At this point, Prussia's two exclaves were like a sharp sword pressed against France's waist, and also like a piece of meat dangling before the French.
But no matter what, it would be hard for Prussia and France to become friends again. That could happen only if one side was willing to sacrifice its own interests and bring about an alliance.
Yet that would take immense courage, great wisdom, and enormous sacrifice, because in this age of surging nationalism, ceding territory was no different from selling out the country.
Though it was an exclave, the victory in the war still lifted Prussian spirits. Prince William's heroic deeds had become Berlin's hottest topic overnight.
From top to bottom, Prussia hoped to hold on to this exclave. So King Frederick William IV took the opportunity to work the corridors of power in Vienna, aiming to ensure that Jura would fall into his hands.
Why insist on Jura? One reason was the family's heroic legend; the second, and most important, was that it was cheap to administer and relatively easy to control.
Before Prince William—later William I—arrived in Neuchâtel, the Prussian royal family's exclave of Neuchâtel had already been decades behind on its taxes.
Now, at last, Prince William had recovered the whole sum, principal and interest, in one go. In truth, it amounted to only a little over two million Swiss francs, or roughly five hundred thousand Prussian thalers.
In fact, the Hohenzollern family had set very low tax rates there and offered plenty of policy concessions. But the place was so far from the seat of power that nobody cared.
Times had changed. With the outbreak of the Swiss civil war and the German Confederation sweeping away the Liberal Cantons like a whirlwind, the people of Neuchâtel—once notorious for thrashing royal