The Great Collapse

February 1847, Britain, the City of London.

Four months after Austrian grain began pouring into Britain, grain prices had not fallen. Instead, they had broken through their previous highs, reaching 78 shillings per quarter. After that, they continued to set new records, surpassing 100 shillings per quarter in mid-May.

With no Corn Laws restricting them, Austrian and American grain flooded into the British market during this period, while British manufactured goods likewise surged into the Austrian and American markets.

But to the Austrians, British goods were rather low-end. Fortunately, the Hungarians were there to buy them up.

Austria's senior officials tacitly accepted this arrangement. After all, selling without buying would get the British to blacklist them.

In fact, British furs were also quite popular in Europe at the time. Besides that, their high-quality coal was well regarded.

Anthracite in particular was indispensable for blast-furnace smelting and the chemical industry. It was also the best fuel for military use at the time; otherwise, a navy belching black smoke would be easy to spot.

The United States, meanwhile, was getting hammered by British goods. Northern factory owners vehemently opposed letting British goods continue to enter the American market, while the South wanted further tariff cuts to help export its grain and cotton.

As the most hardline president in American history, James Polk naturally chose to raise tariffs aggressively. Britain promptly retaliated with punitive tariffs.

The British Parliament passed the measure with almost no opposition. After all, American grain entering Britain had already hurt far too many people's interests.

Though the Southern states were dissatisfied, they could only replant their wheat fields with cotton. Austrian grain was cheaper and faced no high tariffs.

Most of the grain Austria exported to Britain came from its colonies. Any shortfall was made up with Hungarian and