Braban Revolution

Upon hearing the word "Brabant," Kan Peilun sat up straight and winked at the Netherlands diplomat beside him. ♢💚 Claw 🏆😳

The latter immediately signaled for all the Servant to leave and closed the door tightly.

Kan Peilun then cautiously said, "Your Excellency, actually, the Brabant riots have nothing to do with the Netherlands."

The United Kingdom Minister of Foreign Affairs nodded. "Yes, it doesn't matter. Van der Noot did not have the support of the Dutch Parliament."

The Van der Noot he was referring to was the leader of the Brabant Revolution.

Brabant, a core region of the Southern Netherlands, which later became Belgium, was experiencing a massive riot.

At this time, the Southern Netherlands was still Austria territory, but it had been operating under a relatively autonomous political system, with the Southern Netherlands Parliament managing its daily affairs.

Several years ago, Emperor of Austria Joseph II of Austria began to implement a series of reforms, including strengthening central authority and weakening Nobility privileges.

This offended almost all the powers in the Southern Netherlands — Liberals opposed centralization and demanded the continuation of Parliament power, while Conservatives Nobility were extremely dissatisfied with the reduction of privileges.

So the two sides joined forces and began to organize the forces of the Southern Netherlands, preparing to drive the Austria forces out of the region and establish their own country.

This event is historically known as the Brabant Revolution.

Another name for the Netherlands is "Northern Netherlands". As a country with the same ancestry as the Southern Netherlands, the Netherlands naturally hoped that its brother could break free from Austria rule, and thus secretly provided considerable support to the rebels.

Marquess Wellesley glanced at the Dutch Speaker's expression and continued, "You need not be nervous. I am here to inform you of the British Parliament's stance."

"We believe that the Southern Netherlands has every right to choose its own allegiance."

"However, as you also know, Van der Noot alone is simply no match for the powerful Austria."

Kan Peilun stared intently at the United Kingdom: "Please continue."

"They need their own people as their backing." The Marquess Wellesley clasped his hands together, "To defend against the Austria as the ' Republic of the Netherlands '."

Kan Peilun's breathing quickened. "You mean, United Kingdom supports the unification of the Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands?"

The Marquess Wellesley nodded. "We have always been the Netherlands' most loyal ally, and naturally we hope that the Netherlands can become strong. The unification of the Low Countries is the first step."

He made no mention of the Anglo-Dutch War that had taken place just a few years earlier, in which the British Navy nearly annihilated the Netherlands fleet.

In fact, United Kingdom had always viewed the Netherlands and Belgium as springboards for attacks from the Europe continent, and therefore pursued a policy of the United Kingdom tight control over these areas.

Previously, the France supported the Dutch Patriots' Party in ousting William V, after which the Netherlands became pro-French, which made the United Kingdom very uneasy.

Now that the Brabant Revolution had occurred, United Kingdom immediately used it as a pretext to court the Netherlands.

"Unification?" Kan Peilun hesitated. "Would the Southern Netherlands agree?"

The Marquess Wellesley laughed and said, "If they want to get rid of Austria, their only option is to merge with the Netherlands."

"Van der Noot has been seeking Prussia assistance—to be precise, Austria could easily suppress the Rebellion without Prussian Army entering the Southern Netherlands. I have already spoken with His Majesty William II on this matter, and he is very supportive of Netherlands unification."

Kan Peilun immediately stood up, excitedly patting his chest, and said, "Thank you and His Majesty William II! The people of the Netherlands will forever remember the strong friendship between our three nations!"

The Marquess Wellesley suddenly changed the subject. "I've heard that the Dutch East India Company is preparing to cooperate with the France to form United East India Company?"

Kan Peilun immediately shook his head. "This is just wishful thinking on the part of the France; we have never expressed our agreement."

The Marquess Wellesley looked relieved. "That's great, otherwise it would have affected the close alliance between Britain, the Netherlands, and Prussia."

"An alliance?" Kan Peilun paused for a moment, then realized, "Yes, Triple Alliance! This is exactly what the Netherlands has been hoping for!"

A meaningful smile flickered across the Marquess Wellesley's lips; he knew his strategy was bound to succeed.

The unification of the Northern Netherlands has been the dream of all Dutch people for centuries, and they are willing to give up everything for it!

For Prussia, anything that could weaken Austria would be done without hesitation. As long as the Southern Netherlands did not belong to Austria, they did not care whether it was independent or united with the Netherlands.

The Southern Netherlands controls the mouth of the Rhine River, and most of Austria's territory is inland. To conduct overseas trade, Austria had two options: either sail south to the Mediterranean Sea or sail west to the Atlantic Ocean via the Rhine River.

United Kingdom now controls the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. If it were to control the Rhine River estuary through the Netherlands, it would effectively block Austria's maritime trade routes.

At that time, there will be no need to worry about Austria not bowing down to the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, at the Schönbrunn Palace in Austria, after listening to the report from his State Minister, Kaunitz, Joseph II took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "The reforms must not stop."

"Paris has implemented even more radical reforms than we have, and without any problems, I am confident..."

"As for Brabant, they only have a few thousand poorly trained militia. Just have General Würmser quell the riot as quickly as possible."

Kaunitz frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the Prussia will certainly not let this opportunity to strike us pass by, so we will be facing far more than just a few thousand militiamen."

Joseph II leaned back in his chair, his poor health making it difficult for him to concentrate.

After a moment, he finally spoke, "Give General Würmser 30,000 troops. If the Prussia dare to interfere, launch an attack on them."

Kaunitz paused for a few seconds, then tentatively suggested, "Your Majesty, perhaps we could ask your sister for help."

Joseph II's sister is the current Queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

Joseph II's lips curled into a slight smile, "My dear brother-in-law has always been eyeing Wallonia, yet you allowed French Army to set foot in the Southern Netherlands?"

"This matter must be resolved by ourselves. If Austria can't even handle a riot in Brabant, how can we talk about unifying Germany?"

The Wallonia he mentioned is a large region in the South of the Southern Netherlands, covering nearly half of Southern Netherlands area. The residents are mostly French- speaking and the region is generally very pro-French.

Kaunitz sighed helplessly, thinking to himself: If His Majesty hadn't pushed through such radical reforms, the Rebellion in the Southern Netherlands wouldn't have happened. Now, the Nobility are causing widespread discontent over the reforms, and Austria is at its weakest point. Hopefully, we can weather this storm.

He bowed to Joseph II: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will go and discuss the matter of sending troops with General Würmser."

Versailles Palace.

The final of the Star of France competition officially began, and the entire Versailles Palace Square was packed with tens of thousands of people.

People kept chanting the names of their favorite players, and the shouts of vendors made the whole square incredibly lively.

(End of this chapter)