The latter succeeded in proving that the assertion of the emperor had no foundation in fact, and that he had been purposely misled by false representations of the French ruler at the interview of Villafranea. This singular discovery did not render the feeling of Austria any more friendly toward Prussia. A paper war was carried on by the presses of southern and northern Germany, and while the govern-in -ments of those petty states who had been the most forward in their hostile demonstrations against France were eagerly courting the favor of Napoleon III., the most sinister threats against Prussia came from Vienna, Munich, and Carlsruhe. The opinion became prevalent that, Austria having been humbled by France, if a Avar for the conquest of the left bank of the Rhine should be waged by France against Prussia, the latter would not obtain any assistance either from Austria or the smaller German states. The hostility of the two great sections of Germany manifested itself in sanguinary riots in the mixed Prussian and Austrian garrison of the federal capital (Aug. 6-8). Feeble movements were initiated by the liberal party to arrest the progress of disunion, and to prompt the Prussian government to take the lead in reforming the federal constitution.

But Prussia, disheartened and unwilling openly to oppose the influence of Austria, declined the destiny which the liberal party pressed upon it, and would promise nothing more than the promotion of liberal institutions by the power of its example. Austria, on the other hand, made some show of concessions to the popular wishes, in order to divide the current of the sympathies of the popular party in Germany. A committee was appointed by the emperor (August) to draw up a constitution on the basis of provincial representation for the Austrian empire. At the same time another movement was initiated in Bavaria, the object of which was the creation of a separate confederation of the central German states, as a third great power within Germany. The same idea had been promoted by Bavaria in 1850, and then led to confusion and disunion. Notwithstanding the discouraging conduct of the Prussian government, the liberal party of Germany on Sept. 16 established a national association, the Nationalverein, to agitate and promote in all the particular states the conversion of the confederation (Staatenbund) into one compact federal state with a national representation (Bundesstaat), under the headship of Prussia. Prussia in no way expressed approval of this project, but it soon took occasion to oppose in the federal diet the policy of Austria and its allies.

It moved on Oct. 10 that the liberal constitution of Hesse-Cassel of 1831, which in 1852 had been abolished by the elector in an illegal way, be restored. The legislature of Hesse-Cassel fully approved of this proposition, but in the federal diet the Austrian influence led to its rejection. In May, I860, the motion of Prussia for a reform of the military constitution of the German confederation was likewise rejected. The dissatisfaction which this attitude of Austria caused among the liberals of the central and southern states was somewhat mitigated by the publication of the new fundamental law in Austria, on Oct. 20, 1860, which appeared as a concession to constitutional principles. Prussia, on the other hand, greatly offended the liberals by the ultra-conservative principles professed by KingWilliam I., who on Jan. 2, 1861, succeeded his brother Frederick William IV. In December the Saxon minister Von Beust, one of the most ardent champions of greater national unity, presented to Prussia a new project of the federal constitution, according to which a representation of the German nation at the federal diet was to be created by the establishment of an assembly of delegates chosen by the diets of the several states.

Austria declared its readiness to accept this project, which gave to Austria and Prussia an equal number of delegates, if she should be allowed to enter the confederation with her entire territory. Prussia in a note of Dec. 20 declared it to be impracticable, and instead advocated the establishment of a federal state, on the plan which had been tried ten years before. This idea was promptly rejected by all the middle states in February, 1862, on the ground that it would involve the loss of their sovereignty. In August they united with Austria in submitting another plan of reform, according to which an assembly of delegates of the several German diets was to be convoked at Frankfort for the special purpose of deliberating on some reforms in the civil and commercial legislation of the German states. An assembly of liberal German deputies, held in September at Weimar, declared against this plan as wholly unsatisfactory, while on the other hand it was approved by the new national reform association (Reform-verein), which in October was organized at Frankfort as the organ of those who unconditionally opposed the exclusion of Austria from Germany and the establishment of a Prussian leadership. In the federal diet, in January, 1863, it was defeated by a small majority.

In the mean while the incessant conflicts between the Prussian liberals and their ultra-reactionary government had led, in September, to the entrance into the ministry of Otto von Bismarck, who soon after became its president and minister of foreign affairs. The uncompromising firmness with which he opposed the views of the Prussian diet on a reduction of the military budget filled even the Prussian friends of national unity with despair. Little was known of the ultimate plans of Bismarck with regard to German unity; but it was apparent that Prussia desired to be emancipated from the federal diet, and that her plans would henceforth be pushed with greater energy than at any previous time. The union movement was steadily gaining among the German people, and Austria made a bold bid for the continued headship in a reconstructed Germany. Francis Joseph invited the princes of all the German states, as well as the ruling burgomasters of the free cities, to a diet of princes {Farsten-tag), to discuss the question of a new constitution. This assembly sat at Frankfort Aug. 17 to Sept. 1. The king of Prussia declined to attend it.