"Palmerston" Returns

At this time, because the unrest on the Indian Subcontinent was consuming too much of Britain's strength, Robert Peel had to begin re-examining his foreign policy.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the foreign ministers serving under him were all incompetent. Even Palmerston, the "Know-it-all" who provoked conflicts everywhere, was better than this bunch of useless hacks.

The foreign policy toward the Austrian Empire seemed somewhat out of touch with the times; by comparison, the threats posed by Russia and France to Britain appeared far greater.

In fact, this era was also known as the "Age of the Great Game," or the "Anglo-Russian Great Game," which illustrated just how significant the Russian threat to Britain was at the time.

Another part of the backdrop was the rise of France. Due to a series of erratic maneuvers by Franz, coupled with deliberate guidance and a string of accidents, the France of this period was far, far stronger than the recovering France of history.

Looking at Austria, any leader with a modicum of political and military common sense understood how awkward its geographical position was.

The center of Europe—in a sense, this statement was indeed correct, but it could also be considered the center of an encirclement.

This land of four-way battles could be swarmed by enemies at any moment. Aside from Britain, whoever sought hegemony would have to beat Austria.

Yet, the party currently locked in a direct confrontation with the Austrian Empire was, ironically, Britain. The former had previously made many concessions, but a segment of the latter's domestic population remained dissatisfied.

Consequently, the Austrian side shifted from shrinking back to confrontation, beginning to compete with Britain in various fields. Although the scale of these conflicts was limited, this blow was magnified countless times over given Britain's hostile relations with