Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 51 Join the North German Confederation’s Zollverein? (Continue to ask for votes)
Suddenly, there are few people sitting here who don't envy Prussia. It can move among several big countries with ease and earn its own interests. This is easier to gain than fighting any war.

"Don't envy them. Yes, Prussia has stepped out of the shadow of Austria, and Prussia's diplomacy has officially entered a good situation."

However, there was a bit of sarcasm in William IV's eyes. Everyone saw it and didn't know why. Therefore, they were all ready to "ask for an explanation" from His Majesty's next words.

In particular, the former Prime Ministers Hertor von Hemstra and Jan Jacob Rokusen, who had just joined the team not long ago, felt that the young Majesty had gone too far and was not afraid of getting off his tongue. ?

The two have been operating in the Dutch political scene for many years. No matter which faction they belong to, the Congress must give them some face.

Hertor von Hemstra was the second-ranking liberal in the House of Representatives, serving as the party whip. His power among the liberals was second only to Prime Minister Tolbeck. He served as the party whip from 1861 to 1862. Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

And Jan. Jacob Rocusen, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, served as Prime Minister from 1858 to 1860, and is currently the leader of the conservative party and the party whip.

In fact, both of them are now in the Dutch House of Representatives, which can also be called the real representatives of the House of Commons. They control the representatives of the two factions in the Netherlands.

"Since Prussia enjoys the flexibility of being able to maneuver both sides of its affairs, it will inevitably lose a certain degree of reliability."

As soon as William IV said this, the two of them suddenly became enlightened.

Yes, there are gains and losses. Flexibility is flexible, but it is easy to be looked down upon by others. You also need to watch other people's faces to change the situation.

“Before the Prussian-Austrian relations deteriorated, Prussia, which entered the 40s, was more comfortable in major-power relations than other major powers and had both sides.

Even now that the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated, I don’t know if anyone has noticed.”

William IV said seriously: "The initiative is still in the hands of Prussia, or even directly in the hands of Bismarck.

As long as he gave up any obvious challenge to Austria's leadership within the German Confederation.

The relationship between Austria and Prussia can quickly warm up, making the German Confederation an alliance that both France and the Russian Empire fear. Therefore, compared with other regional powers or major powers, Prussia’s diplomatic strategic maneuvering space is still very broad."

"It is undoubtedly a blessing for a big country to maintain a balanced relationship with other big countries for a long time, because this is an extremely scarce and rare strategic resource."

William lamented: "The strategic flexibility generated by the huge diplomatic space can not only create rare international influence for the country, but also 'cash out' various interests of the country."

When William IV thought of this, he couldn't help but think of a later country that had just been ruled by Queen Victoria for a short time.

This country is located in the southwest of the motherland in the previous life. While its economy is taking off, it has attracted the attention of a certain superpower. The superpower even adjusted its own policies towards this country.

Every time a superpower changes its leader, it will launch a new foreign policy accordingly. However, the diplomatic status of this southwestern country in this superpower is unshakable, and it has received the attention and attention of the new leaders of successive superpowers.

Every new diplomatic strategy of these new leaders is inseparable from the country's position in the superpower's diplomatic strategy, so its position among the superpowers is obviously on the rise.

When a superpower took the initiative to get closer, and a certain country took the initiative to get closer, the two countries signed a large number of arms purchase agreements, instantly raising the level of quasi-ally.

Taking advantage of this trend, a certain country has been buying from superpowers advanced weapons that could only be seen on TV in the past.

It can be called the envy of the dead!
However, at the same time, he was still closely connected with his old allies in the north. Even under the pressure of the superpowers, because of his high strategic position, he ended up letting it go. As a result, this country in the southwest became a model for later generations to play both sides.

William IV couldn't help but sigh, and thought to himself: Did this future southwestern country learn these diplomatic skills from Bismarck? Otherwise, why is it so skilled, but it is slightly worse.

It is inevitable for major countries to have frictions and even confrontations in terms of ideology, geopolitics, power politics, and currency politics.

After the Cold War, India's relatively superior geographical location, relatively weak national strength, relatively diverse civilizational characteristics, and relatively moderate ideological ideology have enabled it to better avoid confrontation with other major powers and save a lot of strategic resources. resources, creating a good international environment for its rise

Using other major powers to "cash out" its strategic needs has further enhanced India's strength.

These are the "happy" aspects of India's diplomacy, but behind them there are also some "worry" aspects of India's diplomacy.

"but"

Seeing everyone looking over, William IV understood the two words, but every time he said it, it would cause many people to smile bitterly, because many times, he would be the arrival of a divine turn.

William followed their understanding of the meaning of the word "familiar" and continued:

"There are three reasons why Prussia is living so comfortably." "Your Majesty, what three reasons?"

The person who asked the question was Foreign Minister Hesbert von, "Don't look at me, I'm asking sincerely, not trying to flatter you.

Really, every time I listen to His Majesty’s lectures on diplomatic topics at the China Foreign Affairs University these days, have you not seen the vivid expressions of those students from the first batch of China Foreign Affairs University? It’s really shocking.”

He even regretted it when Hesbert Feng mentioned the Foreign Affairs College.

He wants to open the Netherlands Diplomatic Academy, but he should not stand up on his own, but someone else should complete it. As a result, Hesbert Feng is always using the students' wishes to prevaricate him, and he is passive. Being a lesson preparation teacher is still unpaid, which is very pitiful.

She glanced at him dissatisfied, and then spoke:
"There are three reasons why Prussia is so comfortable. The first point is that Prussia is relatively weak compared to other countries.

The reason why Prussia was able to rise simultaneously from the British Empire (the marriage of the Prussian Crown Prince and Princess England), Tsarist Russia (the marriage of William I’s eldest sister and Nicholas I), Austria (Prussia bowed its head and obtained Austria’s protection and secretly emerged), and France (every time Prussia faced this When France was a behemoth, when France's hostility came, it always shrank itself under the umbrella of the German Confederation and pushed Austria out.)
The reason why Prussia was able to communicate with four countries at the same time was because of its close commerce.

In addition to the fact that these four countries regard each other as a threat, more importantly, Prussia is not strong enough to compete with these four countries for power in Europe and the world.

Judging from the surface comprehensive national strength, Prussia is still far away from reaching Austria, the weakest of the four countries, in terms of military, economy, population, strategic location, etc., not to mention the other three major countries, Britain, Russia and France.

You may wish to think along this line of thinking. It is not difficult to imagine that when Prussia threatens the power of these four countries, the current similar and quasi-alliance relationship between Prussia and the four countries will be replaced by competition or confrontation. "

Not bad!

The conservative leader and whip Rocusson and the liberal whip Hemstra were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and they were even more shocked after understanding it.

Looking at the young and even beardless face of William IV in the sky, it seems that His Majesty William has just turned 22 this month, but his diplomatic proficiency makes them, the political veterans who have heard and heard of him for many years, submit to him.

With him here, the Netherlands' diplomacy will be like what happened in the past month or two, making the Netherlands the focus of international news that is generally only available to big countries.

At the same time, I thought to myself, no wonder a voice from the people is right: the wind has risen, the windmills in the Windmill Country are spinning again, and our Netherlands is about to take off again!

“Secondly, it may become a pawn of other countries. Medium powers or regional powers usually take the lead among several large countries in order to have both sides and maximize their own interests.

However, they may also become pawns in the exchange of interests between major powers at any time.

Let us take this as an example. Back then, we followed the major countries in revolting against Napoleon I.

In the end, although the overseas territories were lost, including Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which was most regretted by the Dutch, everyone was happy to gain Belgium, a principality close to the mainland.

But we just didn’t do it early. At that time, we prevented the British Empire from digging holes. The ultimate price was that the Russian Empire helped us withstand the pressure of Belgium not being recognized by the international community from 1830 to 1839, but in the end it was for their own country. We still had to let go of our interests, and Belgium left us.

This example is the thorn in our hearts that the Netherlands will always have, the thorn that calls us to become stronger, although no one has the intention to blame the traditional ally of the Russian Empire."

Yes, you must know that the relationship between the Netherlands and the Netherlands was not handled very well at that time. His Majesty William I was only in charge of the relationship with Tsarist Russia. It was also because Luxembourg and the Limburg Province of the Netherlands were within the framework of the German Confederation, so they were semi-official with the German Confederation. He is a family member, but he is also a marginalized character who is not human inside and out.

“I don’t know, Luxembourg and our province of Limburg are within the framework of the German Confederation, and a Zollverein of the North German Confederation is also a good idea.

Prussia's ambitions are indeed not small. I wonder if we from the Netherlands can enter this customs union controlled by Prussia if we apply? "

The response was that both the Finance Minister and the Foreign Secretary said there was no chance.

William IV smiled and didn't care. That's right. Who would put a small hunting dog into a farm where he raised chickens, ducks, cats and geese?Isn't this asking for trouble?
"That's all, since Prussia is stingy, then the Netherlands will join other countries to build one, and build a bigger one."

"Who?" Of course, which country is he referring to?
William smiled mysteriously, but said: "Let's stop this for now. After listening to the report from the Ministry of Industry, we will come back. Now let me talk about the third point."

What William IV got was naturally a pair of supercilious looks!

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