Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 792: South America meets the ashes three times

"The British courted Brazil, but what they got was the indifference of Brazilian Emperor Pedro II and Brazilian Prime Minister Fonseca."

On June 1880, 6, local time, British Prime Minister Creston Granville, who was visiting South America, met with Brazilian Prime Minister Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II in Sao Paulo.

At the press conference, Brazilian Prime Minister Fonseca did not unilaterally condemn the Dutch hegemonism in Chile for the Anglo-Dutch conflict as Creston had hoped, but because both sides should share the responsibility for Chile's current difficulties. Bureau is responsible.

The Brazilian Prime Minister also expressed the hope that Britain and the Netherlands would play a more easing role in tensions in the Pacific, and on behalf of the Brazilian Empire, he refused political support for the British presence in South America, and expressed his rejection of the Brazilian military proposed by the British Whig Prime Minister. Proposal to assist Britain in the Far Eastern and Western Pacific.

"European Times", which has always been known for its neutrality, stated that Brazil was the third country that British Prime Minister Creston visited after Argentina and Uruguay during his short half-month trip to South America, and this was also his third time. In the process of wooing South American countries to provide military aid to Britain in the situation in the Western Pacific, it "met in vain".

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting on June 6, local time, Creston embarked on a half-month trip to South America, visiting Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

On June 6, Creston came to Brazil, the last stop of his trip, and became the first leader from a major Western country to visit Brazil after Brazilian Prime Minister Fonseca took office for his second term.

At a joint press conference on the 25th, Fonseca expressed his position on the Anglo-Dutch conflict, saying, “I think the six-nation coalition forces established by the Netherlands in South America have made a typical mistake that South American countries should reject external military forces on their own. On this point, we share the same view as President Stephen Douglas of the United States, so the Kingdom of the Netherlands arouses great suspicion in Brazil."

But he later changed the subject and said he believed it was not just the Kingdom of the Netherlands that was wrong.

"I still think that as long as one side is willing to stop developing its own power in South America, then Britain and the Netherlands will not be able to fight. I hope that both Britain and the Netherlands will not regard South America as their own backyard."

He added that for us to end the conflict, one side had to want peace, but that he had "heard almost no desire from either side for a peaceful end to the Anglo-Dutch dispute, which was the case in South America and now in the Korean peninsula in the Western Pacific and peninsulas in Southeast Asia." It’s the same way above.”

"So far, Peace has rarely been used in the UK and the Netherlands. Don't ask me why I know, after all, the world's telegraphs are so developed."

Fonseca also emphasized that Brazil will not provide weapons and equipment, including warships, artillery shells and guns made by Britain to Brazil, to any opponent of the Netherlands in accordance with British requirements. “According to a follow-up report by Brazil’s Daily News of Sao Paulo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces once told Prime Minister Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II that the United Kingdom hopes to buy back weapons previously sold to Brazil by the United Kingdom at a 7% discount. Emperor Pedro His Majesty Roman II considered asking London to guarantee not to send ammunition to areas at war with the Netherlands, but in the end the emperor decided to reject the proposal, believing that Brazil "was not worth the anger of the Dutch over this deal."

In this news release on June 1880, 6, Brazilian Prime Minister Fonseca reborn, Brazil will cooperate with other countries to help South America achieve peace, and jointly urge the Pacific and Atlantic to maintain peace, stability and prosperity, Brazil does not favor any On the one hand, he also mentioned that "Both Brazil and the United States can play an important role in the Anglo-Dutch dispute." He plans to visit Melbourne, the Netherlands, in mid-August. At that time, he will meet with Dutch Prime Minister Linden in detail and will also pay a courtesy visit. His Majesty King Willem IV of the Netherlands, during which he will hold discussions with two of the most senior figures in the Netherlands. .

The British "Financial Times" stated that Crichton's visit to South America, in addition to strengthening bilateral relations between the UK and South America, also attempted to seek political and military support from South American countries for the UK in international affairs.Since the conflict between Britain and the Netherlands over the sovereignty of the Malacca Strait last year, the conflict between the two countries has begun to expand in an all-round way, seriously affecting the security of South America. Chile was divided between the north and the south. In the end, the Northern Chile supported by the Netherlands won, and the Netherlands The success of the garrison in Chile seemed to have led to earth-shaking changes in the security of the region. The six-nation coalition composed of the Netherlands was deployed in Ecuador and central Chile. Coupled with the Dutch and the patrols of the six-nation naval warships on the coast, Zhejiang shifted its influence from the south. The western part of the Americas spread across the center and reached the Atlantic coastal countries of Brazil and Argentina in the east.This has led to other South American countries that have not joined the organization to question the intervention and sanctions of the Netherlands and other Western countries.

This has caused considerable damage to the image of the Netherlands.

However, Leydenston visited three countries in half a month and encountered many obstacles. Although Argentina more clearly condemned the Netherlands, Uruguay also expressed its dissatisfaction with the Dutch garrison in the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego. Agreed to provide weapons to British Southeast Asia and the Korean situation.

As early as June 6, before Creston visited Sao Paulo, Argentina's Miter, who has always been tough on the Netherlands, told Creston that the Netherlands "needs to understand the harm it has caused to the world, Argentina and Chile," but Argentina and Latin America "does not just mean sending weapons to the Pacific region in the Far East or any other conflict areas, or joining any party to oppose any party. We will not easily get involved in the competition between global powers and become a puppet or weapon in their hands."

On June 6, when people asked about British Prime Minister Creston’s visit to Uruguay and asking Uruguay to choose a side between the UK and the Netherlands, Uruguay President Francisco Antonio Vidal only said that Uruguay had committed to working with Chile. The people stood together to help Chile rebuild after the war, and regarding the Far East conflict between Britain and the Netherlands, he said that Uruguay was only paying attention to the situation in surrounding South America and would not comment on any political issues outside South America.

In short, British Prime Minister Clayton's trip to South America did not meet the expectations that the British liked to see. However, the statements of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay angered British conservatives, and many people even asked Clay The Stoneman government stopped its political and military support for Argentina. It should not continue to protect Argentina, but let Argentina, a white-eyed wolf, face the ambitious Netherlands alone.

However, such voices were only a minority in the British government and parliament, and were quickly suppressed by the Creston government.

On the contrary, Uruguay, a small country that dropped by for a visit, made Britain unceremoniously resentful. If it hadn't been for the fact that it had received the protection of the German Empire, London would have even been prepared to send a small fleet from the Atlantic to bombard the country. One-half of the cities in the country only held back because they were worried about Germany.

(End of this chapter)