Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

This time, the Belgian riots were out of control the day before. The newspapers and major organizations in the Flemish region, led by the Netherlands, tried their best to publicize it.

The Walong Region in the south was not to be outdone and used all its strength to step up its support of these French demands.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the people standing behind this are the Netherlands and France.

The development of the situation has caused Europe's original focus to shift from Paris to Brussels.

At 10 a.m. on April 27, 50,000 people gathered in Mons, the hardest-hit province of Hainaut. They officially declared their independence from Belgian jurisdiction and asked France to send military support.

The provinces of Namur and Luxembourg, following Hainaut, declared their independence. This move by these three southern French-speaking provinces seemed to stimulate other provinces in the Dutch-speaking region in the north.

On April 28, the province of Antwerp actually held a public vote, and more than 80% of the entire province's population chose to support secession from Belgium. At the same time, a gathering of more than 100,000 people was held, expressing their loyalty to William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and no longer trusting Belgium. The ruling ability of the Opold family.

On the afternoon of the same day, the province of Limburg, led by the local government, also announced that it would no longer belong to Belgium, claiming that this was the decision of the people of Limburg.

It is hoped that no one will take the hostile side of the province of Dilimburg, and at the same time they declare that it will fall under the jurisdiction of the Netherlands from now on.

Not only these five provinces, but other provinces are also carrying out various dissatisfaction with the Belgian cabinet and royal family.

In short, it is at this moment that Belgium has encountered the most serious @lie moment in history.

On April 29, the British Foreign Office finally spoke out about the matter.

When John Russell held a press conference, he condemned the murder of King Leopold I and at the same time maintained his unwavering support for the Belgian royal family.

The Belgian provinces are asked to maintain respect for the Belgian royal family, and the UK will soon send a security force to support Brussels.

The Netherlands and France expressed their opposition to British Foreign Secretary Russell's announcement to send troops to Belgium.

The foreign ministries of the two countries stated that they would not be afraid of the terror of British warships, and Prussia also responded affirmatively to the Prussians in Liege Province asking for help.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Britain is still safeguarding Belgium's territorial integrity at this time.

Redian stood up at this time and expressed his strong agreement with the views of the Three Kingdoms.

Belgium was born out of the Kingdom of the Netherlands back then, but now the opinions of the people are so strong that a twisted melon is not sweet. Reddian suggested that Belgium's long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. Cutting off the tumor and concentrating on development is the future direction of Belgium.

"It's not your son who doesn't feel sorry for you!"

That's what a lot of people think about Sweden when they say that.

“This situation is so weird”

Alexander II said to his Foreign Minister Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov with solemn eyes.

However, Gorchakov's eyes were full of heat and he said: "Your Majesty, in this Europe where Metternich is no longer in power, such weirdness means that the continent will be in chaos. Isn't this the same thing as your Majesty and the former Is this what His Majesty the King has been waiting for for generations?”

Alexander II was stunned for a moment and then understood what he meant.

"Your Majesty, Viscount Palmerston has been in Paris for more than a week now and is in a dilemma. Therefore, our Tsarist Empire can do a lot of things."

"Oh, I'd like to hear it"

As a well-informed European political figure, coupled with Gorchakov's outstanding education and his long-term work in embassies in various European countries, Gorchakov's wit cultivated by his long-term immersion in diplomacy made Gorchakov Chakov served as Minister of Foreign Affairs after the Crimean War in 1856, when Tsarist Russia faced an important turning point. At that time, the Russian Empire had considerable conflicts with Britain, France, and Austria.

Gorchakov first took advantage of the independence of the Kingdom of Sardinia from Austria to get closer to the French Empire, bringing about the dawn of Russian-French relations. Then he used the issue of Poland's destiny to establish a military agreement with Prussia, which also occupied part of Polish territory, and continued to establish Russia's friendly relations.

In Europe at that time, Gorchakov was one of the few diplomatic figures who could be on an equal footing with Viscount Palmerston. The proximity of Russia and Prussia had the effect of weakening Britain's influence, making Britain quite uneasy about the foreign minister of Tsarist Russia.

"Your Majesty, the Tsarist Empire can do anything that makes Britain uneasy and can reduce Britain's influence. For example, Belgium this time is a good strategy against Britain.

As long as it is used well, Britain's influence will definitely drop by more than two levels. "

"As William IV told us, the world's ocean is so big, and the British population is only more than 30 million. In this case, other countries also have the right to share the world's ocean colonies. I think

Because, the content of the heartfelt letter sent by William IV is indeed good,"

Alexander II looked at him: "In other words, the Russian Empire is on the side of the Three Kingdoms this time."

Gorchakov nodded and affirmed: "Your Majesty, the Tsarist Empire has been developing eastward on land, but its large area and population cannot keep up, and the living environment is harsh. The transactions on Kalimantan Island and the Alaska Peninsula are a reminder Instead of being left alone by Britain to pick and choose, it would be better to support the three countries against Britain, follow them, these Western European maritime powers, to sail to the two southern oceans, and also personally obtain some territory for the Russian Empire in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean. "

In this regard, Alexander II remained silent.

On April 29, the Tsarist Empire actually chose to support the position of the Netherlands, France and Prussia. It also believed that Belgium was too small in ability and too territorial to manage.

I think that in this case, dispersing some provinces is still a good choice to abandon the car and keep the commander, and it can also better serve the people.

Gorchakov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, said that Belgium should not suppress those with different opinions and expressed that he was moved by the brave actions of those local governments.

Finally, Gorchakov said that at the invitation of Hesbert von, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he would visit Amsterdam from May 3 to May 8.

He also mysteriously stated that the two countries would launch a series of cooperation, including the expansion of the capital operation and utilization of the two countries, the military training mechanism of the two countries, and the purchase of warships from the Netherlands by the Russian Empire. conduct consultations.

With the statements of various countries, the situation in Belgium is on the verge of breaking out.

On April 30, witnesses said that the Dutch Ministry of Defense had dispatched a total of 5,000 troops to station in the north of the Belgian province of Antwerp. This army did not seem to have been deployed before, but was a new unit transferred from Amsterdam.

How fast the Netherlands was, and these troops were quickly dropped to the edge of the chaos as soon as they arrived.

Perhaps the tragedy of a small country with few people is that they can never truly control their destiny. Regardless of whether they seek justice or not, this is a practical issue rather than a value issue.

The international community mostly points to the bad attitude of the Belgian royal family and cabinet towards the people, which caused today's effect.

However, they recognized the unreasonableness of big countries such as the United Kingdom in intervening in Belgium's domestic affairs. They had to lament that this is the tragedy of small countries in the era of competition between big powers!

(ps: Since it was lost just now, this chapter was uploaded again. It was reviewed and was lost after the ban was resolved at 23:41. Please understand, in addition, Chapter 95 is also under review, and there will be as few things that are easy to be reviewed later as possible)