Ham wasn't angry that he couldn't convince these old foxes. He knew that these people were tempted, but they didn't dare to say it because they were timid.
He wasn't a revolutionary. He only mixed with the revolutionary party for the sake of profit. If he could achieve his goal by peaceful means, only a fool would want to rebel.
This was the European continent. Even if the rebellion was successful, what could he do?
Did the nobles and generals have guts?
The answer was yes!
If he succeeded, he would at most become the president of the bourgeois republic. Sitting in this position, he was afraid that it would not be as comfortable as his current life.
If he failed, exile abroad was probably the best ending.
In the face of the cruel reality, Ham's low revolutionary enthusiasm became even lower.
Like most capitalists, they could support the revolutionary party, but they didn't want to lead the revolution themselves. They didn't want to be the president.
…
It was difficult to keep the banquet a secret. The story of what happened in the Veris manor on the outskirts of Vienna was quickly passed to Metternich. Of course, the contents of the secret meeting were not included.
However, Prime Minister Metternich was a man of rules. He adhered to the bottom line of the political struggle and didn't use the matter to arrest the capitalists who attended the banquet for colluding with the revolutionary party.
Because he followed the rules, he was annoyed.
He knew that the capitalists were conspiring, but he could only passively defend. Prime Minister Metternich was naturally not in a good mood.
It was appropriate to describe his situation as having internal and external troubles. There were nobles who were ready to make trouble, and there were capitalists who were eyeing him covetously. Everyone had a common purpose to get him out.
From the winter of 1847, the people of Vienna had a direct feeling that prices had risen, and it was rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.
By the end of December 1847, prices in Vienna had risen by 47%. The capitalists were testing the limits of the people little by little.
At this time, everyone turned their eyes to the Government of Vienna, hoping that the government could come up with a solution.
Obviously, everyone was disappointed. The Government of Vienna didn't have the ability or the function to intervene in prices. Although Prime Minister Metternich had taken many measures, it had little effect in the end.
For example, the government posted a notice to order businessmen not to raise prices, but it didn't work.
Another example: The Prime Minister's repeated meetings with the capitalists failed.
The government also seized the time to transfer supplies into Vienna from the outside in an attempt to calm the prices. Unfortunately, under the obstruction of the capitalists and the corruption of the internal nobles, it failed in the end.
Of course, it wasn't completely ineffective. At the very least, the speed of the price increase was suppressed, and it didn't reach the peak in one go.
After the last failure, the capitalists did not trust each other. Seeing that there was profit to be made, many weak small capitalists could not wait for the peak of prices.
People were selfish. Franz knew very well that the nobles were also involved in the sharp rise in prices in Vienna. However, they were all acting spontaneously for the sake of profit and did not participate in the joint action of the capitalists.
Perhaps these people's initial thoughts were to take the opportunity to earn a sum of money. But now, wealth had gradually blinded people's eyes. Many people had fallen into it and were unable to extricate themselves.
However, they were unlucky and happened to be caught up in the European economic crisis.
Starting in 1845, the poor and overpopulated European regions had a poor harvest, and international food prices skyrocketed. With the rise of food prices, the already poor European people spent a lot of money on food, and the European purchasing power market continued to shrink.
In 1846, the price of cotton textile products in the United States nearly doubled, and the high price caused the sales of cotton textile products to decline.
With the decline in the volume of commodity trade, the capitalists naturally chose to lay off workers. The number of unemployed in Britain continued to grow, and the volume of railway freight continued to hit new lows. Many railway companies fell into a state of loss. In the autumn of 1847, the British railway bubble burst.
The capitalist world had always been affected by a slight move. When the railway bubble burst, the railway that was under construction was also stopped, and the demand for steel fell.
The crisis soon affected the steel and coal industries. Of the 137 ironmaking furnaces in Staffordshire, 58 stopped production. The output of pig iron was reduced by a third in a month to a month and a half, and the output of coal was reduced by nearly 20%.
In November 1847, of the 920 cotton textile factories in Lancashire, one of the centers of the British textile industry, 200 were completely closed, and most of the rest were operating 2-4 days a week. More than 70% of the workers were unemployed or semi-unemployed.
The industrial crisis that broke out in Britain did not attract the attention of the Austrian capitalists. Neither the British economic crisis of 1825 nor the economic crisis of 1837 affected Austria.
As a non-industrialized country, even if it wanted to have an industrial crisis, it was not qualified. Similarly, the possibility of an economic crisis was infinitely low.
Many people forgot that the current Austria was no longer the Austria of the past. As a semi-industrialized country, Austria could no longer stand alone in the economic crisis.
The first to suffer was the French. After the British economic crisis, in order to survive, the British capitalists began to dump goods overseas. The French, who were caught off guard, became the first wave of victims.
By the end of 1848, the total industrial production of France had fallen by 50%.
The German Region was no exception. Because of the weak industrial strength, the impact was greater.
In the winter of 1847, 3000 of the 8000 looms in Kleinfeld stopped working. In the first half of 1848, only 3 of the 14 factories in Cologne started working. The industry in Erfurt was almost wiped out.
The Austrian capitalists cried, and the aristocrats who wanted to take advantage of the situation also cried. In order to calm the prices, the Government of Vienna lowered the import tariff, and a large number of cheap British goods came. This really could not be shouted.
In the face of the dumping of an industrial country, the Austrian capitalists showed that they were not fools. The smart capitalists chose to retreat at the first opportunity.
In January 1848, except for the relatively strong food prices, all the industrial and commercial products prices in Vienna collapsed. In the crisis, everyone could not take care of themselves, who could take care of others?
The capitalists who ran fast could use the time difference to stop losses, but the capitalists who ran slow were directly trapped.
The supply exceeded the demand, and the prices of industrial and commercial products in the Vienna market had fallen below the cost of production. The capitalists and aristocrats who drove up the prices were forced to bear the pain.
Everyone knew that the economic crisis had come. In order to reduce losses, the capitalists began to lay off workers. More capitalists because of the heavy losses in the crisis, and even simply closed their factories. The number of unemployed people in Vienna rose sharply.
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