Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 865 The storm before the Four Nations Group was staged
"British Prime Minister Gladstone engages in diplomatic duel with 'global rival' Dutch Prime Minister Linden"

In response to the Netherlands' global campaign to launch a diplomatic blockade against the UK, the UK formed a gang in the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct maritime coercion exercises against the Netherlands' younger brother Greece. At the same time, British Prime Minister Gladstone was visiting Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to win over The Ottoman Empire is very obvious, and newspapers from various countries have made the above evaluation.

That day was the day when Prime Minister Linden of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who visited the Kingdom of Greece, a close ally of the Netherlands, returned to Greece and held talks with King William III of Greece and Prime Minister Koumunduros of Greece.

Before the Madrid Summit of the Four Nordic Alliance Group of Nations was held in Madrid, Spain in early March this year, Prime Minister Linden of the Netherlands was carrying out "aggressive diplomacy." On February 3, local time in Greece, European media reported that the United Kingdom had criticized Prime Minister Linden of the Netherlands. Den felt uneasy about this move.

Similarly, Prime Minister Linden of the Netherlands also expressed the Netherlands' unease about the British Prime Minister's visit to Constantinople at this sensitive time, when Britain is holding multinational naval exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In the British newspaper, a picture also appeared of the Greek Prime Minister Linden of the Netherlands visiting Athens on the 7th local time in front of the monument to the martyrs who died for the country. It is said that the monument Linden visited was the one where many national treasures of Greece were looted by the British. -Athens was the place where many Greek civilians were killed by British invaders. Later, the country's civilians built it. Lyndon's visit here reminded Greece of the bloody memory of the British.

"Linden showed his ambition by taking action against Britain"

The British "Times" quoted a British political expert as saying that "in the past decade or so, the factor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has been particularly prominent in the strategic reorganization of forces in Europe and even around the world. It is the reason why British Prime Minister Gladstone has recently made many joint naval forces in the Eastern Mediterranean." The main motivation for counterattack in the exercise."

This newspaper report analyzed that various alliances are being formed around the world.

In particular, the influence of the Netherlands and Spain, as well as the geographical location of Greece in the Mediterranean, has prompted the UK to prepare to prevent the Netherlands and suppress the influence of the Netherlands before the summit of the Nordic Alliance composed of the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Norway.

The United Kingdom will focus on the Netherlands, strengthen diplomatic activities, and accelerate the pace of geopolitical restructuring in the Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Europe.

This means that Britain no longer stands still and watches the Netherlands expand its circle of allies and refresh its sense of presence.

Britain began to use its influence to strengthen ties with other countries and check the Netherlands. In order to check the Netherlands, the UK began to actively carry out diplomatic activities.

After Prime Minister Granston visited Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire from 1881th to 7th 8, he will visit Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he will meet and negotiate with the country's powerful figures. Cooperation, where Gladstone will unveil Britain's new diplomatic strategy for Europe and the world.

Gladstone will visit Paris at the same time that the four-nation Nordic Alliance summit will be held in the Netherlands and other countries.After returning to the British mainland, he will also advocate to countries around the world that they should avoid taking sides on the global situation caused by the Dutch global alliance at the rights meeting of the British House of Commons and the House of Lords, and at the same time urge the British Parliament to take comprehensive and responsible response measures."At first, Gladstone, the British Whig prime minister, was regarded by the Netherlands as a moderate to the Netherlands like Viscount Palmerston," said Krim, director and chief researcher of the Australia Institute. In the process of threatening the Netherlands, he has taken unfriendly actions against the Netherlands in recent years. Especially on issues such as Chile and the sovereignty of the Strait of Malacca, the UK has taken specific and tough measures, sometimes even with attacks. sexual measures”

Krim also believes that “Gladstone’s move demonstrates Britain’s ambition to suppress the Netherlands in an all-round way. As the circle of Dutch allies continues to expand around the world, most of these allies in the UK and the Netherlands have discord. Increasingly, Britain wished to prevent Dutch dominance among these alliances"

Krim: "The Netherlands shows dissatisfaction"

He analyzed that, “In this case, in order to expand the diplomatic and military status of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Linden is making full use of the status of the four-nation group formed by the Nordic Alliance. Spain, the rotating host country of the Nordic Alliance, is also willing to cooperate with the Netherlands in this regard. , because the host country decided to invite the countries to participate in the summit, and this year has invited the prime ministers of Portugal, the Commonwealth of America, the Kingdom of Greece, Italy, and France to attend the meeting as observers. In addition, Spain also invited the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary. The country’s ambassador in Madrid participated in the observer state talks.

"The Dutch Prime Minister Linden used the alliance system of the Nordic Alliance Summit to win support for his own alliance foreign policy against the United Kingdom," said Krim, director and chief researcher of the Australia Institute.

After Britain's Gladstone stepped up its efforts to confront and balance the Netherlands, the Netherlands made no secret of its dissatisfaction.

Gladstone's visit to Constantinople, Vienna and Paris throughout February was an opportunity to attack the Netherlands, and even Britain and the Ottoman Empire pointed out in a joint statement in Constantinople that "the two governments are opposed to the unilateral Expressing dissatisfaction and strong opposition to attempts to change the status quo of power and territory in the Eastern Mediterranean, and emphasizing that Greece must accept the status quo of the Ottoman Empire's current rule on the issues of the Aegean Sea and Crete, the two countries stated that they do not support the territorial claims proposed by Greece."

In this regard, some analysts in the Netherlands believe that Gladstone's move in the Ottoman Empire is a hint: "Britain supports the Ottoman Empire's territorial claims. If the Ottoman Empire supports British interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, then the United Kingdom will support the Ottoman Empire." territorial claims”

On February 1818, 2, there were reports in the Netherlands that the Ottoman Empire’s Prime Minister Prince Abdel Vasi rejected the Dutch Ambassador to Constantinople’s request for a meeting. Analysts believe that this is a very rare thing and reflects the The Ottoman Empire's deterioration in the Anglo-Dutch struggle led to occasional tensions between the Netherlands and the Ottoman Empire.

The Australian Daily pointed out that what makes the Netherlands particularly uneasy is the status and security importance of the Ottoman Empire and Britain in the Middle East. The newspaper reported that the proximity of the two countries will have a great impact on the Netherlands in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

In the past few days, it has been reported that the two countries have decided to expand cooperation on local issues such as the Suez Canal, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Aden. In order to confront and suppress the Netherlands, Britain will continue to encourage the Ottoman Empire to adopt more policies against the Netherlands. The newspaper We call on the Dutch government to formulate a new Middle East response as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)