Ever since Chancellor Felix began his visits to the German states, the media had whipped the topic of unification into a frenzy. It was as though anyone who went a day without discussing it would be cast aside by the world.
Especially after Felix's trip to Bavaria ended in failure, the repercussions became even greater, and German nationalists were naturally bitterly disappointed.
Whether or not they recognized the Holy Roman Empire, they had to admit that it was the plan most likely to achieve the unification of the German lands.
When the Bavarian Government's unification proposal emerged, interested parties immediately spread it throughout the German lands, causing a sensation.
Austria naturally dismissed it with contempt. A three-legged balance still depended on strength. Although the Kingdom of Prussia was merely a mid-ranking nation, its military power had reached the level of a great power, so it barely qualified.
But what about Bavaria? What gave it the right to claim equal standing? Was it supposed to rely on representing a host of small states? Who had agreed to that?
If its strength had been close to Prussia's, then there would have been nothing to say. A three-legged balance would have been inevitable. Austria would not even have needed to expand westward; it could simply have settled down and managed the Balkan Peninsula.
The Kingdom of Prussia did not buy it either. Under a three-way political system, they would gain nothing. Whether it was the Lesser Germany plan or the North-South Germany plan, both suited their interests better than this proposal.
The two major states were merely dissatisfied and laughed it off. At most, newspapers mocked the Bavarian Government for overestimating itself.
The small states of the German lands, however, exploded. They had just been represented like that—had they agreed to it?
Guided