A Little Prince Unlike Any Other

Sturm looked at the French merchant in puzzlement. "Why is that?"

"The Netherlands." Rochefoucauld uttered the two words. "Leaving aside the benefits each country stands to gain from the Holy See's reforms, even in trade alone, the Netherlands represents a gap that cannot be ignored.

"The British Commercial Alliance cannot possibly exclude the Netherlands, but under our country's diplomatic pressure- ahem, patient persuasion-the Netherlands will most likely refrain from joining the Commercial Alliance directly.

"In fact, remaining outside both trading systems will allow the Netherlands to reap the greatest benefits.

"Members of the Holy Trade Alliance can certainly negotiate free trade zone agreements with the Netherlands, after which most of their goods can be sold to the United Kingdom through Dutch ports. Oh, apparently the British have now even opened their colonial markets in the Far East and North America. We can expect large numbers of Dutch merchant ships to sail for those places, carrying goods from across the European Continent.

"If the countries in the German Territories join the Free Trade Alliance, however, they will face the Holy Trade Alliance's tariff and regulatory barriers, thus losing the entire market around the Mediterranean Sea."

The Dutch port of Rotterdam was the only route through which British goods could enter the German Territories. Even if the British failed to draw the Netherlands into their Commercial Alliance, they would certainly grant it something close to member status. Yet with the Flemings holding a gun to its head, the Netherlands would never dare throw itself entirely into Britain's arms.

Understanding dawned on Sturm, but he immediately frowned again. "If the Free Trade Alliance follows suit and establishes free trade zones, the advantage you described will cease to exist.

"Besides, the model you described only resolves trade between those countries and the United Kingdom.