Negotiations between North and South had yet to conclude, but the American Civil War was effectively over. Neither the European great powers nor the American public wanted this war to continue.
This was not something individual will could reverse. All that remained was haggling over terms.
To demonstrate sincerity, both North and South had halted military operations, including the ongoing military mobilizations.
Strategically speaking, the goal of weakening the United States had basically been achieved. All that remained was a final treaty to split the United States apart.
This was not purely a good thing; it also came with a string of problems. For instance, Austria's cotton and cotton textile industries would both be hit.
Taking advantage of the cotton shortages and tight international supply caused by reduced production during the American Civil War, Austria's cotton textile industry, blessed with an ample cotton supply, had risen suddenly and seized British markets across Europe.
By now, British cotton textiles were gradually being squeezed out of the markets in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and Central Europe.
Previously, because cotton supplies were insufficient, cotton textile products had for a time been in short supply. Even after Austria seized their markets, the British could do nothing about it.
Now things were different. With the end of the civil war, American cotton production would soon recover. With ample raw material supplies, British capitalists would naturally make a comeback.
Markets were the lifeblood of every industrial nation. As the first country to complete the Industrial Revolution, the British had accumulated sufficient advantages, and their industrial strength had once accounted for more than half the world's total.
With France and Austria completing industrialization, Britain's share of global industrial output had declined somewhat, but it still held firm as the world's number one.
Yet there was one embarrassing