Animals such as geckos and salamanders would shed their tails to survive; even their legs could regenerate. Prussia's loss of the West Rhine region was like a salamander shedding its tail. It let Napoleon be tied down by Austria, giving Prussia the chance to act freely in the east. Since 1792, Prussia and Russia had been plotting another partition of Poland.
Talleyrand had not been idle in Berlin. A writer under his command had produced a pamphlet titled Letters of a German Patriot. Its contents mixed truth and falsehood, making them extremely difficult to distinguish. In eloquent language, the writer described Austria's long-standing crimes against the Holy Roman Empire, urging all "wise" Germans to rise up and overthrow the rule of the Habsburg dynasty.
Prussia was a place where one could write freely and express one's thoughts—or rather, it had an "anything goes" attitude. This time, the diplomatic policies of France's many factions seemed to have found a common target. Whether it was the three-way partition of Austria envisioned by Sieyès, or Napoleon's scheme to intensify the conflict between Austria and Prussia and find an opportunity to intervene in the Silesian question, everything revolved around Prussia, Poland, and Russia.
None of this should have had anything to do with Belgium in the west, but Austria's conscription would take away many Belgians, and the priests went with them. Once Austria was defeated, the soldiers would be captured, while the priests would have to face the Pietists.
The Teutonic Knights spread their faith through force, but the Pietists were far more civilized. Their preaching of humility, self-discipline, emphasis on public needs, and spirit of self-sacrifice was easily accepted. The ideological "weapon" available to the "fighting priests" was the "war orphanage."
Soldiers' children were easily neglected and easily led astray. To ensure they