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

Chapter 1811 A Desolate England (Part 1)
However, the states of the German Confederation lacked both the capacity and the means to dump their goods. They were forced to risk offending the Austrian Empire by secretly dumping their products on Austria.

However, they underestimated the pride of the Austrians at this time, and the people spontaneously came out to resist the German Confederation's actions.

After all, the Austrian Empire itself also faced the problem of overproduction, and this problem could not be eliminated in a short period of time.

Once the factory machinery is running, it can't be stopped just like that, and the stockpiled raw materials and supplies can't be left unattended either, since warehousing also costs money.

The German Confederation did not have the same strong circulation capacity as the Austrian Empire, and the people were so poor that it was simply a pipe dream to expect them to consume such a huge amount of resources.

Will we see scenes of milk being poured into rivers and building materials being burned as timber?

The answer is impossible.

Franz had been guarding against this move since the beginning of the German Confederation. If they dared to dump and burn goods, then Austrian goods would quickly squeeze out their market.

Therefore, it seems that their only option is to lower prices and dump products.

Of course, this is also a dead end.

Some began to covet the Russian supplies and funds, but none of the German Confederation states except Austria had the power to demand repayment from Russia. Tragically, none of the German Confederation states were in a position to dictate to Austria.

Fortunately, Franz was a relatively responsible monarch; after all, he was the one who shared the profits from the Russian business with everyone.

The Austrian imperial family began acquiring excess capacity within the German Confederation, including Austria, a move that was widely viewed with skepticism.

Some interpreted it as a foolish savior complex, others saw it as incompetence and injustice, and some even felt panicked, after all, no matter how much money the Austrian royal family had, it was impossible to fill the huge hole in the entire German Confederation.

Many economists are convinced that the Austrian royal family cannot come up with that much money, and that they must collude with the Austrian imperial government to create more money by devaluing the fiat currency.

In a short time, major European banks downgraded Austrian Empire's credit rating, and many people frantically sold off florins.

However, it soon became apparent that the City of London, which had always been at odds with the Austrian Empire, did not take advantage of the situation, and Wall Street in the United States (Philadelphia, in the book, New York had already fallen) remained silent.

Looking back, it's surprising that such a frenzied sell-off didn't cause the florin to depreciate. However, by the time they realized what was happening, Franz had already secretly reached trade agreements with both Britain and the United States.

Although it may seem absurd, both the United States and Britain were indeed in need of material support at that time, especially the United States, whose industrial production capacity was practically a joke after losing its industrial base in the north.

Especially in the military and heavy industries, the United States' production capacity was still inferior to Luxembourg's at this time. Coupled with the British blockade, without the help of the Austrian Empire, the United States would have had problems with gunpowder and saltpeter.

In fact, it wasn't just the Austrian Empire that wanted to sell arms to the United States; France, Spain, and even Russia also wanted to get involved.

However, they could not break through the British naval blockade head-on, while the Austrian Empire could legitimately transport supplies and weapons through the Texas colonies.

Of course, besides the inherent advantages of the Texas colony itself, the strength of the Austrian Empire was also an indispensable factor. After all, no matter how perfect the excuse, it's nothing but a joke in the face of absolute military force. Fortunately, the Austrian Empire had sufficient strength to protect its trade routes and its right to "free trade."

Britain was furious about the Austrian Empire's actions, not only because of the secret supply of arms and materials to the United States, but also because the previous Near East War was a disastrous defeat for Britain due to Austria's interference.

However, after losing its Mediterranean fleet, Britain no longer dared to engage in direct overseas battles with an adversary of the size of the Austrian Empire.

This was not due to a lack of British strength, but rather because Britain, in order to maintain its own rule, could not spare more troops to engage in a decisive battle with the Austrian Empire.

Unless the Austrian Empire chooses to directly attack the British mainland, Britain will try its best to avoid war.

In fact, the British side also had no actual evidence of Austrian Empire's aid to the United States. Of course, it was easy to find some evidence in that era, since the encryption of information and goods was still quite crude.

Furthermore, even without evidence, evidence can be fabricated, a practice that is already commonplace for all countries.

With the end of the Near East War, George Hamilton Gordon resigned, and the intense turmoil within the government made the British even more afraid of going to war with the Austrian Empire again.

Although the Near East war had ended and George Hamilton Gordon had resigned, the mess he left behind was far from over.

The Ottoman Empire had become a complete burden, a burden that could only survive by relying on British aid. Paradoxically, British aid did not directly benefit the Ottoman Empire; instead, it strengthened the Holy League. The stronger the Holy League became, the more the Ottoman Empire needed British aid.

When the government of George Hamilton Gordon fell, Lord Palmerston should have succeeded him, but at this time Lord Palmerston was disgraced and had no qualifications to serve as prime minister, and no one else dared to touch this hot potato.

Thus, Edward Smith-Stanley, the 14th Earl of Derby, was thrust into the spotlight as he was to take over this mess as the new British Prime Minister.

In fact, George Hamilton Gordon has already made a great sacrifice. He took on a lot of blame that should not have been his, otherwise the British government might have been paralyzed.

To avoid taking the blame for this enormous mistake, the entire parliament could fall into an endless cycle of shifting responsibility and mutual accusations.

However, the mess left by the defeat in the Near East was not something one person could handle alone, and the Chartist movement, which had been painstakingly suppressed, resurfaced.

The pain of defeat in the war turned into anger, and people took to the streets to denounce the incompetence of the British government.

Some astute and far-sighted extreme conservatives began advocating for monarchy, but before Victoria and Prince Albert could even rejoice, they were utterly scathingly criticized.

The advantage is that the public will no longer direct their anger at the royal family. After all, the efforts of Victoria and Prince Albert are evident to all, while the gentlemen in the British Parliament and Cabinet only criticize and shirk responsibility.

By 1857, the calls for revolution were already faintly heard on the streets of London, which terrified the British government.

As a result, the military and police launched another joint operation to disperse the radicals and workers who had taken to the streets.

Of course, none of these are the most important factors for a capitalist country. The most important factor is that the economic crisis continues and risks worsening with the defeat in the war.