Under the influence of the special liberal ideology of the time, Prince Albert made a bold decision, that is, to create a spectacle!

His idea was that at this time, the British economy was in a serious downturn, factories were closed, and workers lost their jobs, so it caused unsalable agricultural products, which led to a decline in farmers' incomes.

The British people needed to re-boost their morale, and a huge and magnificent spectacle was needed at this time.

In fact, Prince Albert's thinking is somewhat similar to a combination of cash-for-work and stimulating domestic demand.

This was indeed what Britain needed most at this time, and if the same trajectory of history had been followed, the British would have once again made a splash at the first International Industrial Exposition in 1851.

However, at this time, the timeline has been torn apart by Franz, and it is very likely that the same choice will have a different, or even completely opposite result.

In order to complete his great idea, Prince Albert began to solicit design proposals from the community, and one of the unique proposals attracted him.

This is the Crystal Palace created by the famous architect Joseph Paxton, but even Joseph Paxton himself did not know that the materials used to build the Crystal Palace would come from Austria in the future

The industrial revolution of the glass industry that should have happened in England did not happen because Franz preemptively allowed the glass industrial revolution to take place in Bohemia.

The innovation of the industrial revolution in the glass manufacturing industry is actually a snowball process, and large-scale glass production cannot be stopped, and once it is stopped and restarted, it will pay a huge cost, which is somewhat similar to blast furnace steelmaking.

The larger the scale, the lower the cost, and vice versa, the smaller the scale and the longer the interval, the higher the cost.

In addition, more importantly, the German region was one of the main dumping places of the British in the past, but because the Austrian Empire joined the German Customs Union, Franz eliminated the small workshops that were unwilling to reform and unite.

As a result, the German region became the backyard of the Austrian Empire, and with the rise of nationalism, the boycott of British goods became politically correct.

In addition, the Austrian Empire was located in Central Europe, and its own radiation range was very large, coupled with its alliance with Russia and the close relationship with the Ottomans, the goods of the Austrian Empire were rampant in the overseas markets of the British.

At the same time, the Austrian Empire was the world's largest smuggler of goods, whether it was France, the United States, Brazil, Central America, India, the South Seas, and even Britain itself.

As a result, the glass industry of the Austrian Empire was able to expand in scale and reduce costs, while the British fell into a vicious cycle of shrinking profits and shrinking scale due to the shrinking market.

Now it snowballed that the British, who did not do much better than the small workshops in Austria in history.

Even if Robert Peel had discovered the problem in the first place, the government would have issued low-interest loans to the glass industry.

By the time of John Russell, he had stopped the loss-making business as a large number of glass factories went out of business.

Coupled with the economic crisis at this time, this money-losing industry is naturally the first to be abandoned.

London, Whitehall.

John Russell was sitting in his office with his forehead on his head.

"How can such a large fleet say that it is missing and missing?"

He could not understand the problem, and the kind Admiral told him.

"Although the size of the Mediterranean Fleet is large, it is like a drop of water in a river compared to the entire Mediterranean."

"Is it possible that they are lost?"

John Russell recounted his unrealistic thoughts.

Looking at the expectant gaze of the Prime Minister, the Admiralty had no choice but to tell a white lie.

"It's possible."

John Russell let out a sigh of relief, and finally regained some of his spirits.

But everyone knows that the Mediterranean Fleet is finished. Such a large fleet, and captains and sailors with many years of experience.

It is better to believe that they will get lost than to believe that they have encountered a sea monster.

However, at this moment, we have to mention the problem of the Mediterranean, if the Mediterranean Fleet is still there at this time, then Britain is definitely not as passive as it is now.

But the Battle of the Mediterranean Sea was lost, the whereabouts of the Mediterranean Fleet were unknown, and a peace agreement had just been signed with the Austrians.

Now Britain can be as passive as it wants, but what's going on with that Franz? First the Roman king? I thought it was going to be a Renaissance, but now I am the Emperor of Germany, and in a few years I may be the Emperor of the Austrian Empire.

These three crowns are fastened on the head of one person, and Britain cannot accept it.

What is even more outrageous is that the Frankfurt parliament was not a bourgeois parliament? Why do you have to get a foreign monarch?

——

It's an unconscious dividing line –

"Prime Minister, what should we do?"

Lord Palmerston, who has always been resourceful, threw the black cauldron directly to John Russell, which made the latter a bitter gourd face again.

Let the Austrian Emperor be the Emperor of Germany, which Britain could not accept in any case.

When Franz became king of Rome, the British wanted to use the hands of the French and Russians against Austria.

However, the French Provisional Government is now in disarray, and although this group of people reacts violently, it is still a question whether they can send troops.

Moreover, the German Confederation has never lost against the French in recent years, and it is difficult for the Germans to change their minds from the threat of the French.

The most annoying thing for the British was not the French, but the Russians.

When the British ambassador brought the news of Franz's becoming king of Rome to St. Petersburg, Nicholas I, the sixth king, was not about to go to Austria with a slap on the table, but was very calm.

"I will prepare a generous gift for the Western Roman Emperor."

You must know that when the French Provisional Government was formed, Nicholas I claimed to fight to the Seine.

However, because Russia's own rebellion was not resolved, it did not send troops to France. At this time, the civil strife in Russia was mainly divided into two parts, namely the Chechen armed forces in the Caucasus and the rebel army in Poland.

(These have been mentioned before, and the battle situation has not changed much, so I won't go into too much detail here.) ）

At first, the British ambassador did not quite understand what was meant by the so-called "generous gift", and he thought that the tsar was only trying to give the Austrians a good look.

However, he soon realized that he was wrong, and he was wrong.

The Tsar was not angry, he was actually very happy, and told his cronies that his daughter really did not look away.

The Tsar issued a statement on the same day, recognizing Franz as Emperor of the Western Roman Empire and he, Nicholas I, as the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.

(End of chapter)