v3 Chapter 172: Europe's power is rising and falling

Inside the Royal Palace of Denmark, June 5, 1864.

The famous Danish fairy tale master in Europe, Andersen, who is also the tutor of the six children of Christian IX, is giving a lecture to the children of King Christian IX of Denmark.

All arrived except Princess Alexandra (born 1844), who was already married to William IV of the Netherlands.

They are the eldest son, Crown Prince Frederick born in 1843, Prince George born in 1845, Princess Dagmar born in 1847, Princess Tira born in 1853, and only 6 years old born in 1858. Prince Valdemar.

Next to him sat King Christian IX of Denmark listening with a smile on his face, and Queen Louise of Denmark (formerly Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel).

After Andersen told the fairy tales that Princess Tira and Prince Valdemar liked, and answered the two little princes and princesses whether they would continue to write new fairy tales, he was asked by Crown Prince Frederick recently about the story. The issue of international politics, and the most popular London conference recently, is naturally not immune.

Andersen, under the watchful eye of Christian IX, answered.

"At the London Conference in May 1864, 17 countries, including the host British Empire, sent representatives to attend. The dominant ones were the British Empire, France, the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Confederation - the Empire of Austria, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, At the meeting, the Kingdom of Portugal and other six countries tried their best to plan how to divide Africa in an elegant manner.

It was this meeting that opened the curtain of the frenzied colonization of Africa by major European powers, let the world see the ugly deals behind the scenes, and made Latin American countries still fresh in their memory.

This is as described in my fairy tales. The fables of many stories have their own transmission of ideas. For example, when I often write fairy tales, I integrate Christian ideas of kindness, fraternity, devotion into the fairy tale world. , I have not forgotten to convey the Christian consciousness of original sin and the thought of redemption of the soul to the world in the conversation.”

"For example, in "Red Shoes" written by the teacher, the cute and beautiful girl couldn't restrain her desire to wear red shoes, and she forgot a hymn and a prayer?"

Andersen's too late is the 17-year-old Princess Dagmar, who is already slim and beautiful.

Princess Dagmar asked Andersen again:

"Sister Alexandra once said that in Mr. Andersen's "One Story" there are several names of great sins written on the walls of all the houses in flames.

In "The Swamp King's Daughter", Hull is a beautiful woman by day but cruel at heart, and a frog at night but very gentle and kind.

The prince in "Maleficent Prince" loves war.

In "The Girl Who Walked on Bread", Ingle walked on bread for fear of soiling his shoes and clothes.

The mother in "Anne Lisbeth" was greedy for vanity and went to a noble family as a nurse and abandoned her own children.

Alexandra said that this is the teacher in the story, carrying the character of selfishness, vanity, arrogance, greed, evil, cruelty and so on.”

Christian IX and Queen Louis were stunned when they heard the words, and they all thought of the second child who had been married to the Netherlands, also the eldest daughter Alexandra.

Thinking of all the things between William IV and her, these two children can be regarded as lovers and finally married, and Alexandra is also happy.

Andersen was also stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly, and praised: "Princess Alexandra is indeed the most talented woman I have ever met, and keen insight is the most talented"

"This is the original sin inherent in human nature. Only with the redemption of the soul can we have the purity of a child, so as to approach God and enter heaven. This is the punishment for my characters in the story for disobeying God's sacred teachings. .

Just as the Word of God in the Bible is validated, in my book, The Malevolent Prince, the prince is driven mad at the end by little mosquitoes that burrow into his ears.

Ingle, who was walking on bread, fell into a swamp because of his arrogance and vanity, and was in the company of cold and ugly toads, fire snakes, and flies.

The little girl in "Red Shoes" was naturally not able to escape the severe punishment. The pair of red dancing shoes clamped her feet, so she kept dancing. There was no way to stop, so the executioner had to cut off her feet wearing red shoes. . "

"Why are teachers so harsh on the owner of the story?" Prince George, 19, asked.

When Andersen said this, he raised his head and said to the young Danish princesses and princes: "The reason why I do this is to let the children face up to the sinful thoughts and ugly behaviors in human nature, self-reflect, stay away from evil, and realize redemption of the soul"

Crown Prince Frederick asked: "Returning to the question of the London meeting just now, so the teacher thinks that this London transaction will cause a humanitarian crisis in Africa?"

"No, it's for Europe. I wonder if you paid attention?"

Andersen warned: "Both the Netherlands and Portugal have acquired a large number of colonies from Africa, and perhaps with a small number of soldiers and warships, which creates a very intuitive point of view, that is, European countries occupy other countries' territories in Europe. It is very difficult, and even the benefits are not proportional to the benefits, but Africa is very profitable.

Small price, big reward, the greed of human nature grows so rapidly. "

Prince George: "But that's Africa. It's too far from us. After all, as many people have said, we eat fish, so we can't mourn for them."

Andersen was surprised by such a profound statement from the Prince George Club. He glanced at him with admiration, and then sighed: "I'm afraid that in a scene in Africa, greed will shrink with time, and eventually it will bite you and me. on European soil”

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Andersen saw that the atmosphere was pulled into such a situation by himself, which obviously did not match the content of his lecture theme "London Conference" today, so he said:

"During this nearly a week-long meeting, the issue of the Dutch-Portuguese war was nominally resolved, but in fact several countries dominated the scramble for Africa and the internal distribution.

After solving the nominal problems, the participating countries began to discuss a number of general principles in order to coordinate their relations.

However, in the London Protocol, the word 'sphere of influence' appears, which means that a country can not only control the coast of Africa, but also go deep into the hinterland of Africa indefinitely. In order to protect legitimate rights and interests and reduce conflicts, countries have proposed effective According to the principle of occupation, the occupying country can only truly own the area when it effectively controls the colony, rather than simply building a stronghold and declaring it to the outside world. "

Prince George said: "Teacher, now that the London Conference is over, the rules of the 17 countries after Africa have almost been confirmed, although there are still differences in the power of various countries.

We Denmark also have a colony in Africa, that is Sierra Leone. I understand that Denmark's main interests there now come from fishing, where bonga, tuna, yellow croaker, herring, prawn, etc. are very rich, and the production of rosewood And red iron wood, etc., of course, the indigenous labor also contributes to our economy.

But none of this seems to be enough to match the energy consumption of our ships from Copenhagen to Freetown every year and the thousands of soldiers we send there.

It seems that income and pay are not proportional. What can Denmark get from here?

And by analogy, it seems that the gains of various countries in Africa are not much different, so why are all countries so keen on Africa now? "

When Christian IX heard the words, he glanced at George, then looked at Crown Prince Frederick, and finally communicated with Andersen, and fell silent for a moment.

Crown Prince Frederick knew that George did not participate in the governance of Denmark, and therefore did not understand their father's plans, so it is understandable to have this question.

"Going back to the allusions of the fairy tale just now, greed has no end"

Andersen paused and said, "Everyone likes to occupy, no matter how good or bad they are, they all feel that they are the darling of the world, and sooner or later they will be favored by God, and surprises will come.

Africa is much larger than Europe, and it is ancient. There, all countries feel the surprise of the existence of unknown things without understanding it.

Of course, individuals and countries are different, and countries need to deploy national strategies in response to the international situation and the surrounding situation. Take Denmark as an example, we may not gain much economically there, at least for now, but sending troops to There, in itself, is a strategy, everyone knows that Denmark is cold in winter and cool in summer, so we are considered to be Northern Europe.

And Denmark is now in Sierra Leone, Africa, when winter in Europe belongs to summer. In terms of military significance, this province can keep our country's army in a different state in winter and summer. North and South continue to exist.

Don't underestimate this small change Just look at the Netherlands, Portugal, Britain and France. Why is Tsarist Russia ecstatic about acquiring a colony in the Far East? The strategic significance is crucial. "

Andersen said: "Africa is not only a transit port, but also a manifestation of our participation in European operations. It is also Denmark's stronghold in the southern hemisphere, breaking our sphere of influence only in the northern hemisphere. The comparison of the strengths of European countries has also become the sphere of strength of various countries along with Africa. , has accelerated the change in the power balance of the countries in Europe.”

"good"

Christian IX also joined the topic at this time, and sighed with admiration: "The Vienna Conference 50 years ago recognized the status of the three empires of the Austrian Empire, the British Empire and the Tsarist Russia Empire, and also recognized the rise of the Prussian Royal Palace. In addition, the strength of the French Empire has been stable for a long time, and the status of the five major European countries has been determined.

The establishment of the London Conference is the biggest change in European countries in decades, and it is of great significance to the world. The status of the British Empire has risen the fastest. Now almost no one will deny its position as the first empire, while the French Empire and the Tsarist Russia Empire are only in the ranking. After that, the Austrian Empire is now only comparable to Prussia, and can be regarded as the country with the fastest decline in influence.

As for the Ottomans...