Ever since receiving the message conveyed by the Prussian Government, the Austrian Government's upper ranks had instantly felt that something was wrong.
Could the British pull something like this? No one doubted it in the slightest. John Bull's integrity was only that high.
At the previous Frankfurt Assembly, the British had proposed splitting up the German Confederation. Now, in order to carry out that plan, it was perfectly normal for them to exert diplomatic pressure on the Kingdom of Prussia.
Franz was startled as well. The British truly had every motive to do this; their national policy—the balance-of-power strategy on the European continent—dictated it.
Under this plan, the German Confederation would become one great power and two medium-sized states. They would possess enough strength to block France and Russia from continuing their expansion into Central Europe, yet lack any possibility of growing powerful enough to threaten Britain's position.
Such a European order was theoretically the most stable. No matter whether France or Russia sought to expand into Europe, it would meet resistance from at least two of those countries, with British support on top of that.
Anyone wishing to unify the German lands would have to prepare to take on all of Europe's great powers alone. Even if Austria gained Russian support, success would still be impossible.
It was not that Franz underestimated himself. The scattered small German states were a loose pile of sand and nothing to fear, but once they merged into a single country, even the most useless rabble could field three or four hundred thousand troops.
With Britain and France joining the fray, unless Austria joined hands with the Kingdom of Prussia to carve up this newborn nation, it would be Russia and Austria versus Britain, France, Prussia, and the small German states. Other European countries