Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 82 The French Revolution
The limited European influence in East Africa has given Iran an opportunity.

Moreover, at this time, European countries were busy trying to quell internal unrest, and the February Revolution had already broken out in France.

French workers' wages were extremely low. Male workers earned about 2 francs a day, while female workers earned around 1 franc. Child laborers aged 13-16 earned only 75 centimes, and those aged 8-12 earned only 45 centimes. At the time, even the cheapest black bread cost more than 30 centimes per kilogram, and workers' incomes were barely enough to make ends meet.

Food shortages and heavy labor shortened their lifespans; at that time, the average lifespan of workers was less than 40 years, and even less than 35 years in many physically demanding industries.

In 1846, heat and drought led to poor harvests of wheat and beans, severely threatening France's staple food supply and causing grain prices to soar.

In 1845, 100 liters of wheat cost 17.15 francs, but by 1847 it had risen to 43 francs, skyrocketing to 49.5 francs in the Haut-Rhin department, and exceeding 50 francs in some areas. Grain prices, especially in northern and northeastern France, generally rose by 100% to 150%, and bread prices doubled.

Everything was going up in price except wages, so workers were naturally having a hard time. Coupled with the economic crisis of 1847, the French people's patience had reached its limit.

In January 1848, workers across France began a nationwide strike, demanding...
While workers launched a major strike to demand higher wages, the peasantry also launched an anti-hunger movement. Starting in July 1847, peasants who were bankrupt due to poor harvests and debt crises began a frenzy of grain looting.

They destroyed landlord estates, seized grain stores, and killed grain speculators. The movement also spread to the cities, where unemployed workers, driven by hunger, joined in.

Demonstrations and protests were commonplace for the people of Paris. On February 22, 1848, Parisians took to the streets to protest against the government's ban on political gatherings.

The largely unarmed crowd easily defeated the small number of city hall guards, filled the square, and nearly invaded Bourbon Palace, the seat of the House of Representatives. These demonstrations quickly escalated into a large-scale popular uprising.

After the uprising broke out, the revolutionary forces expanded rapidly, with students, workers, citizens, and capitalists all participating. Of course, few capitalists took up arms and fought on the front lines; they all provided support from behind the scenes.

Awakened by the revolution, the Guizot government hastily mobilized troops to suppress it, but unfortunately, they underestimated the bond between the French military and the people.

Even within the military, there were many supporters of the revolution. Most of the National Guard refused to carry out the government's revolution, and some troops even defected.

Just one day later, in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, King Louis-Philippe of France dismissed Guizot's government and appointed the liberal Molay to form a government, trying to quell public anger.

However, despite the collapse of the unpopular government and the underlying social pressures that remain, Republicans are still seeking to ensure a change of government.

Not only the Republicans, but the French government has dissatisfied everyone. Nationalists condemn Louis Philippe's subservient foreign policy, which has brought France under British control, and are even more dissatisfied with his failure to seize the opportunity to bring Belgium under French control.

Legitimists considered Louis Philippe a usurper whose rule lacked the legitimacy of the Bourbon dynasty, and argued that Charles X's grandson, the Count of Chambord, was more deserving of the throne.

The Catholic Church was dissatisfied with the corrupt government and also expressed suspicion and concern about its liberal religious policies. It's unclear how King Louis managed this, but there was no doubt that the dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and a new kind of male cult was beginning to revive. This man was seen as a symbol of national power, a hero, and a social reformer. People compared his achievements to Napoleon's and viewed the current regime's diplomatic incompetence even more negatively.

News of the Paris Revolution was no secret among the European upper class; it would likely spread throughout Europe in less than two days.

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All of this had nothing to do with Nasser al-Din; he was at the Gulestan Palace watching the workers install something.

"Alright, Your Highness, information from the entire city can now be transmitted here within one minute."

Others found this enormous thing impossible; news from Tehran takes at least an hour to reach, so how could this be transmitted in a minute? Are you kidding me?
However, Nasser al-Din trusted this, even though wired telegraph was still more effective at transmitting messages than the relay system compared to wireless telegraph.

Before the telegraph, the main methods of long-distance communication included relay systems, carrier pigeons, dog messengers, and beacon fires. Relay systems involved specialized personnel using horses or other means of transport to relay letters to their destination. Establishing a reliable and fast relay system was extremely costly, requiring the creation of a good road network and the provision of suitable relay stations. It was impractical in areas with poor transportation. Carrier pigeon communication was highly unreliable and limited by weather and route constraints.

In 1837, Englishman Charles Sweeden and his partner invented the world's first telegraph line. Meanwhile, in the United States, Samuel Morse invented the telegraph around the same time and obtained a patent in the same year. He also developed a method for encoding letters and numbers for transmission, known as Morse code.

Apart from the United States, other countries have been developing this technology slowly. When Nasser al-Din heard about the telegraph line, he couldn't wait to order one to be built and inspected. And so, the 2-kilometer-long telegraph line from the South Gate of Tehran to the Gulestan Palace has been completed; now it's time to see the results.

With a sudden beep, the machine produced a densely punched strip of paper. The staff immediately translated the message from the paper and handed it to Nasser al-Din.

"Can this really be delivered quickly?"

"Yes, Your Highness, as long as the line is in place, messages can be transmitted quickly no matter how far away they are."

Nasserdin smiled upon seeing this new technology. The reason why the central government had weak control over local areas in ancient times was due to the limitations of transportation and communication.

Even in the East, where centralized power had reached its peak, there was a saying that imperial power did not extend to the county level. The government could only rely on local gentry to assist in ruling the countryside, and the gentry also obtained the privilege of being exempt from taxes and corvée labor.

However, the advent of railways and telegraphs has now broken the gentry's monopoly on information. This plays a crucial role in strengthening the authority of the central government, and now, following the railway network, a telegraph network must also be established.

(End of this chapter)