v3 Chapter 488： The eyeing British Empire

On February 5, 1869, the leader of the Democratic-Democratic Party of the United States of America, Stephen. Douglas announced in Washington, D.C., that he will run in the new presidential election of the United States of America in December this year. Johnson said he would face the challenge head on.

On the same day, the promoter of the Meiji Restoration in the Far East, Mei-ji-Ten-huang, officially announced that starting this year, 1,000 international students will be sent to universities in the Far East in the Netherlands every year, and another 1,000 international students will also be sent to the Netherlands. European countries study abroad. Obviously, Japan opened the door and officially moved towards a Westernized political and economic model.

On the same day, Alexander II welcomed his first grandson.

The eldest son, Nicholas. After the death of Alexandrovich, the second son, Alexander. After Alexandrovich married his eldest brother's fiancee, Damag, last year, he finally gave birth to his eldest son a year later. In order to commemorate the eldest brother, the couple named Nikolai, thinking that the deceased eldest brother.

For this, the Danish royal family and William IV personally sent congratulatory messages.

On this day, the British Disraeli cabinet government announced that the construction of the port in Cape Town, South Africa has finally been completed. It is said that this port has now become the headquarters of the British Global Seventh Fleet, helping the United Kingdom to guard the Strait of Magellan. The British **** of the global shipping chokepoint is just a step further.

On the opposite side of the sea, Spain is conducting naval exercises off the coast of Morocco in the south of the Strait of Gibraltar. Madrid announced that it will expand Spain's presence there, allowing the Kingdom of Spain to play more beneficial roles in world security.

However, the location chosen by the Spanish Navy is very sensitive, it is close to the Gibraltar where the British occupied Spain, which makes London very sensitive.

The British government was very dissatisfied with this, and the Foreign Office led by Russell even summoned the Spanish ambassador to the United Kingdom to express dissatisfaction and protest. It seems that the two countries are at risk of escalating tension.

However, the Spanish government said that it would not recognize the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, and at the same time expressed that Spain believed that sooner or later, the lost territories of Spain would be conquered. Although it is not explicitly stated, everyone knows that the territory referred to is Gibraltar, the former Spanish territory controlled by the United Kingdom.

Spain's move suddenly made Britain, who wanted to rely on Cape Town, South Africa, to increase its strength suddenly felt a few slaps, and a hot pain came from her face.

On the same day, the Dutch Ministry of Defense and the Prussian Ministry of Defense also maintained peace on the border between the two countries. ．．．．．．

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Prussia. Berlin.

The Dutch ambassador to Prussia, Wezemann, finally saw that Bismarck and Nicholas Pearson had a "leisurely" quarrel accompanied by a newspaper, and they both put down the newspaper and smiled at each other.

Under the laughter of the two, Wezeman found that the atmosphere at the moment was condensed, and it seemed that the silent tit-for-tat was more intense than the vocal quarrel.

Tea time.

Bismarck looked at Nicholas. Pearson: "If the Netherlands is willing to help Prussia with France, then Prussia is willing to ally with the Netherlands?"

"What can the Netherlands get?" Pearson heard this from his mouth. It was really straightforward, and I admired it.

"Didn't your Excellency ask Prussia to form an alliance with the Netherlands just now?" Bismarck said seriously.

"But we made alliances only for alliances, not to help Prussia prepare to fight the French Empire."

Beautifully said!

Wezeman looked at Nicholas with some admiration. Pearson, the former and current boss, said so, Weizermann believed that Bismarck understood that the time had come for a showdown.

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Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

William IV described the significance of the alliance between the Netherlands and Prussia.

"I think everyone knows the environment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, surrounded by the three major powers of Britain, France and Germany. No matter how strong the Netherlands is, it will always be a good side to fight against other countries. At present, the attitude of the United Kingdom is unclear, and the French Empire is bad. Don't think that it is just because The reason why the Netherlands took the lead in sanctioning France, if it was the reason, the two countries would not be so deadlocked, because I will not let the Netherlands do it.”

Many people expressed their curiosity. Except for a few people, many people did not understand why William IV, Tolbeck and others wanted to push for sanctions against the French Empire.

"It seems like a small country sanctioning a big country is a fuss. It's the kind of people who have nothing to do when they have enough to eat. What the Netherlands thinks, it shouldn't do this. Right?"

The question of William IV is even more curious.

Even in the military, except for the Chief of General Staff Mark. Everyone other than Lu De also showed interest.

It can be seen how high the level of secrecy in William IV's strategic circle is.

Of course, it is really necessary to do so. After all, these days, although there are no 0-0-7 secret agents, there are quite a few Western countries selling guo-slaves.

William IV never believed that there was no eternal loyalty, so at this point, he used many allusions known to later generations, such as various intelligence organizations, and semi-official and semi-civilian non-governmental organizations. It is the eyeliner of William IV, not only externally, but also internal supervision.

Seeing that no one answered, William IV said: "Actually, by forming an alliance with Prussia, the Prime Minister can appease Prussia, let them eliminate their hostility to the Netherlands, and then focus their energy on France. The pressure on the Netherlands is reduced. The second most important, It can be used to weaken the French Empire in the south of the Netherlands, because the French Empire seems to be challenging the interests of the Netherlands in the Far East. The Far East is the Netherlands' future great power base, and there is no room for loss. Whoever destroys the interests of the Netherlands there, that is For an alternative attack on the Netherlands, the Netherlands must counterattack, and it is precisely the intervention of Prussia that will bless the role of the Dutch counterattack in disguise, and the negative teaching materials of France have become a stepping stone for the Netherlands to establish its prestige."

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Continue back to Berlin, Prussia.

Inside the Berlin Palace. Opposite William I sat his only son, King Frederick Rough.

"Father, the Netherlands has sent two deputy minister-level officials this time This is actually a kind of friendship for us, and we don't need to let Chief of General Staff Mao Qi and Prime Minister Bismarck come out in person. "

Crown Prince Frederick didn't quite understand this. Is the second deputy minister of the Netherlands comparable to the helm of the Prussian military cabinet government? When did the Netherlands have such a high status?

William IV smiled and said nothing.

Seeing this, Crown Prince Frederick couldn't help but ask: "The enmity between the Netherlands and the French Empire is very helpful to Prussia's plan. Now that the tension between quality and Prussia and the Netherlands has eased, the French Empire will be more aggressive towards the Netherlands. It's a bit of a dread, this is an unwise move for us who are ready to see both the Netherlands and France lose."

"Then what are you going to do?" William I showed a touch of imperial majesty.

Crown Prince Frederick: "I think not only should we not ease up with the Netherlands, but we should also make the relationship between Prussia and the Netherlands more rigid. Since then, Napoleon III of France will take a desperate risk, and the Netherlands may face the risk of war. At that time, Prussia can The fisherman has profited"

William I shook his head, "Although the idea is good, have you ever thought about the British Empire beside the couch?"

Crown Prince Frederick was stunned, he had forgotten about the UK!

When did the first empire in the world make him feel that it was not dangerous anymore, it seemed that it started after taking Queen Victoria's eldest princess as his wife.