After half a year of negotiations, Britain and Austria finally reached an agreement. On November 12, 1877, representatives of the two countries signed the Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement in Paris, and Austria officially joined the free trade system.

I have to say that the Paris Conference was a comedy, which was originally intended to reconcile the contradictions of various countries and eliminate international conflicts, but as a result, what they wanted to do was not done, and many irrelevant treaties were born.

It's right to think about it, it's a high-level meeting of various countries, and there is no result, so why are you embarrassed to go back?

Digression is inevitable, everything is for political performance. So far, eight treaties have been produced at the Paris Conference, involving most of the European countries.

This is still only on the surface, and no one can know how many secret agreements there are secretly, in short, the Paris Conference was not in vain.

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At the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV slammed his glass and scolded: "Damn the British, damn Austrian fools, they must have done it on purpose!" ”

Napoleon IV was not wrong in his speculation, the Anglo-Austrian free trade negotiations were actually taking place in Vienna, and he went to Paris to sign the treaty, which was strongly demanded by the British.

Needless to say, the French arranged Queen Victoria so much, and the London government couldn't react!

There is no way to silence the French in diplomatic protests, but the French newspapers dare to publish even the emperor's lace news, let alone the Queen of England?

From the initial "curse", it has now developed into peachy news, and even glamorous feelings, and the content is unsightly.

The Channel could not stop the spread of entertainment gossip, and by spreading these newspapers, it had already crossed the ocean into Britain and spread it secretly.

It's one thing whether the content is cool or not, but it's too insulting to the national dignity and makes the British people very unhappy. They demanded that the London government put an end to the bad behaviour of the French.

Of course, the British royal family should play a major role in this. Under pressure from all sides, the London government naturally had to take action.

Since it is impossible to gag the mouths of the French, let's make a big news, divert everyone's attention, and knock the French by the way.

The Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement is undoubtedly the best killer weapon, which hits directly at the heart of the French. Once it is not handled well, France, which is already falling behind, will really go into decline.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to deal with them, the priority is to minimise the impact.

The UK and Austria have reached an agreement, and it is estimated that it will not be long before the two countries take action to attract more countries to join the free trade system.

The only European powers that are now outside the free trade system are us and Spain. For now, we have to stabilize the Spaniards anyway, otherwise we will be in big trouble. ”

I have to admit that the British diplomatic methods are very powerful, and in the past few decades, they have successively attracted the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, the Nordic Federation and other countries to join.

Now that Austria has joined the free trade system, then the rest of Switzerland, the Federal German Empire, Greece, and Montenegro will naturally join the free trade system.

France is once again isolated, and the only remaining Spain must hold on to it no matter what. Fortunately, the Spanish royal family was supported by Napoleon III, a proper pro-French faction.

Foreign Secretary Montero: "It's not that simple, the Spaniards may not be with us this time.

Britain and Austria have too many chips in their hands, and the price they can give will be much higher than ours.

Our advantage is mainly that the Spanish government is pro-French, but it is difficult to say how much of a role this advantage can play in the face of interests.

Now the situation is very clear, and it is our turn to decide. The current semi-free trade model, which was previously viable, is now the worst option. ”

The "semi-free trade system" is an economic policy formulated by Napoleon III with reference to the economic policies of European countries and according to the actual situation in France.

To put it simply, it is to implement tariff-free or low-tariff for the industrial raw materials needed by France, and implement trade protection policies for goods that can be produced in France.

To some extent, the economic policies of France and Austria were somewhat similar until then, both protecting domestic industry and commerce.

Unfortunately, Austria seized the opportunity of the second industrial revolution and took the lead in completing the industrial transformation, which is supported by agriculture and is now capable of participating in international competition.

France is different, not to mention its own lack of resources, and domestic capitalists do not like to invest in manufacturing.

Even Napoleon III's encouragement of manufacturing did not change the nature of French capital's preference for usury.

If the funds flowing into the manufacturing industry are insufficient, industrial development will naturally lag behind. The core factor for all this is essentially the lack of raw materials for domestic French industry.

Although France was also a colonial empire, it was also a desert empire. The vast colonies, most of which are deserts, produce relatively little colony.

This, combined with the annexation of the more resource-poor regions of Italy, has exacerbated France's resource crisis and forced it to rely on imports.

At present, more than seventy percent of the world's industrial raw material exports are monopolized by Britain and Austria. In order to crack down on competitors, Britain and Austria, which have the power to price raw materials, artificially inflated the market price of raw materials.

Relying on imported industrial raw materials to develop industry, the cost will naturally go up. In international competition, the competitiveness of French industrial and commercial products is clearly insufficient.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Allen: "Your Excellency, it is easy to join the free trade system, but if it is implemented, we must first consider whether the domestic industry and commerce can withstand the shock.

According to the statistics of the Paris daily newspaper, the overall cost of industrial and commercial products produced in our country is 2.9% higher than that of the British, and 2.7% higher than that of Austria.

However, it is a fact that the cost of domestic industrial production is high, and if we liberalize market protection, we will be in a disadvantageous position in the face of international competition. ”

The high cost of industrial production is a difficult problem that cannot be solved. Unless the price of raw materials is lowered, there is no solution.

Napoleon IV: "If there is a difference of two or three percentage points in the cost of industrial production, it does not seem irreparable."

British and Austrian capital also needs to make money, they can't sell at cost price, then domestic enterprises are nothing more than less profitable.

Governments can also close this gap by lowering taxes. As long as they survive the first wave of shock, I believe that domestic enterprises will be able to gain a firm foothold in the competition.

At the worst of all, we can also rely on distance and advantage to keep the local market, and will not make the situation worse. ”

Listening to Napoleon IV's words, Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen was taken aback and hurriedly dissuaded: "Your Majesty, things are not so simple. This gap is the total gap across all industries combined.

If it is specific to a certain industry, the cost gap may be magnified to 20 or 30 percent, which is no longer something that can be made up by adjusting the tax rate. ”

Just kidding, the data published in the newspapers, God knows how much moisture, whether it is through data analysis or guesswork out of thin air no one knows.

The French government does not have a special statistical agency, and when data is needed, economic experts are responsible for estimating, and the government then processes the art according to demand.

Allen didn't want to change all this, as Chancellor of the Exchequer he knew too much of the truth, but the French people couldn't accept the fact that it was not as good as Britain and Austria.

Not to mention now, after the Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, the French people did not admit that they were inferior to Germany.

The First World War was said to have been caused by the contradictions between Germany and France, but in fact it was also caused by the pride of the French. The First World War defeated the arrogance of the French, and only then did the corpse of the Second World War lie down.

Rather than counting the real numbers and not daring to announce them, it is better not to count them at all, and everyone pretends to be confused.

In the free trade system, it is enough to shout slogans in normal times, but if it is taken seriously, it will kill the country.

In addition to the advantages of the financial sector, most of France's industries will be affected. The usury empire was not born without reason.

Napoleon IV frowned, and there was no doubt that he had been slapped in the face again. This feeling is very unpleasant, and it seems that he, the emperor, is very ignorant.

So how do you solve the problem at hand? Britain and Austria worked together to develop a free trade system, and most European countries joined it, and the rest of the countries did not last long.

When the time comes, not only Europe, but the whole world will be covered by the free trade system, can France really stand alone? ”

Napoleon IV did not understand, but he saw it too clearly. The free trade system that the British have tinkered with is itself a conspiracy, and even if they knew it, they could not stop it.

Now there is no outbreak of industry in France, and it can still be free for the time being. Once the domestic industry and commerce develop further, France will still have to join in due to reality.

Of course, you also have the option to challenge the world. It was because of the lack of raw materials and markets, and the lack of voice in the free trade system, that the Germans provoked the war after they were in a hurry.

The current situation in France is naturally much better than that of the German Second Empire, but the crisis still exists. Unless the manufacturing industry is not developed, the crisis will detonate sooner or later.