Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1998 The Hague Trip ([-])

The so-called political crisis in 1672 was actually the superficialization of the sharp conflict between the republicans and the Orange faction, which caused a series of factional disputes.In this political crisis caused by the threat of French invasion, the republicans were accused of being too pro-French and attacked by the Orange faction, which had taken public opinion, and finally had to retreat.

In this confrontation, many businessmen who feared that the country would be invaded by France sided with the Prince of Orange.Although they usually scolded the members of the Orange faction, when the crisis came, they honestly lay on the other side, because they believed that only the Orange family could save the United Province. The ability to be invaded by France.

Now in the 80s, as the persecution of Protestants by the French became more and more excessive, countless French Huguenots came to Amsterdam. news, which caused widespread outrage across the United Provinces.Under such circumstances, even many people in the republican party are afraid of the French, so the tune they have advocated for improving relations with France for many years cannot continue.Coupled with the fact that the Orange faction accuses the republicans of "understanding the law", regardless of whether this is true or not, it has caused many centrists to doubt them. In a weak state, it gradually lost its checks and balances on the Orange faction—the whole process was almost the same as back then, and every time the Orange faction took power, it was almost always related to the French.

Lin Dingzhi said just now that he was worried that this time it would turn into a political crisis in 1672. His underlying meaning was actually not the French, but the British on the other side of the North Sea.

In recent years, that is, since King James II came to the throne, because of domestic taxation and religious policies, there have been fierce conflicts with the bourgeois members of Congress.This man came to the throne after the death of his brother Charles II in 1685. As soon as he took the throne, he encountered the rebellion of his brother's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth.

At that time, because James II was a Catholic and Monmouth was a Protestant, many businessmen or conservative nobles in England expressed their support for the Duke of Monmouth, and secretly sent money and weapons.When Monmouth raised troops, there were only three ships sponsored by the Dutch (in this matter, William III obviously did not want a Catholic to control Britain), and there were no more than a hundred servants. defected.Everyone called King James II "Duke of York" and "Catholic Tyrant" and called on all the people to fight against violence.

Later, when the uprising army was still weak, the highest military officer in Devonshire, the Duke of Albemarle, had [-] soldiers and horses on hand, but he gave up the suppression and withdrew because he found that the army under his hand "loved Monmouth Duke".In this way, the rebel army arrived at Taunton without any hindrance. Because the local area opposed King James, they surrendered immediately, and the nearby nobles also rushed to seek refuge.Monmouth accepted the military flags and a Bible sewed by [-] aristocratic girls, and under the persuasion of everyone, he ascended the throne and proclaimed the Catholic James II as a false king.

The Duke of Monmouth's army has expanded to 7000 people, and it has begun to attack the city and seize territory. The momentum has been rising all the way, and people come to seek refuge almost every day.At this time, James was still competing with the congressmen in Congress, asking them to allocate funds to suppress the rebellion. The congressmen took the opportunity to put forward many conditions, which aroused James' fury.

At the critical moment, the French extended a helping hand. They sponsored James II with a lot of money, which enabled him to recall the six legions stationed in the United Provinces. The Duke of Marlborough, Commander Churchill, went to the west to contain the expansion of the rebel army - he did not ask Churchill to defeat the rebels now, that was unrealistic, he only asked them to maintain the situation.

At this time, the members of Congress saw that things had changed and did not hold the king, so they stopped insisting and finally agreed to allocate 40 pounds for military expenses to suppress the rebellion.But even so, James II was already very jealous of these people, and he didn't trust the nobles and businessmen from all over the country who tried to take refuge in Monmouth, and the rift between the British monarch and his ministers became more and more obvious.

After foiling a plot to start a rebellion in London, James II left the capital and headed west to counter the rebellion.At this time, he showed good military qualities and extraordinary courage, and personally commanded in the Battle of Sedgemore, defeating the main force of the Monmouth rebels in one fell swoop.In this battle, James' army formation was once dispersed, but under his excellent command, he finally won the victory and completely defeated the main force of the rebel army. After the Duke of Monmouth fled the battlefield, he exchanged clothes with a farmer In the end, he was still found by Wang Jun in a ditch, and then he was escorted back to London and put on the guillotine.

The rebellion thus died down.But James II was still dissatisfied, because many important members of the Monmouth rebels had not been found, and it was obvious that someone had sheltered them.Moreover, seeing that the rebellion subsided, the MPs who had promised to allocate 40 pounds also stopped continuing to allocate funds. The actual cost was even less than 30 pounds. The remaining balance was resolutely refused to be paid, which made James a little angry.

In addition, members of Congress also demanded that James II stop collecting many taxes, including customs duties, and return this right to Congress.Their reason is very good, that is, these rights were originally approved by Congress to Charles II. Now that Charles II is dead, naturally these taxes belong to the state, not James II himself-obviously, the state financial power It is all in the hands of the Congress. If the king doesn't even have any private money, he will naturally be unable to accomplish any business, and then he will be a puppet in the hands of the Congress.

Naturally, James II was unwilling to be the puppet king, so the relationship with Congress became increasingly tense, and some conflicts broke out from time to time.At this time, fatal rumors began to spread rapidly, that the bourgeois MPs of England were very sorry for the failure of the Duke of Monmouth, and now they began to look for a new and suitable person to inherit the throne of England.In order to appease the subjects, the new king had better be a wise and powerful Protestant. From this point of view, the ruling William III of the United Provinces and his wife seemed to be good targets.

At this time, William III also implicitly expressed that he "does not reject" the English throne, and repeatedly talked about how wrong and cruel his father-in-law James II's religious policy was in public. These undoubtedly greatly catered to England. The preferences of domestic bourgeois parliamentarians made them pay more and more attention to William III and his wife.

Compared with them, the current King James II of England is very uncomfortable.The Congress is stuck with the royal family in terms of money, and most of the subjects are Protestants. They are very suspicious of the king's Catholic belief. Therefore, James II has become more and more dependent on the assistance of the French, otherwise he may not be able to support him in England. go down.And this kind of dependence itself intensifies the dislike of the parliamentarians and subjects towards him, because they also regard the French as an unreliable hostile force. The influence of France can be said to have fallen to the bottom, and even James II received a lot of extra blame.

The republicans in the United Provinces can't stand the interaction between the Prince of Orange and the members of the British Parliament, because the British are the main commercial competitors of the Dutch. There is fierce business competition.Under such circumstances, how could the Dutch capitalists look up to those British counterparts?Therefore, they intend to persuade the provincial councilors and chief representatives to pass a motion in the three-level parliament, that is, the Orange family cannot betray the interests of the United Provinces at any time. If it violates this (such as serving as the head of another country) , they will automatically lose their governing positions in the United Provinces, and all power will return to the three-level parliament.

There is no doubt that this was a well-crafted motion against William III.Because there is a lot of evidence that the English are inviting William III to London to rectify the situation, and William III himself is somewhat moved by this, so the three-level parliament wants to do its best to avoid the worst situation, that is, William III insists on going to England to challenge James. The second king's throne, then he must be separated from the United Provinces, so that he will not be allowed to control two powerful trading countries at the same time.

It is conceivable that this bill will definitely be strongly attacked by all parties, but the republicans do not intend to give up, and must fight to the end with the henchmen of the Orange family.Therefore, if this kind of thing is not handled properly, it is very likely to detonate the political crisis in the United Province again. This is no joke.

Lin Dingzhi has been studying the triangular relationship between Britain, France, and the Netherlands all year round. He dare not say clearly about the things in it, but he is definitely very familiar with it.In his opinion, it is unacceptable for the people on the east coast that William III went to England to become king, and a way must be found to prevent it.The reason is very simple to put it bluntly, it is related to the grand strategy of the East Coast Republic, more precisely, it is related to the balance of the continent——

Many years ago, when Xu Xin and Zheng Yong presided over the diplomacy, they established a European balance policy that included England, that is, England balanced the European situation, and the people on the east coast used this to balance the entire European situation including England. .To put it more clearly, England likes to encourage Austria, France and other countries to fight each other to balance the situation on the European continent, but the people on the east coast prefer to see the English also end the battle, while the east coast silently supports them behind the scenes.

They have this confidence.The Kingdom of England now only has colonies in North America and the Caribbean. In addition, there are some small trade-oriented colonies in Africa and India. The strength is not too strong, and the lifeline is in the hands of the people on the east coast (Cape Town Freeport). People have enough self-confidence to suppress the development of the Kingdom of England and prevent it from growing into a force that can challenge itself.Therefore, the relationship between them and Britain is actually a kind of diplomatic relationship that is both wary and cooperative. Xu Xin and Zheng Zheng compared it to the relationship between Britain and Japan before the Russo-Japanese War in later generations when chatting privately, that is, to cultivate a decent relationship. Once the situation in the mainland is out of control, let this thug also end and rebalance the situation.Therefore, the relationship between the East Coast and the United Kingdom is complicated, just like the relationship between them and France, there is both cooperation and confrontation, depending on how the international situation changes.

From this point of view, you can understand why the people on the east coast find it difficult to accept William III's entry into London, because they are afraid that after England's strength soars, the people on the east coast will no longer be able to hold them!This is one of the two things that people on the east coast are most afraid of in Western Europe. The other is that France annexed the Iberian Peninsula and northern Italy, turning it into a land-sea composite power, which has the potential to challenge the republic on the east coast.

Therefore, this time Lin Dingzhi came to The Hague from Paris, not just to inform Van Boiningen and the others.His greater intention was to mobilize republicans and find ways to create obstacles for William III and prevent him from going to England.At worst, even if William III is on the throne of the King of England, he must be separated from the United Provinces, and he must not be allowed to serve as the head of two countries at the same time. This is absolutely unacceptable.

(End of this chapter)