Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On August 1, 1864, the Danish government decided to evacuate Holstein and assemble troops north of the Eider River.

On August 3, 1864, the German Confederation operation began. The German Confederate forces crossed the Elbe River and occupied Altona near Hamburg. Under the order issued by the German Confederation, it formally declared war on the Kingdom of Denmark. On August 6, 1864, the Saxon army continued to take the train from Leipzig to Holstein. They reached the front line, where the Confederates joined forces at Hanover and Cointreau.

On August 5, they passed through Holstein and arrived at Lendsburg, a town on the Schleswig-Holstein border. For Denmark, the occupation was a relief. Although this order to retreat without fighting lowered the morale of some Danish soldiers, the unfavorable military situation forced the military to shorten the borders that needed to be defended, so the retreat was very wise. Behavior.

In addition, since Holstein and Lauenburg are members of the German Confederation, failure to back down may cause a serious political crisis for Britain and France, and may even trigger a war. The Danish army can now retreat to the north, while the German Confederate troops retreat from the south. Marching north, the road was filled with enthusiastic German republicans.

Duke Augustenberg, now Derek VIII, interacted and traveled with the Confederate troops, and he also received a warm welcome.

On August 10, he was awarded the honorary title of Duke of Schleswig-Holstein by representatives of the German Confederation Assembly in Kiel.

But here, differences emerged between Austria and Prussia and other members of the German Confederation.

The administration of the two principalities was entrusted to two federal commissioners of Saxony and Hanover.

The German Confederation Congress first claimed that this part of the territory belonged to Frederick 80, who also received support from the small and medium-sized states of the German Confederation.

They were obviously dissatisfied with the joint rule of Austria and Prussia over the German states, and expressed their dissatisfaction and resistance by controlling the entire German Confederation.

These states were not bound by the London Protocol, which had never been ratified individually by them or by the German Confederation. In fact, these states attempted to counter the Austro-Prussian rule by forming a new state. strength.

It’s really a wave of ups and downs.

The opposition within the German Confederation has just eased. Small countries are dissatisfied with the suppression of big powers and are holding small team building. This has attracted the interest of various countries in Europe. Especially now that the German Confederation is still attacking Denmark, many people (especially the Kingdoms of Denmark and Denmark) even wish that the German Confederation would fight among themselves first, so that Denmark could take the opportunity to resolve this crisis.

On August 12, 1864, the German Confederation Parliament rejected the proposal of Prussia and Austria to continue to implement the occupation of Schleswig unless the November Constitution was revoked.

However, the small and medium-sized countries in the Confederation Congress faced huge pressure from the Austro-Prussian Empire, especially when the two countries accounted for more than half of the total military strength. They had to recognize the occupation of Holstein by the Austro-Prussian Empire on August 15.

On August 18, 1864, Austria and Prussia announced that they would no longer abide by the Confederation Assembly's decision on Schleswig and gathered troops south of the Eide River.

Military tensions continued, but no conflicts occurred. The Danish army was stationed on the north bank of the Eide River, and the coalition forces led by the Austro-Prussian army were on the south bank.

On August 22, 1864, Bismarck issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Denmark, requiring Denmark to abrogate the November Constitution and leave Schleswig within 48 hours. However, the time Bismarck gave was too short. From an administrative point of view, revocation is also extremely unlikely because it would take a long time to discuss it in parliament and public opinion is very important. Christian IX does not have the power to undo it if he wants to.

“Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Bismarck did not want to give Denmark the opportunity to withdraw.

He wanted war, because he needed war to gain prestige. "

This is when many European history experts will devote their time to studying the Schleswig War in the future, and they will provide insights into Bismarck's motives.

He also wanted to test the new Prussian army that had been gradually established without prior parliamentary authorization and had been reformed by Prussian War Minister Roan. He wanted to prove to the King of Prussia and the Prussians how valuable this army was.

Now the Prussian-Austrian army is sitting idle on the banks of the Elbe River, showing satisfaction and observing the other Germany's behavior in front of the eyes of the whole of Europe when it is looking for a solution.

On August 20, Prussia and Austria issued an ultimatum to Denmark to abrogate the November Constitution and evacuate Schleswig, but the Kingdom of Denmark rejected it in writing on the evening of August 21.

In Copenhagen, Prussian envoy Hermann Baran and Austrian envoy Adolf Felsach issued a final call to withdraw the November Constitution when they met with Danish Speaker and Foreign Minister Carl Christian Meck.

They concluded that if Solo failed to comply with this requirement, then the two German powers would be obliged to use the means at their disposal to restore the status quo and safeguard the legitimate rights of the Duchy of Schleswig. Although the two envoys from the two countries were not officially recognized, they represented their respective governments in this incident. Their mission now failed and they quickly left Copenhagen.

Monrad and Christian IX were very helpless. In fact, they wanted to cancel it now, but the foundation was not good, so Denmark actually chose to reject this request.

That’s why we finally rejected the two countries’ unreasonable demands in writing. After Denmark formally refused, the Austrian envoy von Brenner left Copenhagen first, while the Prussian envoy left two days later.

And Bismarck in Berlin sensed that the time had come to secure Austrian cooperation.

Therefore, at the beginning of the first anniversary of the new year in late August, Bismarck proposed a formal alliance to the Austrian ambassador to Austria, Kaloy.

In Vienna, Austrian Foreign Minister Reichberg was delighted by the news.

He thought that such an alliance would prevent Bismarck from changing his political course to support Augustenburg.

Reichberg suggested that the two countries should clarify in the treaty that only when both parties unanimously agree can they abandon the provisions of the London Protocol.

Such precise regulations were not in line with Bismarck's intentions, so Bismarck told the Austrian Foreign Minister that in his past, William I would never accept the London Protocol, and suggested that the alliance guarantee the following: If because of Schles War broke out over the Suig-Holstein issue, and the future of these two principalities should be decided only through discussions between Austria and Prussia.

Bismarck's strength and Austria's weakness were thus formed, because Austria finally accepted Bismarck's statement. Austria is attracted by these two principalities, because Bismarck's meaning is very clear. We can share these two principalities, but we must not let other countries of the German Confederation get involved. This means that Austria can also divide a piece of territory.

When this Prussian idea spread back to Vienna, Joseph I and Rainer. Archduke Ferdinand was finally willing to accept Prussia's covenant conditions.

The covenant was drawn up in this form in William Street on the last day of August 1864 and signed on the next day, September 1, 1864.

In Amsterdam, King William IV of the Netherlands was looking at the intelligence he had just received. There was news of an alliance between Austria and Prussia.

"If Schleswig is handed over, Prussia and Austria will ensure that no decision on the succession issue will cause any harm to Denmark. The supreme power of Schleswig is exercised by the Allied Forces. And in A local civil administration commissioner is established.

If the King of Denmark is deprived of his power, the two countries will not tolerate the intervention of the Danish government or the demonstrations of some people.

Unless the Augustenburg family or the National Liberal Party attempt to organize political gatherings outside or in the country itself.

According to non-German states, the two countries should maintain a consistent response to matters involving the German Confederation and Denmark.

At the same time, it was proposed to maintain the status quo of the principality for the time being, and Prussia and Austria would issue the following conditions: requiring Denmark to either revoke the November Constitution or hand over Schleswig.

The outbreak of hostilities at Schleswig brought an end to the existing peace between the German Powers and Denmark, and the Austro-Prussian Governments retained the right to determine the future ownership of the duchy only by mutual agreement.

In order to reach an agreement, they will make appropriate further arrangements in the event of an incident.

In any case, the veto would not otherwise settle the question of the duchy's succession unless both parties agreed, and the dispute between the German Confederation and Denmark, which involved armed intervention by other countries, reserved further agreement. "

William IV looked at the contents of the Austro-Prussian alliance in front of him and showed his thoughts.

The two countries in history have continued to form an alliance, so will Denmark's fate remain the same as before?

William IV did not know that if this situation really continued, then Denmark, with a population of less than two million people, would lose a quarter of its population due to this war just like in the previous life. , that is, nearly 500,000 casualties.

What can the Netherlands gain from this?

As for helping Denmark, William IV knew the cruelty of politics. There is no such thing as a marriage that is just a family idea. As long as the Danish royal family does not fall, the effect of the marriage will not disappear. The size of the country has no influence on the marriage between royal families. influenced.

Alexandra also understands this, and the royal families of various European countries know that it is okay to fight, but it is fundamental that the royal family does not harm their harmony.

Otherwise, why would William II and Edward VII in their previous lives be nephews and uncles, so they should fight if they should. Therefore, don't take marriage too seriously. After all, national interests are sometimes so realistic.

On September 5, 1864, under the close attention of William IV, Bismarck, who saw that the time was ripe, sent a special envoy to Vienna, and Vienna responded to his satisfaction.