denmark to break away from their relationship with them. The conflict continues.

This is the biggest gain.

The 50-year leased islands of Britain, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and France all belonged to Schleswig before. Now, with the support of these four countries, they all belong to Denmark. Received, but the sovereignty is there, and Opp and others can no longer deny it.

Countries such as Europe and even the Americas were wowed as they were exposed internationally.

Although Denmark is not very satisfied with this result, after experiencing the fierce war between Denmark and Prussia and Austria, they all understand that it is difficult to achieve more and start a war. Now this effect is not easy.

In the end, he also acquiesced in the way Christian IX handled the war, and thus secured his position as the king of Denmark.

While Prussia and Austria were equally dissatisfied with the results of this victory, after all, the part occupied by Denmark reached almost one-third of all Schleswig.

As for the large islands off the Atlantic coast of Schleswig, Opp won only two small islands in the south.

Although they were dissatisfied with the fact that the islands they originally wanted were forced to sign and admit that they belonged to Denmark, when they saw the lease contracts that Denmark leased to various countries, they already knew that they were powerless to object.

After all, it is meat to the mouth of the countries. Opp has already taken the greatest benefit, so why not let the countries drink some soup?

And people still use money to rent.

With the signing of these two documents, Europe's international status has been reshuffled again. This was the most important post-war negotiation in mainland Europe after the Vienna Peace Conference in 1815.

It is also the coalition army composed of the Tsarist Russia Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, the French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia (Emanuel II changed to the Kingdom of Italy after 1860) in the Crimea Peninsula and the Caucasus. 10 years after the Crimean War fought in the Balkans, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the White Sea, and the Near East, the largest European multinational war.

Although in the war with Crimea, the Russian Empire lost 522,000 people.

Compared with the 96,000 Ottoman Empire, 95,000 French, 102,000 British Empire, 18,000 Sardinian Kingdom, and 1,000 Greek Legion on the alliance side, the total loss seems immeasurable.

But this time both sides, including Denmark and the German Confederation, exceeded 100,000, although only one-third of the Crimean War.

But you must know that Crimea is in a remote part of Eastern Europe, while the war between Denmark and the German Confederation is in central and western Europe, which is almost the heart of Europe, so European countries feel the proximity of the war even more.

After the Crimean War, Tsarist Russia, like France after Napoleon's defeat in the war, was isolated by European countries. After ten years, Tsarist Russia slowly recovered its relations with other countries. The Dande war was due to There are many countries on the side of the warring German Confederation, and naturally it will not be isolated by boycotts.

And because Denmark has just married with the Netherlands, Britain, Russia, and Switzerland, it is naturally not the object of encouragement. Therefore, everyone was shocked to find that with the confirmation of these two documents, the countries seemed to have no wars. , and resumed his previous life.

But only William IV knew that this was only on the surface, but in private, it was the calm before the storm.

The German unification plan of Bismarck and William I of the Kingdom of Prussia sold the first practical step through this war. However, in the next distribution of the "booty", Opp will face the voices of doubts from the countries of the German Confederation. Unequal distribution and quarrels will be the next big dramas to be staged.

Although the long-standing battle for the dominance of the German Confederation was covered up in this war, the Austrian losses in this war far exceeded the results of Prussia, which made Prussia more respected by all countries in public opinion within the German Confederation. .

This will in turn add more new friction to the open and secret struggle for dominance, and even because other countries in Schleswig and Holstein are dissatisfied with the distribution of Opp, it will further fuel the burning of this flame, and the two countries will As a result, friction is intensified.

Brings this pair of same-race allies who fought side by side in the Dedan War to a crossroads where they parted ways, and finally brings them back together on a battlefield that promotes agreement.

William IV said to himself: "Historically, within 7 years after the Purdue War, Prussia successively waged wars with Austria and France. In the end, Austria kicked out the German Confederation and made Prussia unify Germany. Then in 1871, after the defeat of France, the German Empire was proclaimed in Paris."

It truly broke the original pattern of great power politics in Europe, and Europe once again had a new empire rising strongly.

Since then, the German Empire has been on the road of rising, being defeated and rising again for nearly 70 years.

It's a pity that the wars have left this country covered with bruises and wounds, and it is even more 'reward-like', so that the surrounding countries are like them, and the wars are everywhere.

However, this is the reality of Europe today until the next decades and hundreds of years. Without the protection of force, everything is the object of slaughter. In Europe, only the United Kingdom is alone because it is isolated overseas, so the mainland is rarely attacked by war.

The Netherlands needs a piece of land that is not attacked by war and rapid development in order to remain strong and prosperous for a long time. The location of the homeland is destined to be impossible to achieve this goal. Looking around the world, it seems that only the Far East led by Australia is the best in the Netherlands. shelter. "

William IV stood up with flickering eyes and walked to the big map hanging next to him.

"The northern part of the Indian Ocean was almost occupied by the British subcontinent, the Bay of Bengal, and the lower Burma and the western coast of Burma. The Malayan Peninsula was under the absolute control of the British, and the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean was the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, which occupied Somalia. Further south is the Netherlands, which has taken Kenya, Tanzania, northern Mozambique bounded by the Mozambezi, and Madagascar. Further south is the United Kingdom, which occupies South Africa and the Mauritius Islands.

To the east was New Zealand, a British overseas territory, and to the north were Australia and the East Indies of what is now the Netherlands.

That is to say, the Indian Ocean is now almost surrounded by the Netherlands in the south and the United Kingdom in the north. "

William IV looked at the eastern part of the Indian Ocean, where the landmarks marked with the Dutch occupation were very conspicuous. Looking at the dense and familiar Dutch territory symbols, William IV was satisfied and felt a crisis at the same time.

He thought: The Netherlands occupies a large number of overseas territories, and European countries cannot be without opinions.

With the partition of African colonies and the subsequent wars, it has been proved that European countries have begun to turn their ambitious eyes from home to overseas.

Although the strength of the Netherlands is good, it is still lacking compared with the top powers, which makes the Netherlands passive when faced with the greed of various countries.

Many islands in the Pacific were fine before, at least not of much economic value.

But it's more than that, and it's widely distributed.

If I remember correctly, the European countries in the previous life paid attention to the Pacific islands. After the partition of Africa, the newly emerging Prussia and the United States were like wild dogs who foraged everywhere. They led the old powerhouses, such as Britain and France, and led the occupation of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. .

And in the 1890s, in just a few years, the Pacific Ocean, including the Hawaiian Islands, was divided up.

Now the Netherlands has the lead, but it has no strength, so how can they keep them safe? Without seeing that there are no colonies to contend for, the United States deliberately created the Maine incident next to Cuba in the Caribbean Sea~www.readwn.com~ Using this as an excuse, in the early 1900s, the kingdom of Spain, which was once an empire and now in decline, was quickly driven away, and the Philippine Islands were taken away.

"The homeland can even be temporarily lost, but the Far East is the root of the Netherlands becoming a great country, and it cannot be lost," William IV said firmly to himself.

At this moment, Queen Sandra of the pressure came in, and behind her were Prime Minister Tolbeck and Foreign Minister Heisbet Von.

Is there a situation?

The two looked excited, and he couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Tolbeck said: "Your Majesty, the American War Plan, the Lincoln Reign of the North has just announced a draft"

Under the attention of William IV, the former said astonishingly: "In order to liberate the black nu, the United States of America announced the promulgation of the "Emancipation Proclamation". "

The Emancipation Proclamation?

Lincoln finally made a big move, and things were going to be tough in the South.