I hope to revive this AAR soon, hopefully tomorrow. The update will deal with the final years of Willems reign and give an international overview, especially of the Aroostook War between the US and Britain.
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Sorry for that. Reallife has the tendency to force me to break any promises for updates. The update IS almost finished though. Expect silly liberals asking their king for a constitution, the anglosaxon world to change forever and something very undutch: its politics actually being interesting!
Consolidation: the last years of King Willem I's reign
The Second Anglo-American War
In 1830 king Willem had tried to offer his mediation in a longstanding border conflict between the USA and British Canada over the border between New Brunswick and New England. President Andrew Jackson was incligned to accept the kings mediation but the Foreign Offices distaste for king Willem and Jacksons opponents in Congress had both blocked this mediation. This had lead to a longstanding conflict between both nation that had erupted in open warfare late 1938. A borderskirmish between local militias soon escalated into full warfare. The war at sea was quickly won by the superiour Royal Navy, but the landwar quickly stalemated. A British invasion of New England was halted in Vermont, just as an American invasion of Ontario was stopped. The superiour Royal Navy meant that Britain was able to land its army everywhere between Boston and New Orleans, and the Royal Army made ample use of this ability. However, everytime a British force tried to land, it quickly found a militia ready to defend its homeland. Yet while the British weren’t able to hold on to most of their conquests, they wreaked havoc in Boston, New York and New Orleans before retreating.
The Aroostook war saw the return of the Redcoats to the North-American continent.
From a Dutch perspective, the Second Anglo-American War gave them a free hand in Malaya, with the eyes of the Foreign Office turned at the America’s. Few historians doubt the Dutch invasion of Johor would have meant war if British hands weren’t needed elsewhere. Secondly, the war led to the establishment of a lucrative new enterprise in the Dutch Antilles, namely blockade running. The island of Saint-Eustatius quickly regained its status of a smugglers paradise [1].
Consolidation in Asia
The late 1830s where relatively quiet in the Dutch East Indies when compared with the earlier decades. Governor-General Chassé, now an old man, wished to consolidate Dutch gains in Borneo and Malaya by cancelling the proposed invasions of Aceh and Bali. The old warhorse tried to shave off some of the rougher edges from the brutal Cultivation System in order to pacify the local population, but at the same time he expanded the Koninklijke Nederlandse Indische Leger (Royal Dutch Indian Army, or KNIL) in order to quickly crush all who dared oppose Dutch government. General Hendrik Chassé officially retired in 1841, aged 75, to finally enjoy his well deserved pension.
One of the last acts of Chassé as Governor General had been the revitalisation of Dutch-Japanese trade at Deshima, an islandof the coast of Nagasaki. An appeal to the shogun to open up Japan to the West had been rejected. The Shogun had laughed away warnings about hostile white men trying to force him to trade but had agreed on giving the Dutch broader trading permissions. Yet it was not until the Meiji Restauration that these revived ties would truly blossom.
Deshima was an artificial isle just off the coast of Nagasaki. This way the Shoguns could trade with the Dutch without opening their country itself to them. Ever after the Napoleonic Wars the Dutch presence had been mostly symbolic, with very little trading being done. Governor-General Chassé revived this tradepost.
King Willems death and the Belgian question
On 12 december 1843 King Willem I van Oranje-Nassau, King of the Netherlands, King of the Belgians and Grand Duke of Luxembourg passed away in his sleep. Under his authoritarian leadership the moribund Dutch Republic had been transformed into a medium European Power. Belgium had been lost in the 1830s, but the Dutch Colonial Empire and the Economy had expanded significantly. Willem I would be remembered as the father of the modern Dutch state and many wondered what would have happened if the king would have retreated from public life after the Belgian Revolution, as several sources suggest the king had contemplated leaving for Berlin [2].
His successor to the throne was his eldest son who would reign as Willem II.
The new king had plenty of experience governing, as he had been the Stadhouder of Belgium. Yet the new king would find out the political landscape in liberal Belgium and the conservative Netherlands required a different approach, especially so since most conservatives feared the king had been poisoned by Belgian constitutionalism.
The coronation of Willem II in the Ridderzaal in The Hague. It was quickly followed by a coronation in Brussels.
A second problem was the question of who should become the new Stadhouder of Belgium, as the Belgian constitution stipulated that the King could never hold the post of Stadhouder. The Kings son Willem, the young new Prince of Orange quickly claimed the position for his own, but his erratic behaviour, young age (he was just 24 at the time) and staunch protestantism made him unacceptable to most Belgians, including prime minister Joseph Lebeau. Most feared that the House of Oranje would simply make the office of Stadhouder a title for the Crown Prince. The Belgian government put forward Leopold von Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, their former king and current Count of Flanders. His part in the rebellion made him unacceptable to the Dutch. The first task of King Willem would be to keep the countries he reigned over together.
###########
I apologize for the long wait between updates. Next update, which will come a lot earlier will deal with the constitutional reforms under King Willem II's reign and the opposition against it. It will also deal with the crisis centering around the Stadhoudership.
[1] The small Carribean isle of Sint Eustatius had been a hotbed for arms smuggling, mostly with the rebellious Thirteen Provinces. The Dutch governor was the first European official to return a gun salute to an American warship in 1776. However, this armstrade led to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch war, which left Sint Eustatius devastated. The island never recovered.
[2] I think its clear by now that the real Willem I did retire from public life after the Belgian secession as the ambitious king felt ruling just the Netherlands was below his stature. He retired to Berlin and actually abdicated in 1841. I have always questioned what would have happened if the competent but authoritarian Willem I would have kept the helm.
The Second Anglo-American War
In 1830 king Willem had tried to offer his mediation in a longstanding border conflict between the USA and British Canada over the border between New Brunswick and New England. President Andrew Jackson was incligned to accept the kings mediation but the Foreign Offices distaste for king Willem and Jacksons opponents in Congress had both blocked this mediation. This had lead to a longstanding conflict between both nation that had erupted in open warfare late 1938. A borderskirmish between local militias soon escalated into full warfare. The war at sea was quickly won by the superiour Royal Navy, but the landwar quickly stalemated. A British invasion of New England was halted in Vermont, just as an American invasion of Ontario was stopped. The superiour Royal Navy meant that Britain was able to land its army everywhere between Boston and New Orleans, and the Royal Army made ample use of this ability. However, everytime a British force tried to land, it quickly found a militia ready to defend its homeland. Yet while the British weren’t able to hold on to most of their conquests, they wreaked havoc in Boston, New York and New Orleans before retreating.
The Aroostook war saw the return of the Redcoats to the North-American continent.
From a Dutch perspective, the Second Anglo-American War gave them a free hand in Malaya, with the eyes of the Foreign Office turned at the America’s. Few historians doubt the Dutch invasion of Johor would have meant war if British hands weren’t needed elsewhere. Secondly, the war led to the establishment of a lucrative new enterprise in the Dutch Antilles, namely blockade running. The island of Saint-Eustatius quickly regained its status of a smugglers paradise [1].
Consolidation in Asia
The late 1830s where relatively quiet in the Dutch East Indies when compared with the earlier decades. Governor-General Chassé, now an old man, wished to consolidate Dutch gains in Borneo and Malaya by cancelling the proposed invasions of Aceh and Bali. The old warhorse tried to shave off some of the rougher edges from the brutal Cultivation System in order to pacify the local population, but at the same time he expanded the Koninklijke Nederlandse Indische Leger (Royal Dutch Indian Army, or KNIL) in order to quickly crush all who dared oppose Dutch government. General Hendrik Chassé officially retired in 1841, aged 75, to finally enjoy his well deserved pension.
One of the last acts of Chassé as Governor General had been the revitalisation of Dutch-Japanese trade at Deshima, an islandof the coast of Nagasaki. An appeal to the shogun to open up Japan to the West had been rejected. The Shogun had laughed away warnings about hostile white men trying to force him to trade but had agreed on giving the Dutch broader trading permissions. Yet it was not until the Meiji Restauration that these revived ties would truly blossom.
Deshima was an artificial isle just off the coast of Nagasaki. This way the Shoguns could trade with the Dutch without opening their country itself to them. Ever after the Napoleonic Wars the Dutch presence had been mostly symbolic, with very little trading being done. Governor-General Chassé revived this tradepost.
King Willems death and the Belgian question
On 12 december 1843 King Willem I van Oranje-Nassau, King of the Netherlands, King of the Belgians and Grand Duke of Luxembourg passed away in his sleep. Under his authoritarian leadership the moribund Dutch Republic had been transformed into a medium European Power. Belgium had been lost in the 1830s, but the Dutch Colonial Empire and the Economy had expanded significantly. Willem I would be remembered as the father of the modern Dutch state and many wondered what would have happened if the king would have retreated from public life after the Belgian Revolution, as several sources suggest the king had contemplated leaving for Berlin [2].
His successor to the throne was his eldest son who would reign as Willem II.
The new king had plenty of experience governing, as he had been the Stadhouder of Belgium. Yet the new king would find out the political landscape in liberal Belgium and the conservative Netherlands required a different approach, especially so since most conservatives feared the king had been poisoned by Belgian constitutionalism.
The coronation of Willem II in the Ridderzaal in The Hague. It was quickly followed by a coronation in Brussels.
A second problem was the question of who should become the new Stadhouder of Belgium, as the Belgian constitution stipulated that the King could never hold the post of Stadhouder. The Kings son Willem, the young new Prince of Orange quickly claimed the position for his own, but his erratic behaviour, young age (he was just 24 at the time) and staunch protestantism made him unacceptable to most Belgians, including prime minister Joseph Lebeau. Most feared that the House of Oranje would simply make the office of Stadhouder a title for the Crown Prince. The Belgian government put forward Leopold von Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, their former king and current Count of Flanders. His part in the rebellion made him unacceptable to the Dutch. The first task of King Willem would be to keep the countries he reigned over together.
###########
I apologize for the long wait between updates. Next update, which will come a lot earlier will deal with the constitutional reforms under King Willem II's reign and the opposition against it. It will also deal with the crisis centering around the Stadhoudership.
[1] The small Carribean isle of Sint Eustatius had been a hotbed for arms smuggling, mostly with the rebellious Thirteen Provinces. The Dutch governor was the first European official to return a gun salute to an American warship in 1776. However, this armstrade led to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch war, which left Sint Eustatius devastated. The island never recovered.
[2] I think its clear by now that the real Willem I did retire from public life after the Belgian secession as the ambitious king felt ruling just the Netherlands was below his stature. He retired to Berlin and actually abdicated in 1841. I have always questioned what would have happened if the competent but authoritarian Willem I would have kept the helm.
Hey, that coronation picture looks familiar...
I'm really glad you decided to revive this AAR, I look forward to Willem II's reign, even though i suspect his brother would have made a better monarch.
I'm really glad you decided to revive this AAR, I look forward to Willem II's reign, even though i suspect his brother would have made a better monarch.
also, isn't it a little too early to start writing about WWII?
Red Backs on American soil again! Phff! Good riddance! 
As for Belgium, I say lower your iron boots on those Flemish, French, Walloon, and German multicultural society!
As for Belgium, I say lower your iron boots on those Flemish, French, Walloon, and German multicultural society!
Frederick would probably have made a better king, but primogeniture still applies here. Frederick is not out of the picture yet though.
Thanks for pointing out that painful typo.
Thatsthe whole problem with our southern neighbours. They could have been a nice part of our kingdom, but nooooo. Just because they didn't like the fact that we know better whats good for them than they!
Red Backs on American soil again! Phff! Good riddance!
As for Belgium, I say lower your iron boots on those Flemish, French, Walloon, and German multicultural society!
The whole war is rather ridiculous. Basically Brits take port, US takes it back, Brits take another port, US takes it back etc. Wonder how the War of 1838, or Second Anglo-American War will affect the Anglosaxon world.
As for Belgium, their German provinces are still part of Prussia at this point in time. A bicultural society will do
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Unfortunately my Vicky game crashed recently, and with my cd AWOL I won't be able to continue this AAR. I would thank everyone reading this AAR. I loved writing it in any case.
It's always sad when an AAR finishes too early, or in this case, much too early.
I did enjoy it while it lasted, it was a nice, short, plausible and useful history of The Netherlands.
Tis unfortunate, but I guess things like this happen, too bad it happens too often to interesting ones nonetheless. But surely we will see a return to AAR work now won't we?
Thank you both for your kind words. I'm sorry I couldn't finish this AAR, but it isn't my last foray in AARland. I've recently started a HoI2 AAR in the historybook style I've tried out here. If you liked this AAR, perhaps 'A short history of the German Empire' can interest you too.