Chapter 832 Economic Crisis of 1847 (Part 2)
Historically, the Mexican-American War was started by Polk, but it was obviously unrealistic to use troops against Mexico at this time.
Expanding the border to the north was also not very rational, but it would be another matter if it could be resolved through negotiations.
If sacrificing the interests of some people could win land for America, Polk was very willing to do so.
So the British and American high-level officials hit it off and the two sides began to exchange interests. The United States allowed British goods to enter the American market, and the British colonies recognized the sphere of influence of the United States.
The factory owners in the north wailed, while the plantation owners in the south had already bought out. But people who betray their class interests in this world usually have no good end, and Polk is no exception.
The president was ambushed by a gunman on a small road. The old and strong Mr. Polk pulled out his pistol to fight back. During the pursuit, he was hit in the back of the head by a bullet from nowhere and fell to the ground and died.
Vice President Dallas took office temporarily. As a famous trade protectionist, he abolished the trade agreement signed by Polk and the British as soon as he took office.
However, when it comes to changing their faces, the British are no less capable. They immediately tore up the border agreement between the two countries and sent troops to expel the Americans and the US military.
These two agreements, which were signed and abolished quickly, became the famous "two pieces of waste paper" in the mouths of later historians.
In addition to external, the British also took internal measures, that is, to limit the decline in grain prices and guarantee the interests of grain merchants by official pricing.
Grain is not like other commodities that can be bought later. People have to eat to survive. Although grain merchants were saved, people had no money for other consumption.
As a result, this economic winter was particularly cold, and all walks of life were hit. The number of factories that closed down within a month was equivalent to that of the past year.
At this time, the British government's rescue policy also included the government borrowing and purchasing a large amount of grain to ensure that grain merchants' funds were quickly recovered.
As for the debts owed by the government, it would naturally be handed over to the wisdom of future generations. If all the money was used to rescue the market, then the Spanish civil war would naturally not be fought.
However, their opponents, the French, were not much better. In order to make high profits, French Jewish bankers lent money to the British government.
As a result, France, which should have benefited, also fell into financial difficulties. The elite soldiers of the Foreign Legion would not work without military pay, and would even make things worse.
The soldiers of the French Foreign Legion began to slack off due to the arrears of military pay, and even engaged in gang robbery, which turned the rear of the Spanish orthodox upside down.
Although the Spaniards no longer had the wealth of their ancestors, they were proud of never bowing their heads. The Spanish people began to spontaneously organize guerrillas to fight against the French Foreign Legion.
Not to mention the French army without military pay at this time, even the undefeated army led by Napoleon could not conquer Spain.
Soon the Foreign Legion fell on the verge of collapse due to the inability to pay military pay and excessive casualties. At this time, Louis Philippe had to withdraw the army to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.
Years of poor harvests caused the collapse of French agriculture, and the prices of almost all crops rose fivefold.
In fact, the French did not make no efforts. They bought a large amount of grain from Russia in the hope of alleviating the domestic food crisis.
But the reality is that the neighboring German region is flooded, while they themselves are in a drought.
Due to the drought, the water level of the Rhone River has dropped, and the river cannot pass large ships. The French railway has not been built yet, so the grain bought from Russia can only stay in Marseille.
Note: Marseille is a port in southern France with convenient water transportation.
In fact, this railway was contracted by Franz's shell company. He only bought the construction rights through bribery and other means but did not start construction.
This is not entirely because Franz wanted to trick the French. In fact, Franz felt that he was completely overthinking.
Because most of the railway lines in France have not started construction, in order not to be too alternative, Franz did not start construction.
In addition to the collapse of agriculture, France's industry is not much better. The great development in the past few years has led factory owners to increase investment.
However, Louis Philippe and Guizot jointly ignited the flames of the colonies. The heavy taxes greatly reduced the purchasing power of the colonies and even caused large-scale uprisings.
Texas, once a model colony, had become the worst area in French colonies, and violent tax resistance was common.
In order to suppress the uprising in the colonies, the French invested far more than they earned in taxes.
The most important thing was that almost all of France's colonies were in rebellion, and there was a powerful rebel army in each place, forcing France to devote all its energy to fighting.
The previous popularity of textiles also benefited from trade with the East, but the British decided to monopolize India and the Far East in order to solve their own economic crisis.
The British began to exclude French merchants, and the gap in their influence in the East was too large, so the French were defeated without suspense.
At the same time, because Franz opened up the trade route to Japan, a large amount of cheap Japanese raw silk began to flood into the European market, which was another fatal blow to France.
At this time, only Lyon, France and the Venetia region of Austria produced raw silk on the European continent, so France could make huge profits every year.
Due to the above reasons, profits in the French textile industry plummeted, and due to over-investment in the past leading to overproduction, coupled with reduced sales, factories had to lay off a large number of employees and suspend operations in order to protect themselves.
The result was that a large number of workers were unemployed and unemployed, giving rise to a large number of beggars and vagrants.
France's coal and iron industries also began to shrink, because of the previous wave of railway construction, investors flocked to the steel and coal industries hoping to get a piece of the pie.
However, the imagined railway construction boom did not appear, many projects were delayed, steel had no market, and the demand for coal was naturally not so strong.
Eventually, the entire business community collectively looked down on the steel and coal industries. In 1847, France's pig iron production fell by 21.8%, wrought iron production fell by 27.7%, and coal production fell by 22.4%.
The most exaggerated was the steel production, which was almost halved in one year.
A series of operations by Louis Philippe, such as lending money to the Russians (buying Alaska), shipping souvenirs from Egypt, etc., coupled with France's own natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the intensification of colonial conflicts.
At this time, the deficit rate of the Orleans Dynasty was as high as 45%, as high as 630 million francs. Historically, the deficit rate of the Orleans Dynasty has been maintained at more than 25% for many years, but in the book, France is more radical and richer, so the deficit rate is higher.
In fact, before 1843, the Bank of France still had a reserve of up to 1 billion francs, which was the peak of the French, but with the expansion of Louis Philippe and the ruling class of the Orleans Dynasty.
A large number of wars and constructions made gold disappear like water. At this time, there were less than 30 million francs of gold reserves in the French treasury.
However, at this time when Louis Philippe needed his bankers the most, French financiers chose Britain.
My family was in the hospital, and I went to accompany them.