Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 873 The world’s largest industrial power
German Empire, Berlin.

Bismarck said: "Since the conflict between the North and South of the United States in 1861, and Britain openly supporting the Confederate States of America in the south, Britain has actually distanced itself from other countries.

The Netherlands took the opportunity to win over the United States, and then when we sold Schleswig and Holstein, there was a split to win over Sweden and Denmark.

I found that the Netherlands took advantage of the situation step by step and weaved a network of allies without warning.

The battle between Spain and the United Kingdom has been going on for hundreds of years over Gibraltar, and the Netherlands will naturally not let it go. Therefore, the Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives visited Spain some time ago and directly expressed support for Spain's conquest of Gibraltar, which won the favor of Spain. "

"After the white war between the UK and the Netherlands worsened, the Dutch-led alliance imposed sanctions on Britain to take advantage of Holland's global leadership, a window for friendship and a showcase. Even Dutch King William IV's speech in Melbourne in October 1879 became a famous saying: A A country that is boycotted is a country that is about to surrender, and with this economic, peaceful, silent, lethal remedy, there is no need for force. It is a terrible remedy."

Bismarck's words silenced the two people present.

Kaiser Wilhelm I: "Dutch diplomacy has continued Wilhelm IV's idea of ​​sanctions as a diplomatic tool. In the 1864 years since France invaded the Kingdom of Siam in 18, the Netherlands has implemented economic sanctions 11 times, whenever tensions arise When the situation intensified, sanctions became a favorite of Dutch diplomacy.

However, this also caused dissatisfaction from the big countries. Many big countries were afraid of the power possessed by the Netherlands, so there was a lot of criticism. "

Bismarck nodded and said: "The Netherlands' judgment on external sanctions and the standard of right and wrong in discussing sanctions are values. From this, it can be said that it was excusable that the French Empire invaded the Kingdom of Siam and incurred sanctions. This is justice. Act of."

I remember that William IV of the Netherlands said in Amsterdam at that time that our support for the Kingdom of Siam will not waver, the Dutch allies will not be divided, and we will not get tired of supporting the Kingdom of Siam.

In the end, the perseverance of the Netherlands and his allies finally led to France's collapse. "

Old Mao Qi said: "The Dutch aid to the Kingdom of Siam accounted for 5% of the budget of the Dutch Ministry of Defense. This 5% destroyed the French Empire's army in the Far East and the reputation of the French Empire. The French Empire even became an outcast in the East. Becoming an object of ridicule in Europe and the United States."

William I nodded and sighed: "I have to say that the Netherlands is very good at this trick. I think it was because the Netherlands pulled us Germany and France to support the Boers in South Africa. In the end, the UK was defeated and lost more than 5 people. It was arrogant. Britain suddenly became a laughing stock.

The Netherlands absorbed 90% of the Dutch Boers in South Africa, which immediately greatly increased the Dutch military strength. This also established the British fear of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands gained peace for more than ten years."

Bismarck shook his head: "Although Britain did not dare to take action, it finally instigated Louis I of Portugal to go to war with the Netherlands in the Congo in Africa. Unfortunately, in the end, the Netherlands was successful and Portugal was defeated miserably. From then on, the Netherlands soared into the sky."

Old Moltke: "Yes, after that, the Dutch economy, military and momentum have greatly increased."

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his face changed: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are now fighting to the death. In Africa, we have obtained a lot of territory in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but now we are still difficult to open up the situation. South Africa On the American issue, the UK now supports Argentina. We have good relations with Paraguay and Uruguay, especially the latter. Now we have begun to station 1000 troops there. However, the Netherlands has stationed more than 2 troops in the South American allies. This does not count. The military strength of the other five major allies.

Do we need to change our original idea of ​​taking advantage of the Anglo-Dutch war in Asia to expand our territory in South America? "

King William I was also worried when he heard this: "Our original plan was to unite with the Confederation of America to attack the Netherlands, but now Britain and the Netherlands have not started fighting again. The Confederation of America originally wanted to break away from the shackles of the Netherlands, but the Dutch are The power of capital in the United States is huge. Last time, the Dutch capital almost rioted and left the United States, but it frightened the officials and congressmen in Washington. It even made ordinary people panic.

In the end, President Stephen Douglas had to make changes and ease the relationship between the legendary Dutch capital and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to calm the situation this time.

So now we ask the United States to join us in poaching the Netherlands. I think those people in Washington, who have turned into frightened birds, may not support it."

As the Chief of General Staff of the German Empire, Old Moltke naturally understood that William I's concerns were absolutely correct.

However, Bismarck seemed to disagree: "Recently, the Republican Party has begun to warm up for the election in December at the end of the year. Although the Dutch have traditionally been more powerful within the Republican Party, today is different from the past. The power of the United States has caused dissatisfaction among other ethnic groups, and our Germans are the most dissatisfied among them. All of them have begun to unite privately with other ethnic groups such as British, French and other ethnic groups. It is very likely that the next president will not He is of Dutch descent, which means that next year, the United States is likely to miss out on the general election. At that time, it will be our opportunity."

Melbourne, Australia.

For the Dutch industrial strength to surpass that of the UK, the difficulty lies in the need for constant innovation.

In the previous life, the United States was an innovation from 0 to 1, and the motherland could take 1 to the extreme. This was the one step between the United States and the motherland at that time.This critical step determines the outcome between the motherland and the United States, and also reflects the differences in systems between different countries.

On the surface, the motherland's artificial intelligence research results are more than those of the United States, but its innovations are not better than those of the United States, but are improved upon those of the United States. Therefore, this is the reason why the motherland is not as strong and powerful as the United States.

Similarly, since the Netherlands manufactured plastics in 1860 and developed into a global industrial chain, it was suddenly second only to the British textile industry.

Even the Dutch electrical and electrical industry is better than the British steam industry. The Netherlands is better in basic research and machine tools and other parts. In addition, the Dutch rise and dominate the world's automotive industry will make it difficult for the UK to catch up with the Netherlands in the future. The industrial strength of the Netherlands has established the Netherlands as the world's largest industrial country.

The UK has a low chance of catching up or even catching up with the Netherlands.

(End of this chapter)