Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

Recently, the potential crises of the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire have attracted attention across Europe. It is considered one of the most serious crises since 1856.

The outside world was worried that the Tsarist Empire would invade the Bessarabia region in the north of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the United Kingdom, the French Empire, the Austrian Empire and other countries began to coordinate diplomatic efforts with the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

On March 25, 1865, Alexander II of the Russian Empire delivered a speech titled "On the History of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea" to the 200,000 citizens of the Russian Empire in St. Peter's Square. He said that the Russian Empire began to treat Bessala in 1812. The Biya region was ruled, but after the defeat in the Crimean War in 1856, it was forced to cede the region to the Ottoman Empire. The Tsarist Empire had never been the one to suffer, and he promised not to let the Tsarist Russian Empire swallow it up. This is a bitter pill.

This publication was considered to be an attempt by the Russian Empire to preempt public opinion about the annexation of Bessarabia.

On April 1, 1865, April Fool's Day, several countries announced to the outside world that they had ordered their diplomats and citizens from various countries in the Bessarabia region to be sent to Iraq, the capital of the Southern Ottoman Empire. Retreat in the direction of Standinople.

On April 5, the Tsarist Russian Army announced that it had completed the deployment of more than 50,000 troops on the border between the Principality of Bessarabia and Tsarist Russia in the Ottoman Empire. This made Europe feel that a storm was coming.

The British and French empires even called on the Tsarist Empire not to invade Bessarabia. Both countries expressed their dissatisfaction with Tsarist Russia's escalating tensions.

The Austrian Empire also shouted to Tsarist Russia that Vienna did not want to see tensions in the region and asked the Tsarist Empire to take responsible actions to ease tensions.

“In recent years, the Tsarist Russian Empire has rarely used military operations externally. Since the failure of the Crimean War, although Crimea was taken back, the countries were in the western part of the Black Sea, causing the Tsarist Russian Empire to suffer a lot. The dream of entering the Mediterranean from the southern region, which has always been on my mind, is even more difficult to realize, especially because countries such as Britain and France are very wary of this.

Now, as the national strength is slowly recovering after ten years of precipitation, this time Alexander II publicly delivered such a grand speech to the citizens of Tsarist Russia in the capital of the Russian Empire, expressing his dissatisfaction with the shameful "Paris Peace Treaty", and then today Chen Bing 50,000 Tsarist-Russian-Ottoman border, its ultimate purpose is obvious.

On April 8, Queen Victoria approached the invited Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gorchakov of the Russian Empire in London. Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston later held a face-to-face meeting with Gorchakov. The British Empire tried to help Tsarist Russia. Imperial and Ottoman crises were mediated. When the two discussed the Treaty of Paris, Gorchakov said: "The Ottoman Empire must return Bessarabia to the Tsarist Empire and abide by the pre-1856 borders based on this premise, or the people of the Tsarist Russian Empire must I won’t have a good impression of them.”

On April 9, Sultan Abdulaziz I of the Ottoman Empire stated in an exclusive interview with "European Times" that he also disliked the "Paris Peace Treaty".

Because in his view, this peace treaty actually recognized that the Crimean Peninsula belonged to the Tsarist Empire. However, it was up to him whether he liked it or not. Bessarabia was the territory of the Ottoman Empire. This was recognized by all countries. The Tsarist Empire must Acknowledge this and there can be no other options.

The contrast between Sultan Abdulaziz I's declaration and Alexander II's statement caused an uproar from the outside world. It was considered to reflect the worldview of the top leaders of the two countries and their unwillingness to make concessions or compromises to Bessarabia. Firm attitude.

In recent years, Tsarist Russia's low profile has caused European countries to almost forget the existence of this most powerful country in Europe. The same goes for the Ottoman Empire, a major Eurasian country not recognized by Europe.

However, with the current dispute between the two countries, European countries have to accept the reality, that is, any disturbance in the two countries can disturb the peaceful life of Europeans, and the balance of power on the European continent will be broken. .

The destructive power formed is definitely unbearable by Western European countries.

In particular, the countries neighboring the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire began to worry, fearing that another war between the two countries would affect them, fish in the pond.

However, the statements of the two countries caused subtle changes in the previous participants in the war, Britain, France and Italy.

High-level officials in various countries are also aware of this.

Now, as the Tsarist Empire was suppressed by the last failure and returned to the area north of the Black Sea,

It seems that all countries no longer share the same stance on urgency as they did before 1853.

The French Empire was not the same as Britain.

Because before 1860, Britain actually forced Napoleon III to transfer the Suez Canal to them, which made France resentful, and Napoleon III was criticized in France for this.

As France was driven away from its sphere of influence there, France even became embarrassed in the eastern Mediterranean, because they discovered that after 1860 it became the territory of the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom.

In the central part, with the rise of the Kingdom of Italy, which was originally supported by France to fight against the Ottoman Empire, it was snatched away by Britain and became its ally. As a result, France was also driven away in the central Mediterranean, because Libya in the south became an Italian colony. .

Therefore, the French are now confused: Who is France's number one opponent?

If Napoleon III could have jointly responded to the Crimean War with 300,000 people launched by the Russians in 1853 without regrets, then even if he sends 300,000 people now, he will be spit on by the French, because France has no interests. There.

Especially the recent escalation of the crisis between the Tsarist Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the Tsarist Empire becoming aggressive, and the British becoming extremely nervous, have made France more aware of one point, that is, relatively speaking, even if the Tsarist Russian Empire defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Black Sea, By seizing the outlet of the Mediterranean, Britain's losses were much higher than those of France. In this case, why would France, which originally didn't have much territory there, bother to make fun of it?

Therefore, this time Napoleon III of France did nothing more than call on all countries to calm down, because he knew that in the skies above Paris, this public opinion basis no longer existed.

Unlike him, the Austrian Empire led by Joseph I was very nervous. If the Bessarabia region was captured by someone else, then the border territory between the Austrian Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire was originally only the northern part of Austria, but It is possible that as Bessarabia was captured by the Tsarist Empire, and if the Tsarist Empire succeeded in invading the narrow northern region of the Principality of Romania under the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire would also face the potential threat of the Tsarist Russian Empire in the eastern region. . Almost half of the border lines of the Austrian Empire are connected with the Tsarist Russian Empire, which virtually increases the number of borders that need to be guarded during disputes between Austria and the Tsarist Russian Empire.

So Joseph I Alexander.

In this regard, he naturally stood on the side of Britain.

"We do not agree with Alexander II's relevant statement. We believe that the current status quo should be maintained instead of destroying it. The Austrian Empire insists on requiring all relevant parties in the Black Sea to exercise restraint."

He even warned Alexander II of Tsarist Russia: "Be careful of a repeat of the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856."

William IV: "Joseph I's statement actually means that the Tsarist Russian Empire continues to increase conflicts among the countries in Southeast Europe, especially the relevant parties there. The Tsarist Russian Empire's strong style of behavior will affect other countries as third parties. For big countries like the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom, it was unacceptable for them to inadvertently destroy the strategic buffer and cover, so they were very opposed to it.

But for Prussia, Sweden, even Italy and even the French Empire, it is beneficial, because they have opponents between them and Tsarist Russia. The Tsarist Empire is now provoking trouble in the Black Sea, which can effectively The transfer and diversion of Sweden faced the pressure of Tsarist Russia.

Prussia has benefited a lot from this. Austria now has to face the threat of coercion from both ends.

Italy's obsession with Venice made them dissatisfied with Austria, and they also benefited a lot from the possible disputes between the Russian Empire and Austria.

As for us in the Netherlands?”

William IV told Hesbert von: "Objectively, it is very beneficial, which is why I promote the development of this area."

Yes, this time Tsarist Alexander II dared to march into the southern Bessarabia region at this time. In fact, it was under the orders of William IV that the Dutch intelligence agency provided relevant intelligence to their counterparts in the Tsarist Russian Empire and gave Alexander II the information. The intelligence provided by the Netherlands was so important that Alexander II was willing to take risks for it.

"They missed this opportunity and may have to wait for more than ten years."

William IV thought that in history, the Tsarist Empire once again took back the Bessarabia region. It was after Alexander II launched the Ottoman Empire War in 1878 and won, forcing the Ottomans to sign the "Treaty of San Stefano" before ruling it again. of.

Hesbert Feng: "Your Majesty, what do we gain by doing this?"

Until now, he still couldn't understand His Majesty's thoughts, even though he had been running for it recently.

William IV said proudly: "Don't you think that Britain has been too pampered in recent years except in South Africa?"

Seeing that Hesbert von and others showed approval, William IV followed up and said:

"Britain is too powerful. Although it suffered a lot of losses in South Africa, it was not to the point of breaking out. The Netherlands and Britain both have huge territories in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. We cannot watch them gradually form a stable rule there. Just like they won't watch us develop in the East Indies and Australia.

Therefore, we need a strategic window period, and this opportunity is that we need to create an enemy to distract Britain, and this enemy is none other than the Tsarist Empire north of the Indian continent and the Tsarist Empire that wants to appear in the earth. "