Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

With Christian IX's signature confirming the abolition of the London Protocol, this led to near-war tensions between Denmark and the German Confederation in Schleswig and Holstein.

But Christian IX was not without gains. At this time, a large-scale demonstration broke out outside the Danish Royal Palace. The Danes supported the annexation of these two areas. This parade even led the Copenhagen Police Chief to declare it the safest and most patriotic parade in the history of Copenhagen. .

The majority in the original parliament was already prepared that if he did not sign, Christian IX would be expelled from the Danish Parliament and removed from the throne. The candidates had even been selected to make King Carl XV of Sweden the king of Denmark. king.

At this time, the situation was tense and the opinions were sharply opposed, which even aroused the concern of Danish Prime Minister Monrad. After the young Christian IX signed the new decree of the "November Constitution", the prime minister began to try to appease the people. Angry, but the people were indifferent.

He wanted to appease Dezhi's anger, but they couldn't get rid of him.

It was still under these circumstances that he sought an audience with Christian IX.

"Your Majesty, our form is not good."

Seeing Christian IX's indifferent look, Monrad's heart sank deeper and deeper.

He smiled bitterly in his heart and said worriedly: "According to our intelligence, our cancellation of the London Protocol has aroused a strong wave of nationalism in all of Germany. Mass gatherings and demonstrations have been held in various places, demanding measures to be taken against Denmark. Powerful action.

The Germans of Holstein and Schleswig refuse to swear allegiance to you and seek help from the German Confederation Assembly, calling on the Confederation Assembly to recognize the eldest son of Duke Frederick von August as an independent Schleswig. Duke of Suig-Holstein. "

They even claimed that the "London Protocol" as your legal inheritance rights will no longer be legal with your abolition. The Duke of Augustenburg saw this and felt that something could be done, so he proposed claimed the inheritance of the two principalities. "

Christian IX sat and listened to Monrad's worried words. Why wasn't he worried?

I saw him saying: "How many troops from Hanover and Saxony have entered Holstein now?"

Monrad heard this and said: "6,000 people each, 12,000 people in total. They intend to test us militarily, Your Majesty."

Christian IX waved his hand to stop Monrad's persuasion. He stood up, came to the map, pointed at Holstein, and drew a big circle with that stroke, and then drew Schleswig in the south. Make a big circle, turn your head,

Said to Prime Minister Monrad: "The German Confederation has been spying on these two places for a long time. No matter how we retreat, they will find excuses. With the tacit understanding of Frederick VII, they began to die down. Now, it is just an explosion. Just come out."

Monrad sighed after hearing this, "Faced with Germany, which has two major powers, Austria and Prussia, Denmark seems powerless no matter how hard it struggles."

Christian IX didn't think so.

So he said comfortingly: "I hope that the internal fighting between Austria and Prussia can minimize the damage to Denmark in this crisis."

Monrad nodded when he heard this and said: "Your Majesty, I will contact the various countries again to ask them to put more pressure on the German Confederation."

After Monrad disappeared in front of Christian IX, Christian IX murmured: "My son-in-law William IV, your original guess was right. Prussia is really ambitious. Frederick and I With the many arrangements made by the Seventh Generation, I hope this crisis in Denmark can land safely."

On July 11, 1864, the British government sent a deputy minister of foreign affairs to visit the Russian Empire, the French Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on behalf of Viscount Palmerston. He obtained the support of the above four countries and proposed intervention. incident, pointing out that the entire issue should be left to European countries for resolution.

At this time, Austria and Prussia, which had just passed a joint motion in the German Confederation Assembly, said that as long as the 1852 Agreement was not invalidated as the basis for the agreement, and the two principalities had only a personal relationship with Denmark, Austria and Prussia would agree to return to the agreement. Come.

So under the auspices of the United Kingdom, the five countries of Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Austria and Prussia of the German Confederation held a deputy foreign minister level meeting in London, which was held on July 15.

However, this meeting only showed the inevitable confusion on the relevant issues. Countries expressed their own opinions and it was difficult to unify.

Count Beust, a Saxon who represented the German Confederation, went to various countries to recognize Duke Augustburg's sovereignty over the principality.

Those sent by Austria tended to the same plan as the 1852 Young Agreement, and Prussia gradually showed its goal of obtaining the principality.

Even at the meeting, Prussia expressed the hope that the principality would stand on its own feet and become a single entity.

The ambitions of Prussia are unknown to other countries. Austria, which is also a member of the German Confederation, has already begun to oppose it before other countries express their opinions. Are you kidding me? Prussia is already strong enough, and Austria is gradually falling behind. Now If these two principalities become independent, it will give Prussia the opportunity to take these two principalities into its hands, which will cause Austria to completely lose their influence in the German Confederation.

Although the two countries had privately agreed to allow the principality to gain complete political independence and be bound by common institutions, the next step was not yet clear. As for the issue of annexing the principality, Prussia left it pending, but stated that any agreement must allow their military to dominate Schlesow. Eager and Holstein.

This worried Austria. Franz Joseph I and Archduke Rainer Ferdinand were naturally unwilling to make the already over-expanded Prussia stronger, so they instead supported Duke Augustenberg's declaration and established a An independent principality independent of Prussia.

However, for William I and Bismarck, this matter was already within their calculations.

Because they had already told Duke Augustenberg privately without the knowledge of Austria that as long as the Duke was willing to completely obey Prussia's military orders, he would hand over the Port of Kiel to Prussia as a military port and let the Prussian army control the nearby base. canal, and joining the Prussian-led Zollverein would support its declared manifesto at the conference.

Just when Duke Augustenberg was hesitating and wanted to bargain, it was reported that Austria, which also led the German Confederation, was unwilling to join this "liberation war" because Austria was unwilling to fight for him. There is no motivation to be ambitious in terms of territory, because as rumored, Austria has long been exhausted from dealing with the governance problems caused by the multiple ethnic groups on its territory."

This led Duke Augustenberg to finally sign a private agreement and agree to Prussia's conditions.

Prime Minister Bismarck in Berlin was filled with excitement as Duke Augustenberg signed the agreement.

The Polish uprising and the Princely Conference were not the only events this year that sparked a series of patriotic sentiments in the German Confederation. Both events were overshadowed by the two old troubled issues of Schleswig and Holstein.

As these two problems fermented, Bismarck's foreign policy was affected by this problem down to the smallest method.

Bismarck saw this key clearly, and used it skillfully to consolidate Prussia's position in North Germany and its own power in Berlin's political arena.

Even before he became Prime Minister, when he was still Minister of State, he was planning to find a top-down way to plan a model opportunity for unifying the German Confederation in this incident.

Therefore, he planned Duke Augustenberg, a powerful competitor of Christian IX for the position of King of Denmark, to cause trouble and provoke dissatisfaction among the Germans. This caused conflicts between the Danes and the Germans.

At the same time, Christian IX was provoked to participate in the war between Denmark and Germany in 1852, causing the Germans of Schleswig and Holstein to oppose his rule. Prussia lost no time in introducing a candidate who had always been friendly to Germany, August. Duke Sternberg.

This allowed Austria to eventually be persuaded to participate in the event, as Austria was also a signatory after the First Schleswig War.

Bismarck took advantage of Austria's characteristics as a multi-ethnic country and was unwilling to support the German Confederation's nationalist tendencies on the issue of the two principalities, but was also worried that Germany would lose its prestige. This dilemma caused Austria to lose two Bismarck took the diplomatic initiative on the principality issue, and Bismarck recognized this and replaced it.

Bismarck had personal experience of the Schleswig and Holstein issues because as early as 1855 to 1858, when he served as the Prussian minister to France, he had a heated debate with the Danish representative in Paris in Paris.

At that time, he once advised the Prussian government to express its opinions clearly in the honor of the German nation, but not to take action against Denmark, as long as Prussia got obvious benefits from solving this problem. However, Bismarck's approach was warned by the British, and the British demanded that Prussia must Respect the London Protocol.

The Prussian government was afraid of the dissatisfaction of the Austrian government at the time and Britain's international status, so he finally compromised.

Suffer a loss and gain wisdom!

But from then on, Bismarck exercised skillful self-control and learned to act in accordance with international law. He relied on the London Protocol to eliminate the excuses for other countries to interfere in this issue.

He did not oppose the Danish annexation of Schleswig in the name of safeguarding the London Protocol of 1852, not under the banner of the sharp-edged German nationalism.

This stance seems conservative, and more like maintaining European order and supporting international law. In fact, it is conducive to openly resisting the interference of Britain, France, Tsarist Russia and other countries. It also helps to consolidate Austria, which has always been afraid of and opposed to national movements and strives to maintain the existing order in Europe. Integrated into the policy framework of Prussian planning.