To put it bluntly, George Hamilton-Gordon still believed the advantage lay with him; it just was not overwhelming enough, which was why he needed this extra safeguard.
Another reason was that the previous war on commerce had truly hurt Britain. Britain still had not recovered from that blow. Its entire commercial sphere around the Mediterranean Sea had been utterly shattered, centuries of enterprise destroyed in a single stroke.
Franz truly wanted to cry injustice over this. Heaven and earth bore witness: less than a quarter of Britain's actual losses had ended up in the hands of the Austrian Empire.
The rest had been carved up by other nations. In the end, the world had suffered under Great Britain for far too long. The nations had merely used this chance to strip away Britain's influence, yet every curse and every accusation had been pinned on Austria's head.
Had these events not occurred, the Austrian Empire would not have been singled out so relentlessly. Yet it was precisely because of them that Britain was willing to consider signing a secret agreement with Austria.
Moreover, the main reason George Hamilton-Gordon had to do this was pressure from within Britain itself.
The economic crisis showed no signs of ending, and cries of misery filled Britain. Some people had even quietly moved their assets to the United States, France, Prussia, or countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Brazil.
Fortunately, no one had fled to Austria or Russia, or he would have been even more driven mad.
In fact, Russia's reputation at this time was abysmal. Some even stated outright, "Only a madman would immigrate to Russia."
If ordinary people felt that way, there was even less need to mention the wealthy.
The Austrian Empire was another extreme altogether. Its policy of allowing people in