Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 5 Bismarck, I'm here for advice on diplomatic issues
March 1862, 1, at 11:18 p.m.

Kingdom of Prussia, Berlin, Prime Minister's Residence.

Otto von Bismarck had just assumed the position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia last month. He had recently been preparing for a series of actions in the Kingdom of Prussia. In order to carry out a more detailed plan, he, William I, and Army Chief of Staff Elder Moltke and Army Minister of Military Affairs (Army Logistics Minister) von Bern held a secret meeting.
For this plan, several giants of the Kingdom of Prussia have racked their brains. They must be prepared to hit the target with one blow. At the same time, they can also connect the subsequent plans one after another, so as to lay the foundation for Prussia's future in one fell swoop. status in Europe and the world.

Let Prussia truly join the game of European hegemony. Even if the plan is completed, the Kingdom of Prussia will be a latecomer among these great powers, but Bismarck and others believe that the latecomers will catch up and the Kingdom of Prussia will happen again.

After the meeting, it was already 17 o'clock in the afternoon, so I dragged myself exhausted and finally returned to the Prime Minister's Office before 18 o'clock in a carriage.

But what made him a little displeased was that at this time, someone actually disturbed the rest time he planned to use to restore his energy.

An unexpected guest came to visit.

For a diplomat who was unwilling to stand by and watch as the balance of power in Europe was being destroyed, this visit once again transformed Bismarck's soul from prime minister back to the body of foreign minister.

The visitor's name is Nicholas Pearson, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Kingdom of Prussia, a diplomat who is 20 years younger than Bismarck and is now only 27 years old.

I originally thought that the other party came to seek a meeting to discuss relations between the Netherlands and Poland, but I didn’t expect that.
Pearson came to Bismarck to "ask for advice on diplomatic issues."

After the greetings, the young Pearson started talking without any scruples: "The day I was born was April Fool's Day, which means you can lie without responsibility. In today's world, everyone turns a blind eye to the behavior of deceiving the world and stealing reputation, and I happened to be I chose diplomacy as a career.

Some people say that in diplomatic situations, those who speak little are gold, those who speak little are silver, and those who speak more are scraps.

But the famous French imperial diplomat Talleyrand also said that for people, its function is to conceal our own thoughts.

It is said that he can talk for four hours without interruption, with clear logic and clear layers. In the end, people find that he seems to have said nothing.

In order to master the mysterious knowledge of diplomacy, dear Prime Minister, and my most respected diplomatic predecessor, His Excellency Bismarck, can you teach me, a student, in this regard? "

"How amazing!" Bismarck secretly thought that the young diplomatic ambassador in front of him was amazing. He never thought that there was such a person in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so he took the big shot as an example.

It seems that this boy will not be a capable minister in the future, but at least a traitor in troubled times. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is really lucky to have such a talent. "

Bismarck was originally a little dissatisfied with being disturbed, but the topic of the young diplomatic envoy in front of him triggered a recurrence of the diplomatic occupational disease. He immediately became energetic and rejected the idea of ​​​​sending the other party away in a few words.

How to answer this question?

There was no need for Bismarck to think about it, because the inertia of his profession had already enabled him to speak accurately without thinking.

"What is diplomacy? Mr. Pearson, I can't explain your question. If diplomacy is a science, I have never heard of a specialized agency studying it. If diplomacy is an art, right?

For those who master this art, the Muse will never come out to protect it. To say that diplomacy is deception is tantamount to blasphemy, but among the gentlemen in our profession, there are indeed many charlatans."

"What an excellent answer!" Nicholas Pearson applauded with admiration. He is indeed an old fox in the diplomatic world.
"As expected, he is our old-timer. I see, even Viscount Palmerston of the British Empire is nothing more than that."

Although Bismarck had cultivated his mind for many years and had reached the point of perfection, but now that he was so praised by a young diplomat who had just received his high evaluation and optimism, even the vanity that had been hidden for a long time could not help but emerge.

Viscount Palmerston!

Henry John Puttar is currently the Prime Minister of the British Empire. How many people in the diplomatic community in the world are most awe-stricken and worshiped by him?

Bismarck, who was too arrogant, only admired one and a half people, and half of them was Clemens Wenler von Metternich, the Austrian Prime Minister who passed away in 1.

Metternich became Austrian ambassador to Saxony, Prussia and France after 1801, and became foreign minister of the Austrian Empire after 1809.

During this period, he presided over the Holy Alliance, that is, the four countries of Austria, Britain, Tsarist Russia, and Prussia formed an alliance to defeat Napoleon I. In 1815, he presided over the European Union that represented the partition of the European structure after Europe defeated Napoleon I. The Congress of Vienna was held in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Thousands of politicians from various European countries gathered in Vienna for the first time in modern history, and the conference lasted for half a year.

In 1821, in addition to the position of Foreign Minister, he also served as Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire.

During his term of office, he became a core figure in the 'Holy Alliance' and the Anglo-Russian-Australian Alliance. He personally promoted the establishment of the four major powers and ushered in the era of great powers controlling Europe.He opposed all nationalism, liberalism and gaming movements, and formed the Metternich System (also known as the Vienna System) with "legitimism" and "balance of power" as the core in various countries. This system lasted for more than 30 years. It was not until the Russian Empire and Britain fought in the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 that the European structure dominated by the Quadruple Alliance and the Vienna System collapsed.

But at this time, Metternich had already withdrawn from politics in 1851 and did not appear in public again until his death in 1859.

Bismarck has always regarded Metternich as an idol-level existence, especially his balance of power diplomacy, which has always been the object of Bismarck's imitation.

In fact, he is now doing the same thing with Prussia.

Make good friends with Tsarist Russia, especially Princess Charlotte, the sister of William I and the mother of Alexander II when she was still the Queen Mother of Tsarist Russia today;

At the same time, the relationship with the Austrian Empire was eased, allowing the two countries to compete for the dominance of the German Confederation within the framework of the German Confederation;
Hiding his strength from France allowed Napoleon III to lower his vigilance and paralyze the opponent.

Through this, Prussia minimized the threat of the Kingdom of Prussia in the eyes of other countries and allowed other countries to engage in internal strife.

At the same time, Crown Prince Frederick married the daughter of Queen Victoria of England, and married her eldest princess, Princess Victoria, in 1858.

The Prussian-British marriage consolidated Prussia's power over other countries.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Prussia has a very stable position among the major countries. It is difficult to ignore and it is difficult to threaten.

This is balance of power diplomacy, but his balance of power diplomacy is more selfish, that is, it is the balance of power relative to the Kingdom of Prussia, not the entire continent, and even Britain is included in it, rather than during the Metternich period, when Britain was When the Vienna System was established, Britain took advantage of it.

and many more!

Bismarck looked at Pearson with understanding. Belgium was the territory that the British strongly advocated at that time and requested to be transferred to the Netherlands. At the same time, it used this to obtain overseas territories such as Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope from the Netherlands. Now Belgium was in 1830. It broke away from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and established a country with the support of Britain, and Queen Victoria's uncle Leopold I was the King of Belgium.

This is tantamount to a loud slap in the face for the Netherlands.

He didn't believe that those in the Netherlands would remain indifferent, nor did he believe that the Orange-Nassau royal family would let it go.

The arrival of the young diplomat in front of him this time will allow Bismarck to find some clues.

Sure enough, he is young. He is not like the former King William I who swallowed his anger, nor is he like William II who has nothing to do with his affairs, nor does he want to choose to avoid difficulties like William III. The new king of the Netherlands, William IV, is obviously not prepared to compromise easily. ah.

After calculating, Bismarck made a judgment.

When Bismarck was having an idea, Nicholas Pearson was also thinking about it.

His Majesty William IV once told him that balance of power diplomacy is a great science and is popular among top diplomats in Europe.

It is also a diplomatic method adopted by a big country in order to seek hegemony. Balance of power is an objective reflection of the relative dominance of one side between opposing big countries or groups. Balance of power diplomacy is a product of the capitalist system and originated from the 16th century. The result was gradually formed on the basis of the struggle between European democracies for continental and maritime hegemony in the [-]th century.

The British Empire was the first to implement balance of power diplomacy. In the early 16th century, British Prime Minister Wolsey initially supported Spain in fighting France. However, when Spain gained the advantage of dominating Europe, the British Empire turned to support the French Empire. In this way, This would allow the two countries to take turns to have an advantage in the war. The British Empire would sit back and watch them exhaust their national power, while the British Empire would steadily reap the benefits.

In the 18th century, France was also eager to use balance-of-power diplomacy, and its proficiency in the four wars between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom was probably learned from the United Kingdom.

In this century, the figures who promoted balance-of-power diplomacy were Metternich of Austria and Bismarck of Prussia. Metternich used the powerful Central Europe as the pillar to unite the British Empire and Prussia, and stayed away from Tsarist Russia. His goal was to establish Austria in Central Europe. With its hegemony, Austria has been at the core of the top four status of Austria for decades before and after the Vienna System.

Bismarck is now in the same line as Metternich and is also practicing balance of power diplomacy.

In order to isolate France and prevent a possible two-sided war, he created the Bismarck balance of power structure and pieced together an alliance between Prussia, Tsarist Russia, and Austria, but was ambiguous with Britain.

Balance of power diplomacy can only be used for powerful countries. Small and weak countries are often bargaining chips for great powers to gain military power. Bismarck's diplomatic balance of power construction has an ulterior purpose, which is what His Majesty said, the Kingdom of Prussia will take a fancy to. The target is Denmark to the north.

The purpose of his arrival this time is to carry out the benefits demanded by the Netherlands. Of course, the price paid will not be 'too high'.

　Chapter 1, and one more chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)