Britain, London.
News of the Austrian Empire's proposal to establish a European Monetary Union soon reached Britain. The British were initially shocked, but their astonishment quickly turned to elation.
As the world's largest economy at the time, Britain had long been looking for ways to get around the trade barriers erected by European countries.
Now the opportunity was right before them, and it had even been proposed by the people of continental Europe themselves. How could they not be overjoyed?
Edward Smith-Stanley had never doubted Britain's standing as the world's foremost industrial power. He immediately rejected Viscount Stratford's plan.
This time, Prime Minister Edward Smith-Stanley won Parliament's approval in a rare show of unity. Nearly every British MP thought it was an excellent opportunity.
The newspapers were full of praise. Only a handful of economists who had met with the Austrian delegation voiced their concerns.
At least in the eyes of these economists, Austria and France were nowhere near as easy to defeat as the politicians claimed. Underestimating them could easily lead to a repeat of the tragedy in the Far East.
But no one in Britain was about to heed the warnings of a bunch of ivory-tower bookworms. Everyone believed that once the Monetary Union was established, it would open up the European market and solve the crisis of overproduction.
Because of certain actions by the British Government, Britain's economic crisis had not eased; it was even more severe than it had been at the same point in history.
The economic crisis had caused a serious social and national crisis, and the rampant spread of the latter had only made the former worse.
Just as the British Government was at its wit's end, the Austrian Empire's proposal seemed like a godsend to the British.
Amid the chorus of approval,