The Rhineland was not only newly acquired territory; it was also Catholic, while Prussia was a Protestant state. Talking about European history without discussing religion was like hanging a salted duck egg on a fishing hook—utter nonsense.
Religious wars were an unavoidable chapter in German history. One of them had lasted thirty years, costing more than thirty percent of the population on average in over a hundred states.
It was the deepest wound in the hearts of the German people. From the outset, the two sides had been divided by a vast gulf, each wary of the other.
Historically, the King of Prussia had even set aside funds specifically for the Archbishop of Cologne to build a church. Construction dragged on for more than six hundred years, swallowing an incalculable sum, and Cologne Cathedral was not completed until William I unified Germany.
But things were different now. After the upheaval of 1848, relations between the two sides had not eased; instead, the death of the previous Archbishop of Cologne had made them even more perilous.
In 1848, the previous Archbishop of Cologne had rallied an army of more than a hundred thousand under the banner of the Frankfurt National Assembly, demonstrating his financial power and ability to rally the people.
Although William IV later forcibly disbanded the army, it would hardly have been difficult for the Archbishop of Cologne to gather those men again under his authority.
Especially since the previous archbishop's death had been so suspicious that it was hard to believe the Prussian government and William IV had nothing to do with it.
Even after the National Assembly was defeated by the Austrian Empire, Prussia had not dared to purge the Rhineland.
The previous archbishop had died at the worst possible time. Had he lived, Prussia could have