Vienna Palace—after sending off the letter to Maximilian, Franz stopped paying attention to Mexico.
There had been far too much going on lately. The Prusso-Russian War had consumed too much of his energy, and John Bull had also ceased to behave himself, stirring up trouble on the African Continent.
Seeing France and Austria expand so aggressively, they could no longer sit still. A few years ago, the Indian rebellion had held them back, leaving the London Government with no energy to come and make trouble.
Relying on civilian colonial teams alone, they clearly could not compete with France and Austria. A colonial team of several hundred men being wiped out on the African Continent was perfectly normal.
Having seized the initiative, France and Austria had both cultivated their own thugs. Not long ago, an armed clash broke out between Britain and Austria in the Zimbabwe region. Then tens of thousands of black natives stormed into the South African colonies, turning the area upside down.
The London Government lodged a fierce protest with Vienna. Fortunately, the colonial government still knew where to draw the line. It had merely manipulated local native tribes into striking at the British rather than entering the fray personally.
The British had no evidence that Austria was behind it, so the two governments could only slowly wrangle back and forth. As for the South African Colonial Company, which had suffered grievous losses, it lay outside Franz's considerations.
Colonizing Africa was a high-risk business. If one could not bear the losses, it was best to leave early. To open up its African colonies, Austria suffered four-figure casualties nearly every year.
These people either died in the course of opening up the land or succumbed to disease. If they could not bear such losses, they were better off staying