Chapter 21

The drafter of this British statement was Foreign Secretary John Russell.

"We don't think the Dutch occupation of New Credonia is legal now, because the British started living there 50 years ago.

When the Dutch occupied the island, 200 British people lived there, and now they have been arrested.

We are deeply saddened and therefore strongly appeal to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to release the British nationals who have suffered these unwarranted disasters. At the same time, we demand that the Netherlands compensate the 200 British nationals for damages of £100 each, and in Europe's most influential "European Times" An apology was published in the newspapers for the mistakes made by the Netherlands.

Only in this way can we obtain the forgiveness of the angry British. "

After the pro-Whig The Times published the statement of Foreign Secretary John Russell, all European countries knew that the Netherlands had expanded its territory in the Pacific Ocean, and look at the list of nearly two Dutch month's results.

Beginning on December 10, 1861, the East Indies Dutch Navy and Army dispatched 5,000 men from the East India Naval Headquarters in Makassar and occupied East New Guinea in just one month.

Beginning on December 15, 1862, the Dutch East Indian Navy Makassar dispatched a fourth-class battleship flagship Java, led five fifth-class battleship cruisers with a total of 1,350 people, and occupied the Micronesian Islands and the Marshall Islands respectively. .

Beginning on December 15, 1862, the Dutch East Indian Navy in Makassar dispatched the first-class sailing battleship East India (1000 people, 3000 tons) to lead 2 third-class sailing battleships (each 700 people, 1500 tons) and 1 Four-class sail battleships (350 men, 1200 tons), 2 fifth-class sail cruisers (200 men, 600 tons), and two sixth-class ordinary warships (180 men, 550 tons each), a total of 7 A small fleet of warships.

Formed a small fleet of nearly 3,500 men all the way to the east, occupying New Britain, the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides including New Credonia, and the Fiji Islands.

Echoing the north and south of the army that occupied the Marshall Islands before, they marched into the Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu Islands opposite each other!

Combined, these territories cover more than 870,000 square kilometers.

In less than 2 months, when the Netherlands attracted the attention of various countries in Europe because of Belgium, it was silent, and it secretly grabbed 870,000 square kilometers!

And from the statement of the British Empire, it seems that the British Empire only cares about the safety of the 200 British people on the island called New Credonia.

As long as you lose money and apologize, and let go of this British island, then the rest, if the British do not object, fall into the hands of the Netherlands like this?

Thinking about it, I feel it and it's incredible. When did the British Empire become so good at talking?

You must know that the mainland area of ​​the Netherlands is less than 50,000 square kilometers, and the Dutch East Indies are only about 1.9 million. In just two months, they have acquired about half of the territory of the Dutch East Indies. ?

...

"As expected of someone who was the Prime Minister of the British Empire for 6 years starting in 1846, this seems to be a concession, but there are so many pits buried. skin.

John Russell is worthy of being called by many later generations as one of the two Whig generals of this era along with Palmerston. The two took turns to compete with the Tories for the power of the British Empire for 40 years.

It can be said that the later generations of the fighting nation-state, Putin and his good colleagues Dmitry and Jeff, seem to be just copies of these two. "

But well, do you think I'm easy to bully?

William IV couldn't help sneering at Russell's vivid language in the newspaper.

To oppress me with British national anger?

But do I care?

Humph!

On January 28, 1862, when the Dutch Foreign Ministry held a press conference, it clearly refuted the "good faith advice" of John Russell, the Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, saying:

"We are just at the invitation of the indigenous patriarch of New Credonia to settle on the island and help the indigenous people of the island to live a beautiful and happy life. We do not have colonies, and they are willing to join the big Netherlands. We are naturally very welcome in the family, not just New Credonia.

What I can tell you is that the Dutch government will treat all the places that have been added to the new map of the Netherlands equally and govern them as their own.

At the same time, the theme of our press conference today is that the Netherlands officially announced that it will abolish the unfair system of colonization. We will treat new members as nationals. Here, we welcome any talented people to come. Come and live in the Netherlands, we will provide the necessary help to help all kinds of talents who want to immigrate to the Netherlands to live. Thank you! "

The toughness of the Netherlands was unexpected and attracted the attention of other countries.

Even the upper echelons of the United Kingdom held back, and for the first time, they didn't call out that they would directly launch a warship to bomb Amsterdam. It was very strange.

It is said that, as if it was an order from Queen Victoria, the Prime Minister, Viscount Palmerston, also signed an executive order.

However, it is clear that many people in the military are dissatisfied with this decision, especially those local nobles in the British Isles.

They are all in the Netherlands and don't know what medicine they have taken, and they are all fighting against the UK, and they are dissatisfied.

France, Paris!

Napoleon III and Olivier were also discussing this, but compared to others, the two of them were much more relaxed.

"I like to watch the British people's anger and despair, this is a beautiful landscape!

But Olivier, the plan agreed with us by the Netherlands, does Prussia dare to stand up? "

Napoleon III questioned.

When he thought of that plan, he couldn't help but admire it, especially when the plan was getting closer to that goal step by step, he couldn't help but feel that it was worth the trouble these days.

These days, he is tired and exhausted, especially when confronted by reporters or congressional questions, he has to look angry.

Even so, he was still confronted with extremely acrimonious questions from the members of Congress, which made him extremely annoyed, and really felt very aggrieved.

Fortunately, everything is about to be revealed. Compared with the benefits obtained, the tiredness of this period of time is worth it!

Thinking of the agreement reached by several parties, Napoleon couldn't help but be excited for a while, and at the same time, he was also looking forward to what the British would look like when they saw the result, especially Queen Victoria and the old guy from Palmerston, presumably So lost!

Olivier did the same, but he calmed down quickly.

"This is the operation of the Netherlands, and only they can persuade Prussia to agree to this action"

Olivier sighed: "Prussia is very wary of us. It is a good choice for the Netherlands to come forward."

"Yes, the Dutch are indeed very talented in this regard, otherwise they would not be called sea coachmen."

After the two checked their watches, they both confirmed that they had stabilized.

Prussia, Berlin!

"That little guy from William IV is really good at playing. One after another, he was stunned by him. Now I envy his youth. Sure enough, he is old and energetic, and he is one step ahead of their young people."

The words of William I's admiration. In front of him is always the prime minister Bismarck he admires the most.

But this time, Mao Qi, chief of the general staff, was attending a meeting of the German Confederation Parliament.

The place is Vienna.

The thought of this annoying meeting and location made the two of them frown.

In 1850, the kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian emperor began to compete for the leadership of the German Confederation.

Austria has always dominated the German Confederation, but it disintegrated after the revolutionary storm in the European countries in 1848. At that time, Frederick William IV (the former King of Prussia, the eldest brother of William I, died without children, his younger brother William I, who succeeded to the throne, did not dare to be controlled by others, so in 1850, he launched the Erfurt Alliance, which no longer recognized Austria's leadership and was led by the Kingdom of Prussia, in order to unify the German Confederation.

In particular, the elector of Hesse had a dispute with his subjects, and the Austrian Prime Minister Schwarzenberg further isolated Prussia, so Austria and its allies, the Kingdom of Bavaria, the third largest country of the German Confederation, settled in Hesse.

On November 8, 1850, the Prussian army nearly went to war with the Austrian ally, the Kingdom of Bavaria.

And in October, Nicholas I of the Russian Empire reached an agreement with Austria in Warsaw, indirectly encouraging Austria to deal with Prussia.

At this time, King Frederick William IV of Prussia knew that he was weak and isolated, and had to compromise with Austria to avoid war and reduce his own strength.

It is precisely because of this that Puo signed the Treaty of Olmitz, which was a shame for the whole country of Prussia. Austrian vassal.

And according to the treaty, Prussia gave up the leadership of the German state, gave up the plan to unify Germany, and supported the re-establishment of the German Confederation led by Austria.

Prussia declared itself a vassal to Austria, and cooperated with the German Confederation Parliament to intervene in the issues of Hesse and Holstein. At the same time, Prussia agreed to dissolve the Erfurt Union, which had been painstakingly established, and lose its wings.

However, although Prussia suffered this great humiliation, it was able to maintain its strength and seek more and more powerful innovations in Prussia. At the same time, the customs union established earlier was still there, which greatly promoted the economic development of Prussia.

With the succession reform of William I, especially the addition of von Ron, Moltke, Bismarck, etc., and this time Prussia has recently persuaded the fourth-strongest kingdom of the German Confederation, Hanover, to form an alliance with Prussia,

Therefore, at this time, Prussia could finally no longer fear Austria, but in order to continue to hide, it did not immediately fall out with Austria.

They were waiting quietly for the time to come, and proceeded as planned.

"In short, this time, we can borrow the Netherlands to explore opportunities for cooperation with France, and ease the relationship for the next few years."

"Your Majesty is right." Bismarck looked at the teacup and said arrogantly, "Let our neighbor to the south be strong first. After we finish our plan, it will be our turn to go shopping in Paris."

"Hahaha, you're right, it's not just Paris, I heard that the Versailles and Louvre collections are pretty good, but I don't mind letting you guys pick a few pieces first."

When Bismarck heard this, a heart-warming smile appeared on his face, and said, "Then thank you, Your Majesty."