Chapter 785: It’s difficult to start a fire when a new official takes office

Chapter 785: It’s difficult to start a fire when a new official takes office

As one of the leaders of the Irish at this time, Daniel O'Connell personally received the attention of the British government and received many personal honors and financial rewards.

But O'Connell's allies, the Whigs, who had brought down Robert Peel's Tories, failed to fulfill their promise to solve the famine.

In fact, the new Prime Minister John Russell at this time was facing a mess that was much more difficult to deal with than he imagined.

Robert Peel represents a conservative but plays with free trade. Naturally, it is impossible for him to remain in office for a long time.

A split ensued within the Tory party, and Robert Peel had to submit his resignation to Parliament. After the Whigs came to power, they found chaos everywhere, with war losses and threats that were difficult to completely resolve scattering the country's forces.

The global hegemony with the French is a bottomless pit, especially since the Russians actually sold Alaska to Louis Philippe. Now the French can directly threaten the British Canadian colony.

What's even more terrible is that the Russians are ready to take action. Even if they are fighting a civil war, they do not forget to spy on the land near the Black Sea.

The complete failure of the Jewish state plan not only affected Britain's reputation, but also changed the Ottoman attitude towards Britain.

After the newly elected U.S. president found that he could not continue his southern invasion, he targeted Canada, demanding exclusive possession of Oregon and redrawing the northern border with Britain.

Of course, as the toughest president in the history of the United States, James Polk was not a complete fool, so he chose the time when the British government was changing to add insult to injury.

John Russell, who had just come to power, was almost angered by this great gift from the Americans. But this was not the only thing that troubled him. Prince Albert was not satisfied with just holding an expo in the country.

Prince Albert hoped to promote British products to the world, which would not only demonstrate national strength but also open up sales for goods.

However, this view was completely a whimsical joke to economists and politicians at the time. Some even bet on whether this world expo would plunge Britain into a new crisis with heavy debts.

Unfortunately, Prince Albert has the support of Queen Victoria, and John Russell has nothing to do if the royal family insists on going its own way. It is really not a wise move to be tough on the royal family at this time.

In addition, the problem of railway fever has begun to emerge. Railway construction is changing from a high-input, high-return investment to a high-input, low-return infrastructure project.

The British government was helpless about this, because no matter what it did, it would be British interests that would be harmed in the end, so it simply ignored it.

Cholera in London is spreading across the country, and British experts have no way to prevent or treat it.

One can only hope that the illness is not serious, or try laudanum and bloodletting, and other treatments, but they have no effect except making the patient suffer more.

Expansion in the East has also fallen short of expectations, and there are many reports that a new crisis is brewing on the continent.

At this time, Britain is facing an unprecedented diplomatic crisis, that is, from the East to the West, from the Australian indigenous people to the Irish next door, they have no friends.

The Qing Dynasty and Japan in East Asia, Nanming, Chenla, and the Dutch East India Company in Southeast Asia, Afghanistan in Central Asia, Oman and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and Egypt in North Africa.

Although the Ottoman Empire relied on Britain at this time, it was no longer as obedient as in the past. The French had absolute dominance in the Franco-Spanish Alliance in Western Europe, and France happened to be one of Britain's main competitors for world hegemony.

Central Europe belongs to Austria. The German princes and small Italian states that had flirted with Britain in the past did not dare to make unnecessary moves under the constraints of the German Customs Union and the Apennine Customs Union. Switzerland was preparing for civil war.

Strictly speaking, there were only two countries in Eastern Europe at this time: Russia and the Ottomans. The peoples in the Balkans could only choose which of the two countries was not so bad.

Judging from what the British experienced in southern Albania, these three countries are actually evenly matched.

The attitude of a series of secondary powers such as the United States, Brazil, and Mexico towards Britain is not good. Even Portugal, its most loyal brother, has a problem with Britain's military operations in southern Brazil.

At this time, Queen Maria II of Portugal was the biological sister of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. The two had the same father and mother, so it was impossible to side with the British emotionally.

Among the Low Countries, the Netherlands joined the German Confederation, and Belgium was raised in France in name only.

It doesn't feel good to be enemies of the whole world. Historically, the British could decide the life and death of a bunch of countries by just holding a diplomatic conference, and they could play tricks on the great powers without spending a single soldier.

But now the situation has changed. The emergence of regional alliances and some minor changes in history have combined to make the British expansion costs increase exponentially.

In fact, Robert Peel had discovered this problem long ago, and he also tried to change it, but after going around and around, he found that he was back to the original point.

In fact, this is not because there is something wrong with the British thinking, but because the rhythm has changed, and everyone is not following its rhythm.

In particular, the failure of the two London Conferences and the rise of Austria (or rather it did not lose its influence and become a follower of the British as it did in history). These events prevented the British influence from reaching the level of one-stop response.

Britain is an island country, which means its strategy cannot rely solely on its own army and navy like Russia and France.

John Russell also discovered this problem, but what he could do was only some minor repairs, but it couldn't really change anything.

But faced with a mountain of pressure, John Russell really couldn't care about the Irish on the banks of the Shannon River.

O'Connell was rejected again and again, and he realized at this time that he was actually an outsider.

By chance, O'Connell learned of the Colonial Department's evil plan. He could no longer tolerate his compatriots being transported and trafficked like livestock.

The two sides immediately struggled with each other. At first, the British Colonial Office planned to conceal the matter, but O'Connell was a social activist after all, and he was familiar with building momentum in the media.

Even if the big newspapers don't dare to take it, there are always tabloids who want to make a splash. In the end, the matter of finding wives for the old bachelors at the bottom of the colony had to be abandoned, because even if they were nominally voluntary, they would inevitably be suspected of taking advantage of others.

The pressure on the British government at this time is already too great, and it is completely unnecessary to add too heavy a moral burden for no reason.

Moreover, the countries on the European continent are ready to enjoy the show. When the time comes, they may not let the great England and the barbaric United States be ranked together.

In fact, the reason why O'Connell was able to break through all this was because Franz planned it behind the scenes.