The United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Anthem:
WilhelmusTerritories:
The Netherlands (duh), Belgium, Luxembourg, Dutch East Indies, Dutch Antilles, Suriname.
Government:
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is a Constitutional Monarchy, the Monarch is checked by the Staten-Generaal (Estates-General). This means that without the consent of the Staten-Generaal the Monarch is powerless in state affairs. The Monarch is not allowed to declare war nor is he allowed to raise taxes or pass a reform without the Staten-General’s approval. He is not powerless however as he is still the supreme commander of the armed forces and has to approve any law the Staten-Generaal wants to pass. This way there is a carefull balance between the Monarch and the Staten-Generaal. Meanwhile the supreme court has the Monarch as the highest judge. There is no Trias-Politica.
The Dutch capital city is in Den Haag (De Hague) and the Dutch East Indies’s capital city is Batavia (Modern day Jakarta).
In the colonies there is a very open policy. Although there is made use of forced labour in the Dutch East Indies, this is to provide the land with better infrastructure. Slavery is forbidden in the Netherlands so these labourers get a very low wage for the deadly work. But this has provided the East Indies with a good infrastructure, connecting the major cities with railroads.
Important Characters:
Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk (also known as Willem III), Prince of Oranje-Nassau and king of the United Netherlands. He is the son of Willem II and Anna Paulowna (sister of the Russian Tsar Alexander I). 49 at the start of the scenario.
Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik, crown prince to the throne. 26 at the start of the scenario.
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, premier (prime minister) of the United Netherlands, partyless. Thorbecke wrote the constitution, more info about that in history. He is a liberal and is known as a man who wants to keep the power to the richer class of citizens and wants to improve the infrastructure of the Netherlands. He does however want to make the people of the Netherlands richer and is overall a pacifist. He also wants the Dutch people to become more educated and thus made sure that highschool would be subsidised by the state.
Julius van Zuylen van Nijevelt, minister of foreign affairs. A member of the conservatives, he is an outspoken man and is overall more in favor of military interventions although he is not an idiot. He will not treaten with war lightly and always tries to complete his promises. Overall he is very pro German, Austrian and Russian and anti French (Napoleon is still fresh in the Dutch minds) and British (biggest trade competition).
Johannes Adrianus van den Bosch, minister of War. Van den Bosch is a conservative and has spend millions on re-organising the army and navy. He would love to test his new armed forces and is not afraid to cause an incident. He based his army on the Prussian model and dispises the French.
Anton Fokker. Owner of most of the weapons industry in the Netherlands. He is also the genious who designed the first Dutch airships and is now working on a vehichle which can change groundwarfare.
More characters like generals and such will be added later once they appear on the stage, untill that time these are the most important characters.
Economy:
During the reign of king Willem I there had been a massive boost to the industry of the Netherlands, especially in the southern parts. He also saw massive potential in the steamlocomotive and when it was possible he ordered the construction of a large railroad system conecting the country’s main cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Although the Dutch had a strong party lobbying against industrialisation because they made alot of money in the merchant shipping, the Dutch industrialised anyway. Most of the industry is based in the southern Netherlands and the Randstad (Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam and Utrecht). The Netherlands control the biggest port in Europe, Rotterdam. They have coalmines in Limburg, which is a province bordering Germany. They also have a very large amount of Blue Coal in the Dutch East Indies and trade being the craft of a Dutchman they are willing to trade with any European power who would like some, for a good price ofcourse (Read: Ripping off).
The Dutch are obsesed with learning new things and they give out large subsidies to any scientis who wants to work in the Royal Academy. The only thing the scientists have to do to get this money and prestigious job is deliver their inventions to the state and if they do not they will need to pay back everything or will be imprisoned. A great trade which will in no way backfire on them… Right? That last part is not known to them though and so many scientist from all over the world flock to the Netherlands to conduct their experiments.
Military:
The Dutch military is largly based on the Prussian model. The Infantry are armed with state of the art breech loaded rifles. (This was a very new technology, remember that during the Civil War they still used muzzle loaded rifles and that ended a year earlier in the scenario). The Dutch military also had breech loaded artillery cannons.
Due to their abundance of Blue Coal and the European mindset the Dutch made great leaps in technological advancements. They were able to construct large Ironclad ships with rotating turrets instead of fixed emplacements. The Dutch had been visiting Japan and were able to produce airships of their own. They had also a very well contected telegraph system.
History:
In 1815 it was decided that the Kingdom of the Netherlands would become a bufferstate against France for the UK and Prussia. King Willem I was a reformist interms of economics. He restructured the taxation system and made the Northern and Southern Dutch equal. Although Dutch was the language used by the government, the Wallonians were not forced to learn Dutch, this put them at a disadvantage though so slowly they are begining to learn Dutch aswell.
Due to the fair treatment of the Southern Dutch there was no civil unrest as was predicted to happen if Willem I had been more harsh to the southerners. (Guess what happened in real life...)
Willem I wanted to industrialize the Netherlands, and so he did. Factories were state financed for a while. This allowed them to create a large heavy industrial complex which would compete with the German Ruhr.
With the discovery of Blue Coal and the sudden industialisation and militarisation of Asia king Willem I decided that the army and, more importantly, the navy needed reform. The first thing he did was to let several ship builders compete in the creation of a new kind of ship, an early version of what later would be classified as an Ironclad. He also wanted the colonies to be treated as provinces of the Kingdom. This resulted in a fair treatment of the population in comparison to how other European powers treated them. And lastly he ordered the construcion of a line of fortified ports incase a war in Asia broke out.
On the 7th of October 1840 Willem I abdicated from the throne and was succeeded by his son, Willem II.
Willem II isnt really known for anything except for the constitution of 1848.
In 1848 Europe was engulfed by rebelions from liberals against the Ancien Regime. Fearing that the revolution would spread to the Netherlands, Willem II ordered Johan Rudolph Thorbecke to sign up a new constitution which would be appropriate acording to Thorbecke.
Some of the changes made by Thorbecke:
Ministiral responsibility: The king is not responsible for his mistake, the ministers are.
Freedom of speech, press, education and gathering.
The king is no longer ruler of the Church.
“Censuskiesrecht” is used as a way of electing the second chamber of the Staten-Generaal. This meant that only people who were wealthy were allowed to vote. The first chamber was elected by the members of the provincial states, which were in turn voted on through the “Censuskiesrecht”.
Inaugurated in 1840, Willem II died in 1849 and was succeded by his son Willem III.
Willem III wanted to have stability in his country and in his point of view this was only possible by having a large armed force. The armed forces were to be integral parts of the Netherlands. Willem III made sure that there would be a large military force present in both the fatherland aswell as the colonies. The KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger, Royal Dutch Indies Army) was to protect the Dutch Indies while the Royal Dutch Army would also provide protection for the antilles and Suriname. Conscription was active and the first bron was forced to serve for 4 years, he was allowed to study at the cost of the state during this period.
Naval rivalries with Britain were heated up again and some people want a war against them to retake Kaap de Goede Hoop (South Africa). The Dutch also didnt forget their humiliation by Napoleon and are highly distrustfull against the French. The only neighbour they actually respect are the Germans and although there is some economic rivalry with them the Dutch people see the Germans as their brothers. Due to him being half Russian Willem III also wants to uphold friendly terms with Russia.
Now the Dutch are one of the most industrialised nations in Europe. Being one of the only nations with direct acces to massive Blue Coal mines they have the ability to rival any other nation. Their navy being one of the most modern and it’s army being one of the best drilled they are a force to be reckoned with. Though pasifict by nature, waking this sleeping lion might be a bad idea.
