Muslin Bubble

The Muslin Bubble was a period at the end of the Hyperaustrean Golden Age generally agreed to have lasted from 1845 to 1877, characterized by the overvaluation of Hyperaustrean textiles and the stock of companies involved in the textile industry, which formed an. The bubble earns its name from, a cotton fabric primarily produced in Hyperaustrea which grew fashionable, even to hysterical levels by the end of the bubble. Its popping in 1870 and the resulting economic crash would lead to significant unrest in Hyperaustrea, inciting widespread famine and culminating in the Great Saint's Rising of 1870-7, a civil war which threatened the collapse of the Hyperaustrean social order entirely. Gradual economic recovery and the suppression of civil unrest at the end of the 1870s is largely considered to have ended the most severe effects of the bubble, though its economic consequences would last until the 1900s, its social consequences arguably remaining even till modernity.

Industrialization of Hyperaustrea
Since the 1700s, Hyperaustrea had come under the increasing dominion of the Consortiums of Hyperaustrea, combines led by the magnate-clerics of the Fengese Great Houses of Phwa-Kwok-Tsau and Daiszu. First arriving as merchants attempting to open Hyperaustrean trade for their patron states, their economic and political influence on the subcontinent grew to challenge even local rulers by the mid 18th century, eventually culminating in a series of political and military interventions backed by the Consortiums to place themselves as hegemons over Hyperaustrea. By the end of the century, the twin Consortiums held suzerainty over the various native kingdoms and states which formed Hyperaustrea, the spheres of influence of the Phwa-Kwok-Tsau and Daiszu roughly splitting the region into western and eastern halves respectively.

As Hyperaustrea entered into the Fengese sphere, it saw the introduction of Fengese industrial technology and techniques, especially as the Consortiums sought to maximize the potential economic output of their holdings both for personal profit and as part of the Great Fragmentation (1303-1810) still ongoing by that time, a Fengese civil war during which the Consortiums' patron states were engaged in a struggle for supremacy back home. Naturally, their Hyperaustrean holdings would become implicated in this conflict, the outbreak of several proxy wars, both military and economic, would prompt the summary adoption of more advanced Fengese technology by native collaborator-states out of fears of falling behind. Additionally, the perceived "frontier" nature of Hyperaustrea would attract the Fengese lower aristocracy - who saw greater opportunity in the Hyperaustrean frontier than the stiffer political arenas at home - leading to southwards migration and consequent investment.

Combining all these factors, Hyperaustrea would see a sudden process of industrialization, led by native collaborators and funded by their Fengese hegemons. Among the various industries propelled by this advancement, the textiles industry would see perhaps the most drastic advancement, as and similar labor-saving machines allowed for the newly established factories in the region to produce textile goods, primarily cotton, at unprecedented levels.

Textile boom
By the turn of the century, technological modernization had become a primary mission for most Hyperaustrean states, informed both by pragmatic geopolitical concerns alongside the significant wealth generated from its taxing - wealth which oftentimes flowed into the pockets of local rulers. Originally artisanal and handcrafted, textiles were now produced at mass scale in factory complexes for sale in domestic and Fengese export markets - the resulting loss of work for artisans would lead to unrest, which were rapidly subjugated at any moment they grew to threaten the elites' bottom line.

The end of the Great Fragmentation in 1810 and resulting reunification of Fengjiang would be the pivotal boon to Hyperaustrean industry and the later bubble. With incentives for open conflict dwindling, the Consortiums would be formally unified into a singular entity known as the Kannam Development Board, managed by a nominally united Fengese authority (though the Phwa-Kwok-Tsau and Daiszu held the vast majority of shares and control anyways). Without the distraction of internal conflict borne from Fengese proxy warring, Hyperaustrea would see the start of an economic boom now known as the Hyperaustrean Golden Age.