Chapter 258 Presidential Election (Part 1)

The sudden end of the Spanish Civil War was beyond Franz's expectations. According to normal development, this war should have lasted for a long time. By then, Britain and France might be stuck in the quagmire and unable to extricate themselves, and would have no time to take care of Austria, which was growing in strength day by day, and win precious opportunities for its continued development.

The war had been going on for more than a year, and both sides had continued to invest a lot of manpower and material resources, especially in the seesaw battles in the Pyrenees Mountains, which greatly affected the morale of the army like a meat grinder.

It was precisely because of this that Carlos, the initiator of the war, was shaken. He believed that if he continued to consume like this, his side would become more and more dependent on the British. He did not want to be a puppet of the British and use the lives of the Spanish to make wedding clothes for the British, so he found an opportunity to issue a shocking notice to the entire army.

"Don Carlos is ready to end the civil war."

In the end, Carlos and the regent Queen Christiana reached an agreement. Isabella II pardoned all members of the Carlos faction, Don Carlos exiled himself, and announced his renunciation of the Spanish throne.

The reason why the Spanish Civil War turned out like this was entirely to blame the British. In their eyes, Spain was just a testing ground to delay and consume the energy of the French. It was obvious that supporting Don Carlos was never the real purpose of the Anglo-Saxons who put interests first.

Even if it was a fool who didn't understand the national political game, he would have suddenly realized it after being fooled for seven years.

So, the puppet in the hands of the British suddenly broke free from the shackles that bound him, and directly led the situation to the direction they least wanted to see.

In this regard, Franz could only sigh that things are impermanent, but his own layout would not change because of this, because he believed that the British would not be willing to watch the old rival on the other side regain the dominance of the European continent.

At the same time, the United States, Virginia.

In an inconspicuous cabin, sat a group of people who would influence the future history of the United States.

One of them was a bearded old man wearing a general's uniform but a cowboy hat. He was the ninth president of the United States in history, William Henry Harrison.

Sitting on his left and right were all high-ranking members of the Whig Party, and sitting opposite him was his running mate, the tenth president of the United States in history, John Tyler.

John Tyler was originally a political star of the Democratic Party of the United States, but because of the huge differences between him and President Jackson, a madman with a head full of war ideas and a believer in the supremacy of force, he gave up the easily accessible position of vice president and transformed himself into a Whig Party.

William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, the power behind them was the plantation owner group in the southern United States.

In the economic crisis after 1837, it was these plantation owners who supported the US economy. Although Martin Van Buren joined forces with Friedrich List to stabilize the decline of the US economy after his succession, his concessions to Britain in diplomacy caused dissatisfaction among many people.

The sharp increase in military spending caused by a series of disastrous defeats in the battle for Texas with the French also caused complaints from members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

After all, the continuous growth of military expenditure means that the corresponding tax revenue will increase, while the subsidies in other areas will naturally decrease, which is not what the financial backers behind those congressmen want to see.

The contradiction and challenge facing the United States now is that factory owners in the north want to cut military expenditure, while farmers in the south want to increase military expenditure for their own safety.

Although the above differences cannot be reconciled, there is one point that both sides have rarely maintained a consensus, that is, firmly opposing the weak foreign policy of the current government, such as the two concessions to the former colonial master, especially the recent demarcation of the border between Maine, the United States and New Brunswick, British Canada.

(The other time was the "Caroline" incident, which was mentioned before, and I won't talk about it now.)

Faced with Britain's aggressive attitude, Martin Van Buren once again chose to retreat, which made the northerners completely disappointed in him.

The excited people took to the streets to march with flags high, shouting "Down with the traitors" and "Down with the cowardly little Van!"

In public places such as taverns, cafes, and restaurants, all public gathering places were crowded with angry people, and they were all talking about "When will Martin Van Buren, that son of a bitch, sell America."

Inside the cabin.

Harrison put down his cigar, picked up a glass full of liquor and drank it all, and then said.

"Martin Van Buren is a soft egg. He keeps the army in the garden and puts the navy in the bathtub. This guy only knows luxury and enjoyment. He can't protect this great country. Now America needs a real man to defend her territory and security, and I am that person."

"Very good! Mr. Harrison, you will definitely win the election." John Tyler said while applauding.

"Your judgment is correct, my vice president."

Although the two tried their best to appear confident and relaxed, the farmers who were the sponsors were not happy at all at this moment.

In fact, both Friedrich List and Martin Van Buren knew that their chances of re-election in this election were slim, but unwilling to accept defeat, they promoted Lewis Cass, who had a military background like Harrison, from the Democratic Party.

Later, List offered a condition of reducing agricultural export tariffs in exchange for the southern plantation owners to stop supporting Harrison and John Tyler.

These southern plantation owners all believed in Friedrich List. After all, if this person had not made a deal with the Russians and argued with the British on the issue of cotton tariffs, they would not have made so much money at this time, so they owed him a favor.

Moreover, in the minds of these slave owners, Friedrich List did not have obvious political attributes and tendencies. He was neither a Democrat nor a Whig, but he was always concerned about the safety and future of America. Such people were real Americans.

However, they would not put all their chips on Friedrich List because of their trust. In addition to him, they needed to continue to win over the Whig Party, so they decided to cut campaign funds.

This made Harrison and John Tyler, who were full of confidence, extremely dissatisfied, because although money was not omnipotent, it was absolutely impossible to have no money, especially in the game of rich people such as the presidential election.

Without sufficient financial support, it was simply a fantasy to win. To their disappointment, the Whig Party leaders sitting there did not say a word at this time, as if they had tacitly accepted this result.

"Short-sighted idiots!" Harrison was extremely angry and felt sorry for those people.

"The French are preparing for war and are ready to invade our great United States of America at any time, just like they did to the North African and Central American Federations. Cass is a fool. He actually thinks he can defeat the British. This is really the funniest joke of the century."

As a former member of the Democratic Party, John Tyler certainly knew what kind of character those guys were. Those guys were all slaves to money. As long as the money was in place, they would sell even the noose to strangle themselves.

The Whig Party leaders remained unmoved. Harrison, who was straightforward in his words and deeds, slammed the door and left without saying a word. This hero in the Anglo-American War, the butcher who slaughtered Indians, was already 68 years old at this time.

The purpose of participating in the presidential election at the age of nearly 70 was more to worry about the future of the motherland. Because he had fought against the British and witnessed the strength of the French army when he traveled in Europe, the old general knew better than most Americans how serious the situation they were facing now.

John Tyler also looked at the slaves of money with contempt, snorted, and quickly caught up with the former.

In fact, John Tyler's governing ability was very good in history. He strongly opposed the establishment of a national bank and thwarted the conspiracy of the big industrial and commercial bourgeoisie to manipulate finance and monopolize federal power. This incident did save American democracy at the time.

Of course, because of this incident, John Tyler became one of the worst presidents in American history.

As soon as the two left the cabin, a broker found them and expressed his willingness to provide a large sum of money to help them run for election.