When at last the bill of rights had been agreed upon (December, 1848), the counter-revolution had already been victorious in Austria and Prussia, and it became apparent that these great powers would not submit to a constitution framed by the popular congress. Then a strong party began to advocate the exclusion of Austria from the new empire. This party, whose principal leader was Gagern, prevailed in the parliament, and elected the king of Prussia German emperor (March 28, 1849); but he declined the honor. Despairing of success, a number of members of parliament resigned their position, thus giving a majority to the democratic party, who elected a provisional regency of the empire, consisting of Raveaux, Vogt, Schuler, II. Simon, and Becher. Reduced to less than one third of its original number, the parliament adjourned to Stuttgart, May 30, 1849, and endeavored to raise a popular revolution in favor of the new national constitution. But only the people of Baden, a small part of Wiirtem-berg, and the Palatinate (Bavaria) followed the example of Saxony, which had already risen in revolution.

The insurrection at Dresden had been suppressed after a sanguinary battle by Prussian soldiery; and the revolution in Baden, although successful for a few weeks, was likewise crushed in a brief campaign by the Prussian army (June). The rump parliament of Stuttgart had in the mean time been forcibly dissolved by the government of Wiir-temberg. Having thus got rid of all revolutionary support, the Prussian government attempted to obtain the mastership of Germany on its own account. Austria, almost prostrated at the time by the Hungarian war, would have been able to offer little or no resistance to such a movement if carried on energetically and rapidly; but the Prussian government was no match for the bold and shrewd Prince Schwar-zenberg, at that time the soul of the Austrian government. In March, 1850, Prussia assembled at Erfurt a new parliament of representatives of those potty states which were too powerless to resist its demands, and a sort of federal constitution was adopted by it, but never obtained any real existence. To cut short all further attempts of Prussia, Austria convoked the old diet, which had been formally dissolved in 1848. Prussia refusing to recognize the diet, a hostile conflict between Austria and Prussia seemed almost inevitable.

The armies of both were marching to Hesse-Cassel, and a skirmish of the outposts had taken place near Bronzell (Nov. 8, 1850), when suddenly the Prussian government lost courage and submitted to all the demands of Austria. The first fruits of the restoration of the diet were the intervention in Schleswig-IIolstein in favor of Denmark, the abolition of the national bill of rights and of free constitutions in several of the smaller states, and the sale by auction of the national navy which had been created by voluntary contributions of the people during the revolution. While in these questions the influence of Austria prevailed, Prussia balanced its loss of political power by the enlargement of its commercial influence. Hanover became a member of the Zollverein (September, 1851), and was soon followed by Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe. The efforts of Austria to enter the Zollverein, in order to destrov the Prussian influence even there, were successfully resisted by Prussia, but a postal and telegraph union of all German states was accomplished.

During the eastern war (1853-'6) the German confederation followed a vacillating policy, swaying to and fro between Austria and Prussia. In April, 1854, those two powers concluded a treaty of alliance, guaranteeing to each other their respective possessions against all enemies whatever. The diet joined in this treaty July 24, and in December added another clause, promising the assistance of all Germany to Austria if its army of occupation in the Danubian principalities should be attacked. Preparation for war was resolved upon by the diet, Feb. 8, 1855. After that the position of Prussia toward Austria became more reserved, and Austria, despairing of active assistance on the part of the confederation, was compelled to relinquish its intention to take part in the war against Russia. In November, 1856, the diet adopted a resolution promising to assist Prussia in its attempts to reconquer Neuf-chatel, but the proffered assistance was not required. In 1857 the interference of the diet was requested against the attempts of Denmark to merge the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg completely in the Danish kingdom.

After long hesitation and delay a resolution was adopted in 1858, by which the Danish government was compelled to submit its project of a new political organization to the legislative assemblies of the duchies. When, in the beginning of 1850, difficulties arose between France and Austria on account of the state of Italy, a violent anti-Napoleonic feeling manifested itself in Germany. The Prussian government, though willing to defend Austria's German provinces, and even the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, under certain restrictions, would not stir unless it should obtain the military leadership of all Germany, irrespective of all limitations contained in the act of confederation. After long and angry discussions the leadership was conceded to Prussia by the smaller states. A circular despatch of the Russian government, covertly threatening Germany if it should interfere in the Italian war, had no effect but the assumption by Prussia of a more defiant attitude toward France, and the issue of an order by the prince regent to mobilize two thirds of the Prussian army (June, 1859). A few days later, the Prussian delegate in the diet moved that two federal army corps under the command of Bavaria be stationed on the upper Rhine, and one Prussian corps on the Main, and that the 9th and 10th federal army corps be united with the Prussian army.

This motion was followed by another, to the effect that the diet should appoint a commander-in-chief of the non-Prussian and non-Austrian army corps. Thus the German confederation appeared to be on the very point of waging war against France, under Prussian leadership, when all at once Austria, unwilling to sacrifice its preponderating influence in Germany to tho doubtful project of preserving its Italian provinces, introduced in the diet a resolution to mobilize the whole federal army, and to appoint the Prussian prince regent commander-in-chief, subject to the control of the diet, or rather of Austria, the latter being always certain of a majority in the diet. This movement at once neutralized all advantages Prussia had obtained. And when the preliminaries of peace were agreed upon by the emperors of France and Austria at Villa-franca, July 11, the dissension and jealousy between Austria and Prussia, those great impediments to German unity, were more apparent than ever before. A passage in the Austrian emperor's proclamation of peace, in which he asserted that his natural allies had forsaken him, and that the neutral powers would have imposed upon him less favorable terms of peace than were offered by his adversary, gave rise to an acrimonious correspondence between the Austrian and Prussian governments.