The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1560 Bismarck's Choice
Bismarck smoked all night, and the next day, when the officials accompanying him opened the door, they were almost choked to death.

"A young official joked."

"Your Excellency, we thought your room was on fire."

"Then why didn't you bring a bucket?"

Bismarck told a lame joke, which finally eased the oppressive atmosphere a little.

"Your Excellency, there is still no news from home. I'm afraid those people have run out of ideas, and in the end, we will have to make the decision ourselves."

They spent 90% of their energy on shirking responsibility; if they had devoted even half that energy to getting things done, Prussia wouldn't be in its current predicament.

The young official said indignantly.

Bismarck nodded. Things were going as he expected. However, even if the Prussian government had made a decision, he would not implement it if it did not align with his own ideas.

“Lothar”.

"Yes, Your Excellency. Have you made your decision?"

Lothar von Rosen was one of Bismarck's entourage on this trip, and also the young man Bismarck valued most at this time. He was only 26 years old, a graduate of the University of Berlin. He was daring and courageous, but unlike those brutes in the army, he possessed considerable wisdom.

"That's right, we're forfeiting the prize."

"Withdrawing the prize?"

Although Prussia was presented with only two options, everyone was still quite shocked when Bismarck uttered the words "withdraw the prize."

"Are you really sure? Should we consult His Majesty the King and Parliament?"

Foreign policy decisions are not child's play, and even Bismarck, as minister, had limited power. Although the World's Fair was not a major national undertaking, in principle, Bismarck should have consulted with the Prussian government before making a decision.

However, if he were so timid and hesitant, he wouldn't be Bismarck.

"That's right. We can't let this opportunity slip away. Letting public opinion fester will be very detrimental to Prussia. Even if the Berlin government is forced to make a decision in the end, the people won't accept it."

We must make decisions for this country.

At this time, nationalism was prevalent in the German region, and Prussia was naturally among them. The accompanying officials were very excited, and they all felt that Bismarck must also be a latent nationalist.

"Mr. Ambassador, we will support you. For the sake of the German nation!"

Thank you all.

Bismarck did not clarify the misunderstanding. In his view, Britain would not give up the opportunity to cooperate with Prussia because of this little incident. In fact, such a superficial attitude was not even within the scope of the British consideration.

But the nationalists in the German region at this time were different; they were genuinely capable of directly identifying Prussia as an enemy over such a trivial matter.

The reason for taking so long to consider this was twofold: firstly, there was the fear of potential retaliation from the British in the short term, and secondly, the possibility of weakening Prussia's influence within the German Confederation.

However, compared to being forced to relinquish the prize amidst a nationalist uproar, or being branded a traitor to the German nation, the aforementioned costs were negligible. Bismarck's blatant relinquishment of the prize angered Frederick William IV, who immediately dismissed Bismarck. Although William IV later sent envoys to repair relations with Britain, he did not publicly retrieve the discarded medals.

Upon his return to Berlin, Bismarck was immediately hailed as a hero, and German nationalists regarded him as their comrade-in-arms.

The British side simply regarded it as Bismarck's personal act and confirmed that Prussia had not taken sides.

And the conservatives didn't believe that the conservative Bismarck would become a German nationalist, so the whole thing seemed to be perfectly resolved.

Prussia resolved the crisis with almost no cost. Although Frederick William IV hated Bismarck at this point, according to the course of history, the king would step down a few years later due to mental problems.

Although Bismarck was deposed, he perfectly resolved the crisis, and his relationship with the Prince of the Grapplers undoubtedly deepened.

Everything seems to be moving in a positive direction.
However, cartoons and jokes satirizing William IV's cowardice and weakness soon spread throughout the streets and alleys. Bismarck became a hero, while William IV became a villain who persecuted a hero, a clown who groveled before the British.

Although these were all descriptions of the facts, William IV was still furious. If it weren't for the need to maintain the image of the royal family, he would have wanted to execute Bismarck immediately.

Finding an excuse was unrealistic, as there were many nationalists in the Prussian parliament and government at the time, who would certainly try to obstruct things, and William IV was unwilling to have a direct conflict with these people.

Although he couldn't kill Bismarck directly, it was still easy for a monarch to torment someone to the point of near death.

William IV issued a direct order to send Bismarck out of Europe, allowing him to establish a Prussian colony in Africa.

After all, Prussia also wanted land under the sun.
Franz was not surprised that Prussia withdrew from the prize, since in the long run, withdrawing from the prize is the least risky way to avoid danger.

However, Franz was not willing to let Prussia get away with it so easily. Since Bismarck wanted to get involved, Franz would let him have his fun.

William IV might envy national heroes, but he would never be content to be a mere supporting character and be branded a traitor to the nation.

To put it bluntly, any minister who makes the monarch appear as an idiot will not be favored by the monarch.

Franz didn't know what Bismarck's fate would be, but he could assure him that as long as Wilhelm IV was alive, Bismarck's life would not be easy.

Franz had many important things to do, and he didn't have time to play games with Bismarck, nor did he want to be caught off guard. So he could only let Bismarck outwit someone he couldn't fight back against.

The collective withdrawal of the German nations from the prize was a major embarrassment for the British. As a key advocate of the Great Exhibition, Prince Albert was naturally very upset; he hadn't expected a commercial exchange to cause so much trouble.

Fortunately, the German Confederation was not Britain's target market to begin with; Britain's focus was on the East, especially India and the Far East.

I've only heard that things have been a bit unsettled in the Far East lately, with what appears to be an uprising. But uprisings are such a common occurrence for Britain that they should be resolved quickly.
Despite some unpleasant incidents, the Great Exhibition was still quite successful for Britain.

Not only did they expand their market, but they also acquired practical technologies from other countries and made a name for themselves.

In the future, more countries and businesses will surely flock to the World's Fair, and most people will assume that Britain will firmly hold the right to host the World's Fair and continue to hold the second and third editions, inevitably turning it into a grand event for Britain.

However, the reality is that Britain is preparing to hand over the hosting rights for the next World's Fair to other countries, which is naturally driven by political considerations.

However, the primary motivation was economic considerations. If the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations were to remain in London indefinitely, it would never be able to expand beyond Britain.

At this time, the British ambitions extended far beyond the British Isles.