Chapter 494: Franco-Russian Rapprochement
In the spring of 1871, the Roman uprising led by Garibaldi and Mazzini ultimately ended in failure, and the leaders of the rebels were forced into exile overseas.
With the Anglo-French-Austrian Triple Alliance on the verge of being established, the London Government did not grant them political asylum this time, in order to preserve Anglo-French relations.
Yet John Bull's instinct for stirring the pot still led him to send them off to the United States. This was a favorite destination for European revolutionaries seeking political asylum, mainly for two reasons.
On the one hand, it was far away and less affected by the politics of other countries. The Federal Government liked sheltering political prisoners, so everyone's safety was assured.
On the other hand, the United States had a fairly strong economy and was also a nation of European immigrants, making it possible to obtain funding from fellow countrymen there.
If safety alone were the consideration, hiding in the vast, sparsely populated colonies would actually have offered better concealment. One could casually build a farm somewhere in the countryside and live a life cut off from the world without any problem.
Very few chose the colonies as a refuge, unless they had done something earth-shattering, were being hunted down, and had no choice but to change their identities.
The end of the revolution in the Italian region marked the consolidation of French rule there. After the purges during the war, Italy's anti-French forces had suffered a devastating blow.
France had always posed a great threat to everyone, and that threat did not stem from manpower, the economy, or industry. Rather, it came more from the shadow left behind by the Napoleonic era.
The French claimed to possess the world's strongest army, and no European country objected. That