The economic crisis in the capitalist world often comes and goes in a hurry. The first global economic crisis had finally come to an end in early 1859.
By the end of 1858, Austria's industrial production had fallen by 29.7 percent from the previous year, and its overall economy had declined by 17.3 percent. There were over three thousand bankrupt companies, and unemployment had at one point surpassed the one million mark...
Franz finally understood why everyone was so fearful of economic crises. The Vienna Government had taken active measures to cope with the situation, yet the losses were still immense; countries that had not taken any measures were even worse off.
Of course, the substantial losses in Austria's economy were directly related to its previous rampant economic growth. The railway companies, hyped up by Franz, had at one point seen their market value fall to less than one-tenth of their peak.
