1840: I, William, Restore the Glory of the Netherlands

(This isn't a wish-fulfillment story from the start. Things only take off later, so don't read it if you want instant gratification.)

The Concert of Europe still reigns supreme. The conservative order established after 1815 keeps nationalism and liberalism in check.

Nationalist passions simmer beneath the surface. The Germans, Italians, and Poles are all restless.

The Revolutions of 1848 are eight years away.

Transmigrating into the year 1840 as William Alexander Paul Frederick Ludwik, the man known to history as King Gorilla, what storms will he unleash?

The once-mighty seafaring nation has splintered. Britain, France, and Prussia press in from three sides, the treasury is empty, the navy is rotting, and the whole country is a mess.

Reform the colonial system, establish industrial banks, lay railways across the country, and build an ironclad blue-water fleet.

Use the continent's successive conflicts to bring Belgium and Luxembourg into the fold, attract talent and capital from every nation, and monopolize the lifeblood of global chemicals and finance.

Crush the Royal Navy in a North Sea battle and make Amsterdam the world's financial center.

For fifty-eight years, he steers the nation's destiny, preserving the Low Countries in all their expanse amid the great powers.

From one end of the Netherlands to the other, everyone recognizes me as the one and only Orange boss.

I won't keep this glory to myself.