On March 27, 1848, Britain officially declared war on Austria.
Edward Clinton, vice admiral and commander of the British Mediterranean fleet, thought London's proposal was utterly foolish. After all, the French Grand Orient Fleet was no pushover.
The Grand Orient Fleet at Toulon Port had a total of thirty-eight capital warships, thirteen of which had been launched in the past three years and were all equipped with the most advanced artillery.
Worse still, London had no idea that the French had a large number of auxiliary ships and second-rate gunboats, which would prove decisive in a naval battle.
After receiving reinforcements, the British Mediterranean Fleet now had fifty battleships. It also possessed the most advanced paddle steamers in the world, giving it what seemed to be an overwhelming advantage over the French.
But there was a problem: the British Mediterranean Fleet had far too few auxiliary ships, fewer than one-twentieth as many as the French. And if France wanted, it could requisition even more ships at short notice.
Besides, although the paddle steamers were advanced, the Mediterranean Fleet had nowhere to replenish its coal. It could only steam to Piraeus Port in Greece to take on coal.
Yet not long before, the British Foreign Office had done another disgraceful thing: the infamous "Don Pacifico Affair."
The affair's history had been repeatedly distorted, until the truth was no longer recognizable. Later generations cared even less about the facts. Some mocked and condemned it as an example of gunboat diplomacy's evils.
Others, however, saw it as a model of Western humanitarianism.
"No matter where you go, a powerful motherland and its army stand behind you."
But after more than a century of embellishment and retelling, some people pinned the saying on America.
"Whatever you go to where, the United States government and