v3 Chapter 402： Shapers of the modern Netherlands: joint stock companies

The marriage of Crown Prince Frederick of Greece and Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria of the British Empire, has made many people dissatisfied. Not only the governments of various countries, but Queen Victoria and her daughters have different views.

It is said that Princess Victoria of the British Empire, who has been married to the Kingdom of Prussia for many years, is one of the ones who clearly opposes Princess Louise's marriage to the Kingdom of Greece.

Queen Victoria's opposition to the marriage between the United Kingdom and Greece is due to the fact that she is now the Crown Princess of Prussia. After all, the relationship between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Netherlands is now tense, and the royal family of Greece is in the same blood as the Dutch royal family. disturbed.

After all, in Prussia now, Prime Minister Bismarck originally objected to Ying Pu being too close, which made her position very embarrassing. Now if Britain is marrying Prussia's "enemy", then she will fall into a more passive position, which is why she stands in her own position. reasons for opposing positions.

However, the eldest son, Prince Edward, also agreed with his sister Queen Victoria's approach. Of course, this is suspected of reporting personal grudges.

However, Queen Victoria also has a display consideration to balance the power of the United Kingdom and the European continent.

Of course, as a veteran of balanced diplomacy, the UK still knows how to keep a hand everywhere. The marriage between Britain and Greece actually had a limited impact on the European situation. Princess Victoria of Prussia chose to obstruct the marriage between England and Greece at this time. Apart from not having an immediate negative impact on herself, it was enough to explain to the people of the Kingdom of Prussia.

If the marriage between the two countries fails, the crux of the problem is that Prussia cannot prevent the marriage between England and Greece. If the Prussian nationals complain, his Crown Princess Victoria will not be included in the list of key "care objects".

Compared with the Prussian-Dutch relationship, the British-Prussian relationship is more friendly. The United Kingdom is the largest political supporter of Prussia and the largest source of technology for Prussia. There has not been any major conflict between the two sides, but due to practical considerations, London cannot. Prussia, which had just annexed the entire German Confederation, had done too much diplomatic work.

The Kingdom of Prussia kicked the Austrian Empire out of the German Confederation and annexed the remaining German Confederation countries, which completely changed the entire European geopolitics. Sweden and Denmark, which have long been neutral countries, have formed a Nordic alliance with the Netherlands based on national security considerations.

This has already made many people in Prussia feel a sense of crisis. After all, this has formed a huge pressure on Prussia in both northern and western Europe. Coupled with the Tsarist Russia in the northeast, the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the southeast and the French Empire in the south, the establishment of the Nordic Union undoubtedly filled the last gap in Prussia.

And it's still in the form of a three-nation alliance.

It is precisely because of this that when the news of the marriage between the Crown Prince of Greece and the British princess came out, Prussia was even more optimistic about the relationship between England and Prussia, and Princess Victoria, the Crown Princess of Prussia, was even more vocal against it.

Princess Victoria's objection. Many pro-Prussian people in the UK also agree with this point of view. However, there are many people who are dissatisfied with Prussia. Therefore, the two factions have launched a rallying battle. more nervous. There have long been comments that because Prussia believed that it was moving closer to the Tsarist Russian Empire, the Anglo-Prussian relationship had already existed in name only when Tsarist Russia turned against Austria. The diplomatic network of William I of the Kingdom and Prime Minister Bismarck was the target of extortion through their strategic position, and in terms of military operations, it has obviously reached the limit of obstruction in Europe, and there is no hope for expansion around. Perhaps, Berlin is quietly looking for who will be Berlin's next 'prey'.

Bismarck's realist diplomacy is, of course, clever to a certain extent. It takes advantage of Prussia's geopolitical advantages to the greatest extent. Now it has both sides between Britain, Russia and France, and it can use its strength to fight against the old enemy Austria-Hungary. , the pressure test of the French Empire, perhaps for Prussia, the only risk that prevents it from reaching the front position in the qualifying battle of the major powers is that Prussia attracts the joint containment of the neighboring powers.

Prussia deliberately launched my Princess Victoria this time to oppose the marriage between England and Greece. The purpose is that the relationship between Prussia and the Netherlands is tense, and the Greek royal family is the father of King William IV of the Netherlands. William III is the king, and the crown prince is also the only younger brother of William IV. Prince Frederick.

Prussia seems to pretend that Europe needs a balance. The Netherlands and Greece are on the right track with the governance of William III. The relationship between Greece and the Netherlands is not an ally by default. It is an ally of the Netherlands, together with Denmark and Sweden. one.

Therefore, the balanced statement issued by Berlin has aroused the recognition of many countries.

Even so, Berlin asked the UK not to marry Greece. If the UK agreed to Prussia's request, it would inevitably cause a major political turmoil in London. Based on the strong pressure at home and abroad, the chances of this condition in the UK are not high. will change, at least it will be seen that Prussia is interfering in British internal affairs and the royal family.

This has done too much harm to the British government and the royal family. I think Queen Victoria and Prime Minister Disraeli would not agree.

The two did not want to bear the stigma of betraying British freedom, nor did they have to deviate too far from the positions of those countries in Europe that were dissatisfied with Prussia.

In fact, most continental countries are particularly dissatisfied with the influence of the Netherlands in words at best, but in fact, they are more concerned about the huge war potential of Prussia after the annexation of the German Confederation, so they are even happy that a Netherlands that is at odds with Prussia can win over more Small and medium-sized countries have entered an anti-Prussian "alliance". Among them, France, Tsarist Russia, and Austria-Hungary are most willing to see this scene. Even in the United Kingdom, this faction now has the upper hand.

This is also the reason why Queen Victoria made this decision. As for the so-called British discussion, to put it bluntly, it is a benefit of her letting it go: it is just a "face" for her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, who is married to Prussia.

There is no need for Britain and Greece to suspend the marriage because of this "opposition", and the Prussian government may actually stand up to further clarify its opposition to the marriage between the two countries.

Although the relationship between Prussia and the United Kingdom is a lot of good, it can’t be said that Prussia even had a honeymoon period with the United Kingdom in the first half of the 19th century, jointly dealing with the alliance of the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire, and restricting the French Empire.

The two countries are now like strangers. In fact, it is more because Prussia, which was supported by the United Kingdom, was so powerful that the United Kingdom was scruples. Prussia was obviously aware of this. develop.

The road to the rise of Prussia, the dream of superpower, is not only a great power in the European continent, but also a major stumbling block for the United Kingdom to officially realize the dream of Bismarck and William I. In recent years, the relationship between Britain and Prussia has eased on the surface, but there are still many deep-seated disputes. The reason is that they all want to Develop more overseas territories overseas, including Africa, needless to say, and even in Southeast Asia, Prussia has begun to join in. It is said that after the British won Lower Burma, many Prussian weapons appeared in the battle of Upper Burma. , Apparently, Prussia provided weapons to Britain's 'indigenous enemies' in the Far East, much to the dissatisfaction of many in Britain. Moreover, the two countries also have conflicts in the Arabian Gulf region in the Middle East, although it is not obvious at present.

Prussia opposes Princess Victoria this time, which can be used to oppose the British-Greek marriage to test pressure on the United Kingdom, ask the United Kingdom to make concessions, and demand that the United Kingdom should maintain the consistent British style while supporting the Netherlands, which is the offshore-balance-hand style. Make corresponding compensation, at least not to continue making a big fuss about the annexation of the German Confederation in Prussia and damage the Anglo-Prussian relationship.

Obviously, Prussia can use this to ease the relationship between Britain and Prussia, to focus more energy on countries such as Russia, France, Ojo and other countries on the European continent.

Bismarck understands even more that the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands is by no means inseparable. The two countries have divergent interests on the issues of Africa and the Americas. There has even been a military conflict involving indirect war between South Africa and South Africa. The decline of the countries under the suppression, the British design for decades to make Prussia a nail in the middle of the European continent to help the British keep a close eye on the surrounding will be all in vain Therefore, Prussia's political calculation is temporary. The purpose of the statement is to use the interests and influence in the British strategic calculation to strive for greater interests.

And Princess Victoria is precisely such a most suitable identity.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the British royal family and the British government to state that the British-Greek marriage would not be affected.

The British royal family even stated, "Her Majesty the Queen personally asked Her Royal Highness Princess Louise's views on this marriage, and Her Royal Highness made it clear to the Queen that she did not object to this marriage, and she was very satisfied with Prince Frederick."

Later, in the direction of Berlin, after learning the news, Princess Victoria said that she respected Princess Louise and wished her a happy future.

An English-Greek marriage ended the dispute that Prussia opposed, but insiders know the operation behind this, and it actually involves a lot of exchange of interests, but ordinary people don't know it.

"Five Dynasties Rivers, Mountains, Wind and Moon"

......

On June 10, 1868, the Dutch state reform-reform continued,

In addition to the Dutch Ministry of Education, in order to operate the railways and banks in the Netherlands, the Dutch parliament passed and the Dutch government launched the establishment of a joint stock company. A huge amount of capital can be gathered by selling shares.

In the process of selling shares, each investor's responsibility is only on the amount invested. This new fund-raising method has actually begun to be explored and applied when the Netherlands began to migrate to the Far East. The Dutch East India Company is the earliest originator in this field. This time, the Dutch government directly legislated and became an administrative means. It makes the industrial limited company to be stereotyped.