After the British government learned that the Dutch Liberal Party was in Parliament, it ordered the Royal Navy to prepare for war. Once the other party declared war, it was prepared to ban the sale of Dutch industrial products in the British market.

However, the overseas sales of British domestic industrial products have been hindered, and the domestic supply of food has been deteriorating. The unemployment rate in London and other places has doubled in the past two years. People's emotions have become increasingly agitated, forming an anti-government movement, which even led to September 18, 1878.

On the same day, Spencer, the Under-Secretary of the Admiralty of the British Cabinet Government, was assassinated on the streets of London.

It immediately shocked the entire UK, and finally launched an all-out arrest, only to find out that the main culprit was an anti-war activist. He did not want to see the British Navy waging war overseas, because his father and brother were both soldiers of the Royal Navy.

However, he lost his life in the American Civil War in which the British participated, so he became afraid of war from then on and worked hard to prevent the war from happening.

However, the main criminal's wish failed and even had the opposite effect.

However, British public opinion was led by the Creston government to change its attitude.

On September 20, 1878, Prime Minister Creston of the British Empire formally asked Parliament to declare war on the Netherlands in London. Three days later, the British House of Commons passed it, with all Whig MPs and most Tory MPs voting in favor.

In the British House of Lords, among the 650 senators, although there was no overwhelming response compared to the House of Commons, it was enough to pass the bill.

Many of the 80 votes came from independent MPs, and the other 40 votes came from the Tories. Most of these votes were against the Whigs.

At the same time, Britain decided to adopt a policy of leniency towards the Tsarist Russian Empire. Britain was preparing to carry out large-scale procurement of food from the Tsarist Russian Empire, and proposed maritime cooperation between Britain and Russia in the Baltic and the North Atlantic where the North Sea is located.

.

German Empire, Berlin.

"After 54 years since the Anglo-Dutch Naval Battle of Malacca in 1824, the Netherlands and Britain finally entered a state of war again.

Starting from Melbourne, King William IV of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Gerrit de Vries, and Chief of General Staff Mark Rudd already knew that the arrow was on the string and had to be fired. This war has reached the point where it is inevitable.

The British Empire needed a war against the Netherlands. Although they had been busy dealing with the strong rise of the German Empire and the Russian Empire that had been recuperating in the north of Eurasia for many years, the last war in the Balkans was a bit unjust. The British Empire had been

I dreamed of turning America into a colony again, and now I also dream of taking back Australia, which was developed and prospered by the Netherlands, from the hands of the Netherlands, and strengthening Britain itself.

The Netherlands needed a war with Britain even more, because William IV and Gerrit de Vries knew that without this war, the Netherlands would not be able to win the awesome status of a true great power."

Kaiser Wilhelm I said with excitement on his old face: "Now that the Anglo-Dutch War is about to happen as we originally imagined, the German Empire should naturally not let go of such a great opportunity. Where does your Excellency, Prime Minister, think the goal of the German Empire is?"

"Your Majesty and I have been lurking in Europe step by step, which has made Europe appear peaceful in the past eight years. The economy and military of various countries have been developing rapidly. In comparison, the UK, which was originally unparalleled, has

, we are now being closely followed in the fields of technology and industry. If it weren’t for the fact that Britain has vast overseas territories in Canada, the fertile Indian subcontinent, and South Africa’s metal minerals, we would have already caught up with each other in terms of total economic output.

"

Bismarck said proudly: "Your Majesty, the reason why the Netherlands has been able to rise rapidly is that it has a large area of ​​territory in the Far East. Australia, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea and the South Pacific Islands alone already have an area of ​​more than 10.7 million square meters.

kilometer.

The United Kingdom has 9.04 million square kilometers of Canada (except for the Commonwealth of British Columbia, which occupies 940,000 square kilometers), and 4.3 million square kilometers of the Indian subcontinent (divided into India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh in 1948).

- 5 countries - Labang, Bhutan) and Myanmar with 680,000 square kilometers.

Together these cover a total area of ​​14.02 million square kilometers.

Note that the British do not include the territories ruled by Africa, and the Netherlands does not include the mainland and the Alaska Peninsula, Africa, South America, the Middle East, etc.

As for the German Empire, except for its African colonies and Guyana, which was snatched from France in South America, it only had a mainland area of ​​540,000 square kilometers."

Speaking of this, Bismarck happened to see the somewhat embarrassed old face of William I, so he followed the trend and said: "The Tsarist Russian Empire also has the largest territory in Eurasia and because of its excessive strategic depth, it makes the Tsarist Russian Empire a powerful country.

Since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 established great power status, it has never been denied.

Even the Confederate States of America, a British colony that used to be looked down upon, used their powerful local resources to achieve their rise due to their huge territory. After losing nearly one-third of their territory to the Confederate States of Southern America, they are now

It was actually able to become the fourth economic power in the world after the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the German Empire. It surpassed the total of north and south France, and also surpassed the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It also firmly occupied the fourth place in industry.

In addition to some shortcomings in the military, with a population of 30 million, the Commonwealth of America has leapt to the second place after the Netherlands and the country with the greatest great power potential, surpassing Italy and Spain.

The current major powers include Britain, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France in the north and south, and the half-powerful Ottoman Empire."

William I couldn't help but nodded after hearing this. Yes, Italy, needless to say, is a newly emerging regional power in Europe, but Spain is a superpower in history. Even now, due to the division of the French Empire between the north and the south, Spain has become the most powerful country in southern Europe.

A powerful country, even with greater war potential than the Second French Empire controlled by Napoleon III.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Commonwealth of America can be ranked with Spain, and even far surpass Spain economically and industrially. It can be said that the implementation is shocking, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands above it is even more so.

In less than 20 years, it became a place that could almost rival the German Empire under his nose. This made William I speechless.

After all, he used all kinds of conspiracies and tricks to create the current German Empire. The original Kingdom of Prussia almost swallowed up the entire German Confederation.

For this reason, it also received a lot of infamy, and various countries began to distance themselves from the German Empire.

And what about the Netherlands? It seems that the journey has been smooth and steady, and it has completed its transformation without any noise or fuss. It can be said to be a blockbuster.

In comparison, it seems that the rise of the German Empire was too cumbersome.

At this time, Bismarck did not know William IV's self-pity. He made a shocking statement: "With so many living good examples in front of us, the German Empire naturally needs more fertile land, so our next territory in Europe

The expansion can be stopped, but overseas, it can be started.”

When William I heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he pretended to be calm and asked with a smile: "Where is the target?"

Bismarck smiled lightly: "It is said that Paraguay used to rely on the French Empire and now it has become weak, and it has been unable to straighten its back in South America. We, the German Empire, are experts in this field, so we can help them cure it."

William I asked energetically: "What kind of treatment?"

"The German Empire has excellent medical skills and naturally uses the simplest methods."

Bismarck said confidently: "It is said that Paraguay is obsessed with Uruguay, which originally belonged to the same family, and Brazil and Argentina are also greedy for this. In the past, Uruguay was established as a country by Brazil and Argentina because of their desire to grow in Paraguay. Now Uruguay is under Paraguay.

After the voices became quieter, Brazil and Argentina began to compete against Uruguay again. This was a three-nation dispute.

Your Majesty, I feel that the United Kingdom is currently unable to deal with the competition between Brazil and Argentina when facing the Netherlands. I think the United Kingdom will agree to our intervention in Uruguay. After all, the reason why Uruguay became independent from Paraguay was

, the UK also occupies a big reason, so the UK’s influence is still not small. If we make up for the UK’s influence and cooperate with France’s former ally Paraguay, I think we have the opportunity to successfully blend into southern South America. Successfully

The chances are still relatively high.”

After hearing this, William I was silent for a while, then walked to the side and looked at the simplified global route map on the wall. This was a map of a model lake, but the routes and the geographical location of major places were still relatively detailed.

He turned his attention to South America, the southwest corner of Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, and found the location of Uruguay.

He said: "Uruguay's territory is too small. Even if we occupy it, our influence and interests there will not be great. Compared with the large areas of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, it is difficult to compare."

Obviously, when he saw the small map of Uruguay on the map, especially when it was pitifully small against the backdrop of Argentina and Brazil, William I suddenly lost much interest.

However, Bismarck said: "Uruguay is small, but your Majesty has obviously forgotten what I just said. We will be entrusted by Paraguay."

William I's eyes suddenly revealed a golden light, "You mean, by then we will also take care of Paraguay?"

Bismarck nodded and replied: "It's not just Paraguay. Your Majesty, please look here. It extends from south to northwest at 50 degrees to Paraguay and then to Bolivia. This is the route of the north and south Andes that traverses South America. As long as we occupy these three countries, even only Uruguay

and Paraguay, then we control the channel of communication between Argentina and Brazil, and Argentina has fertile land on the side close to Paraguay and Uruguay, and even the capital Buenos Aires is next to it. The southern part of Brazil is sparsely populated, and even the capital Buenos Aires is nearby.

Paraguay occupied nearly one-sixth of Brazil's southern territory with only 20,000 people, not to mention the soldiers of our German Empire?"

William I smiled and asked: "So?"

Bismarck said firmly: "So Your Majesty, in addition to the Anglo-Dutch-Chilean disputes in South America this time, it seems that with us, war will really be inevitable in the region."
Chapter completed!