Versailles, FranceWinter 1851
Snow covered the rail lines outside Paris, but the trains never stopped.
Even during winter, locomotives continued crossing France day and night beneath clouds of steam and smoke. Freight cars loaded with coal, iron, machine tools, and steel rails moved constantly between industrial cities while passenger trains carried engineers, diplomats, businessmen, and military observers across a continent transforming faster every year.
The old Europe still existed.
Kings still ruled.
Nobles still filled palaces.
Armies still marched beneath colorful banners.
But underneath all of it, something else was taking shape.
A new Europe built from steel, coal, and machinery.
And increasingly, Prussia stood at the center of it.
Inside the Palace of Versailles, the atmosphere had become heavier over the past several months.
Not fearful.
Not openly hostile.
But cautious.
