The British establishment of a grain reserve system had also affected the international grain market. Grain prices, which had been falling all along, finally stabilized.
But it was no damn use. The oversupply situation remained unresolved. Though the blame for the plunge in grain prices had been pinned on the Russians, anyone with sense knew that the Vienna Government was also one of the chief culprits.
Since they were sensible people, they naturally weighed the pros and cons. Smearing Russia did not matter; even the Tsarist Government itself had grown used to being smeared.
Austria was different. If capitalists within the various countries had not participated, the Vienna Government's grain dumping in the first half of the year could never have gone so smoothly.
Once that lid was lifted, the interest groups implicated would be enormous. Few people were willing to do something so likely to offend others.
With Christmas approaching, Vienna had already taken on a festive atmosphere. The winter of 1872 was unusually warm in Vienna. There was no snow, and even the bitter wind was rarely felt.
Then, at this very moment, trouble came knocking. On December 21, 1872, the Polish Government sent a diplomatic note to Austria, demanding that Austria hand over the Polish lands it had forcibly occupied—or bear the consequences.
Well, upon receiving that diplomatic note, the Vienna Government was dumbfounded. Franz was startled as well; he truly could not understand what terrifying consequences there could possibly be.
Franz knew that anti-Austrian sentiment in Poland had been running high lately. But he had not taken it seriously. The strong never cared what the weak thought.
In his view, no matter how much the Poles kicked up a fuss, they would only shout a few slogans at home at most, perhaps submit a few diplomatic