Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

During the war with Prussia in Hungary and the fierce battle with the Russian Empire in Galicia, the Austrian Empire was unable to launch a new strong offensive at this time.

Under such circumstances, making peace with Prussia as soon as possible was the only option.

Compared with Prussia, the Russian Empire and Italy were outsiders outside the German Confederation.

Therefore, on January 25, 1866, Joseph I sent Reichberg, the Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire, to Berlin. This time Reichberg kept a very low profile, and Joseph I's approach was accepted by the Prussian government.

Since the beginning of the war, Prussia has been victorious due to the implementation of the plan. The Prussian army has a clear advantage over the Austrian army because of its successful industrialization.

Then Bismarck wanted to avoid too much interference from France and the Russian Empire, especially when the Russian Empire had invaded eastern Galicia. Prussia did not want the Russian Empire to gain too much advantage.

At the same time, Bismarck also had concerns about the Tsarist Russian Empire. Therefore, he dissuaded William I who wanted to continue the attack, stopped when he was ready, and quickly negotiated peace with Joseph I of Austria without rushing for success.

William I naturally agreed.

The current result is definitely what he has been looking forward to in the past, and he is also afraid of changes and new troubles.

So William I pretended to accept the mediation of the French Emperor Napoleon III and met with Joseph I in Prague, which is now occupied by Prussia.

"The meeting in Prague marked that the Prussian and Austrian empires, the two brothers who had been bickering and seizing property all day long, finally stopped."

William IV had a wry smile on his face and said jokingly:

"If Napoleon III were to know, because of his mediation, the Kingdom of Prussia would attack the French Empire after absorbing the resources of the newly unified German countries, so that the French Empire would no longer dominate Western Europe, and he, Napoleon III, would He was captured, lost the throne, and died in depression in 1873. I wonder if he would still work so hard to help reconcile Prussia?

This is also true in the Tsarist Empire. When brothers fight, you help fight one of them. Haven't you heard that brothers are connected by blood?

If you hit one, the other will be grateful at the time, but after the brothers reconcile, you will be miserable. "

William IV sighed: "Prussia's unification of Germany represents the arrival of a new era. When the Netherlands needs to face such a powerful neighbor, it must make more plans."

William IV's eyes suddenly lit up. He thought of something, but he couldn't grasp it all of a sudden, and he felt a little distressed.

On January 30, 1866, after several days of negotiations, under the witness of French Prime Minister Olivier, Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck and Austrian Prime Minister Archduke Rainer Ferdinand reached an agreement in Prague. Well, the name was "Prague Agreement".

According to the agreement, the small country that had followed the Austrian Empire in the war against Prussia was annexed by Prussia, and the West German Confederation collectively joined Prussia. The central Principality of Nassau stated that it would become a permanent neutral country and signed that it would never act as an opposition to the Kingdom of Prussia. rival's enclave.

In addition, the Austrian Empire, which had previously been used to control the German Confederation, was declared disbanded, and Austria therefore lost its right to have a say in the affairs of the German Confederation Empire.

In other words, except for the Austrian Empire and the Duchy of Nassau, all other countries became Prussian territory. This was no different from the Austrian Empire being kicked out of the German Confederation by Prussia.

Naturally, Joseph I was unwilling to lose and withdraw from the stage of European hegemony. Therefore, on the second day of the aforementioned Treaty of Prague, he immediately signed a compromise agreement with Hungary, which had been under his rule and control for a long time, expressing that the Austrian Empire Willing to give Hungary more regional rights, the imperial title of the Austrian Empire can be shared with Hungary.

So under the coercion and inducement of Joseph I, Hungary joined (originally dissatisfied, but now agreed to live on an equal footing with Austria).

As a result, the Austrian Empire, which had just lost the war, suddenly turned around and turned into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This surprised everyone including Napoleon III and William I at Austria's rapid transformation, and they had to sigh that Joseph I really knew how to play.

“The first condition is that Austria shall not interfere in the internal affairs of Germany and formally dissolve the German Confederation.

The second condition is that Prussia annexes Schleswig and Holstein, Hanover, Hesse, Upper Hesse and the Free City of Frankfurt.

The Kingdom of Sachlin, the Principality of Saxe-Meiningen, the Principality of Reuss-Greitz, and the Principality of Schaumburg, which were annexed by Austria, all joined the North German Confederation established by Prussia.

Austria allowed the German Confederation headed by Prussia to form the North German Confederation in 1867. Austria was not allowed to intervene or participate. Austria ceded Venice to Italy and eastern Galicia to the Russian Empire. "

However, Austria retained the pro-Austrian southern Principality of Liechtenstein and allowed it to establish itself as a neutral state.

This puzzled William IV.

He didn't understand what Joseph I's intention was.

"The Austro-Prussian War went on like history. It was completed in exactly seven weeks. What a coincidence."

History coincided again, which made William IV certain.

"It seems that many things are still going in the original direction, so I can rest assured."

The great problems of our time cannot be solved by speeches and majority resolutions, but by iron and blood.

The Netherlands is not strong enough yet. Compared with several major countries, the technology is there, but the population of the Netherlands is only one-third of that of countries such as Britain and France. Even if it is time to incorporate people of color and immigrants from various countries, there is still a gap.

What's more, these two countries also have their own colonies of colored people.

Only by making good use of these indigenous people can the Netherlands make up for the gap.

The war will continue, and the Netherlands' opportunistic policy still needs to continue.

After Prussia and Austria just signed the "Treaty of Prague" that ended the war, especially after seeing the armies of the two countries retreating from each other, everyone thought that Central Europe was finally calm, and everyone could completely focus on the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe. superior.

However, everyone was wrong, and quite wrong.

The international community was agitated, and even the Austrian people's original resentment against Prussia was now transferred to the French Empire.

"We reject France's request to seize Lorraine and the Rhine Province!"

With this title, the "European Times" published a news article based on an interview conducted by Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck himself, which aroused public opinion in Austria to denounce French Napoleon III.

Bismarck said that France invited him to visit France before Prussia's seven-week war with Austria, which was the time reported in the news.

Bismarck told everyone that after that, France told Prussia that it could not favor Austria, but Prussia had to give up the Lorraine and Rhine regions.

Bismarck said that he and William I had refused at that time, but France pressed forward step by step, so when they faced the threat from Austria, they chose to respond with silence, but they did not agree.