Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

"The Prussian principle is I have a gun, do you have money?"

"Prussia was a military regime established by the Teutonic Knights after they returned to Europe. This country has a strong tradition of militarism."

Pearson faced hundreds of people, but he behaved leisurely and contentedly. He is worthy of being a well-known figure in the new generation of diplomatic circles in Europe.

"In the early days, Prussia was just a small Eastern European country on the Baltic Sea coast. In 1619, Brandenburg and Prussia combined to form a common federation. Prussia officially joined and became the sphere of influence of the German nation."

Since the 18th century, Prussia has been vigorously supporting the third largest army in Europe with a population outside the top ten in Europe. At its peak, the number of troops even reached more than 150,000.

The country's military training is very strict. Soldiers have to fire more than 165 pounds of training ammunition a year. During the same period, French soldiers went to the battlefield with 30 shots. In actual combat, infantry from other countries can fire three shots a minute. The Prussian soldiers had already completed 4 shots. "

Nicholas Pearson said in a very serious tone: "Everyone, our neighbor has become extremely powerful. In recent years, the Russian Empire has even begun to be afraid of the Kingdom of Prussia. The Austrian Empire is even more afraid of attacking Prussia. The Netherlands needs it." Be wary of this country.

During Prussia's War of Succession to the Austrian Empire, although Britain was an ally of the Austrian Empire at the time, it urged Austria to accept Prussia's invasion of Silesia. With British support, Prussia's territory suddenly increased by one-third.

Just like other countries have a hero who makes them rise, Frederick the Great of Prussia was keenly aware that Britain was most concerned about weakening the two land powers of Austria and France, and these two countries also happened to be Prussia. The biggest obstacle to expansion.

However, at that time, the commodity economy in Central Europe was not as developed as in Western Europe. Central European countries did not have the ability to borrow heavily. In order to support the war machine, the two countries hit it off. Britain lent money to Prussia for development, which weakened the dominance of these countries over the European continent. , Britain and Prussia formed an alliance.

Everyone, Prussia's biggest advantage is that their elite army has always had the upper hand against the fat Austrian army. There is also a large German Confederation as a buffer between Prussia and France. Prussia cannot be wiped out by France's quick battle. .

This location is exactly what the UK considers to be a good place to invest.

Thus, since the War of Austrian Succession, the alliance between Britain and the Kingdom of Prussia has been impregnable.

As long as the United Kingdom continues to provide blood transfusions to Prussia, Prussia will continue to weaken the strength of France and Austria on the European continent and compress their power in Central and Western Europe. The smart Prussia can use the financial resources of the United Kingdom to expand its own power, and finally in 19 In the 1950s, it became the de facto German Confederation second only to the Austrian Empire.

During the Seven Years' War, Prussia received more than 6.5 million pounds in annual funding from the United Kingdom. This amount of money was only a drop in the bucket for the United Kingdom, but it was enough for Prussia to continue fighting with surrounding countries until the number of men was almost exhausted.

However, when Prussia fought Denmark for Schleswig in the 1850s, Austria began to feel a sense of crisis within the German Confederation. Prussia, which wanted to gain leadership, resisted Austria, but in the end the Russian Empire stood firm. He came out to stand behind Joseph Franz I of Austria. Although France expressed neutrality, it was also wary of Prussia, a new entrant. It seemed to be impartial, but in fact it was biased towards the Austrian Empire.

However, Britain, a country that had supported Prussia for a long time, became indifferent when Prussia needed its help. This made Prussia completely recognize the ruthlessness of the other party, so Prussia signed many agreements and recognized After the Austrian Empire signed a humiliating treaty with the German Confederation, it no longer had the same intimacy and enthusiasm for Britain as before. Even Queen Victoria's idea of ​​​​selling her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, to Crown Prince Frederick to save the alliance between the two countries was also lost. Ignored by many hard-liners in power in Prussia.

Dear friends, Prussia has a strong national power and a well-trained army. Over the past decades or hundreds of years, with the help of British funds, the army has risen and become one of the five major European countries in the late anti-Napoleonic period.

However, they were a Central European country at that time. After taking over the Rhine Province in the German Confederation in 1815, they became a Western European country and bordered us. They posed a great threat to the Netherlands and had to guard against it.

However, the existence of the Netherlands' long-standing ally, the Russian Empire, has made the Kingdom of Prussia wary of antagonizing us. Above."

"Papa pa pa"

William IV did not directly let the next person speak this time, but ended up talking about this topic: "Prussia is now an ally with us. It seems inappropriate for us to say this to each other, but we are the Diplomatic Academy here, and it is about the Dutch diplomatic community. It’s a grand event, so you can talk about your concerns without hesitation.

Just like what Ambassador Pearson said just now, in his opinion, Prussia is like that. What he said may make everyone feel what kind of image another country is in the heart of an ambassador.

You can even look up how some of Ambassador Pearson's work in Prussia in the past focused on how to contact this country. This is a window that allows students to quickly think about issues from a work perspective.

Since students can, colleagues can also learn from each other. This is not competition, but mutual promotion.”

William IV did not participate in any comments on Pearson's attitude towards Prussia. Instead, he expanded on the purpose of the course. After explaining it, he said to Calvin Colin, the Dutch ambassador to the Russian Empire:

"Since we talked about the Russian Empire, Colin, as the Dutch ambassador stationed in the Russian Empire, please tell us how you think the Russian Empire rose."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Calvin Colin is 37 years old and can be considered a veteran in the Dutch diplomatic community. Before becoming the Dutch ambassador to the Russian Empire, he was the Dutch ambassador to the Kingdom of Greece, so he has rich diplomatic experience.

"To understand the Tsarist Empire, you should actually understand the country's people. In St. Petersburg, many well-known writers self-deprecatingly called the Tsarist Russians two-legged animals, and often ridiculed the Tsarist Russians for being cheaper than the Prussians."

After all, the Tsarist Empire has been an ally of the Netherlands for hundreds of years. Colin actually said this, which made everyone present feel strange.

As soon as this comment came out, the venue suddenly became quiet, and even William IV looked calm.

Colin had long expected this consequence, but he was determined and didn't care, because he was confident that when he told what he knew, everyone would choose this version.

I’m asking for your recommendation votes from all readers, there are too few of them recently!