page_title: Luxembourg Crisis
section_title: French offer
hierarchical_section_title: Luxembourg Crisis / French offer
caption_attribution_description: English: Caption from Het aanzien van een millennium (1999) p. 208: "Cartoon by the Nederlandse Spectator from 1867. Dutch Foreign Minister Van Zuylen van Nyevelt proudly shows the Dutch Maiden the telegramme in which German Chancellor Bismarck congratulates him on 'saving the peace in Europe'. She however seems rather unimpressed by this 'heroic deed'." Text above: "1867 No. 49. A SCHOOL REPORT FOR GOOD (?) BEHAVIOUR." Text on the telegramme: "Vous avez sauvé la Paix de l'Europe." (French for "You have saved the Peace of Europe.") Text below: "Publication of D.A. Tho[mas?] and Martinus Nijhoff." "Dutch Maiden: "Have you allowed yourself to be fooled into believing something like that?"" The cartoon mocks the Dutch government's handling of the Luxembourg Crisis. Note the explicitly republican symbolism of the Dutch Maiden wearing a Phrygian cap, a spear with a liberty hat and accompanied by a Dutch Lion, all references to the Batavian flag. Nederlands: Bijschrift Het aanzien van een millennium (1999) p. 208: "Spotprent uit de Nederlandse Spectator uit 1867. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Van Zuylen van Nyevelt laat de Nederlandse Maagd trots het telegram zien waarin Bismarck hem feliciteert met het 'redden van de vrede in Europa'. Zij lijkt echter niet erg onder de indruk van deze 'heldendaad'." Tekst boven: "1867 No. 49. EEN SCHOOLGETUIGSCHRIFT VAN GOED (?) GEDRAG." Tekst op het telegram: "Vous avez sauvé la Paix de l'Europe." (Frans voor "U heeft de Vrede van Europa gered.") Tekst onder: "Uitgave van D.A. Tho[mas?] en Martinus Nijhoff." "Ned. Maagd: "Hebt ge u zóó iets laten wijs maken?"" De prent bespot het handelen van de Nederlandse regering in de Luxemburgse kwestie. Merk de expliciet republikeinse symboliek op van de Nederlandse Maagd die een Frygische muts draagt, een speer met een Vrijheidshoed vasthoudt en wordt vergezeld door de Nederlandse Leeuw, allemaal verwijzingen naar de Bataafse vlag.
context_page_description: The Luxembourg Crisis was a diplomatic dispute and confrontation in 1867 between the French Empire and Prussia over the political status of Luxembourg. The confrontation almost led to war between the two parties, but was peacefully resolved by the Treaty of London.
context_section_description: Assuming that Bismarck would honour his part of the agreement, the French government offered King William III of the Netherlands 5,000,000 guilders for Luxembourg. Being in deep financial trouble, William accepted the offer on 23 March 1867.
  But the French were shocked to learn that Bismarck now objected. There was a public outcry against the deal in Germany; Bismarck's hand was forced by nationalistic newspapers in north Germany. He reneged on the pledge that he had made to Napoleon at Biarritz, and threatened war. Not only had Bismarck united much of northern Germany under the Prussian crown, but he had secretly concluded agreements with the southern states on 10 October.
   
  To avert a war that might drag their own countries into conflict, other countries rushed to offer compromise proposals. Austria's Foreign Minister, Count Beust, proposed transferring Luxembourg to neutral Belgium, in return for which France would be compensated with Belgian land. However, King Leopold II of Belgium refused to part with any of his lands, putting paid to Beust's proposal.
  With the German public angered and an impasse developing, Napoleon III sought to backtrack; he certainly did not want to appear to be unduly expansionist to the other Great Powers.  Thus, he demanded only that Prussia withdraw its soldiers from Luxembourg City, threatening war in the event that Prussia did not comply.  To avoid this fate, Emperor Alexander II of Russia called for an international conference, to be held in London. The United Kingdom was more than happy to host the talks as the British government feared that the absorption of Luxembourg by either power would weaken Belgium, its strategic ally on the continent.
caption: Cartoon mocking the Dutch government for dragging the Netherlands into a European conflict because of William III's personal troubles.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4128", "Image ImageLength": "2322", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "GT-I9515", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "I9515XXU1ANK2", "Image DateTime": "2015:05:24 15:34:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "2298", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "512", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "288", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9264", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6663", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/300", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:05:23 22:45:58", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:05:23 22:45:58", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2107/256", "EXIF ApertureValue": "57/25", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "1665/256", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "57/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired", "EXIF FocalLength": "21/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2137", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2781", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9066", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "B972BF310BC447398595ECBAC057BA73", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "18"}