The Frankfurt Assembly

On March 1, 1848, initiated by the liberal bourgeoisie of Baden and Württemberg, a liberal conference of the various states was convened in Heidelberg.

A total of 51 people attended the meeting, most of whom were representatives from the South German states; among them, there were four Prussians, while only one Austrian was present.

The conference passed the Declaration to the German People and decided to establish a seven-member committee responsible for preparing the German Pre-Parliament (the predecessor to the Frankfurt Assembly).

Undoubtedly, for Austria, this meeting was a case of being "represented" without consent.

Regardless of how others viewed it, Franz would certainly not recognize the legitimacy of this meeting. He had been busy dealing with domestic issues and could not spare the attention, but now that the internal crisis was under control, it was time to intervene in the affairs of the German region.

Unlike in history, the Austrian bourgeoisie had suffered heavy losses, and those who remained were trembling on the sidelines, terrified of being casually purged by the government. Who would dare to come out and stir up trouble at a time like this?

The Frankfurt Assembly was approaching, yet the Austrian representatives had not been selected; instead, a group of wanted criminals was preparing to attend the meeting.

Franz could not fathom what the capitalists were thinking; from the very beginning, this was destined to fail. Without the recognition of the various governments, where could there be any legitimacy to speak of?

"Prime Minister, what is your take on this commotion caused by the capitalists?" Franz asked.

"Your Highness, I believe we can simply ignore it. This meeting is inherently illegal, and we should just refuse to recognize it!" Prime Minister Felix said calmly.

In this era, Austria still possessed formidable capital, and among the many German states, Austria's national strength was currently the greatest.

Franz frowned; clearly, he was not satisfied with this answer. Historically, the Austrian government had done exactly this, and the consequences were quite severe: the assembly passed the proposal for a Lesser German Empire, excluding Austria entirely.

In Franz's view, the Kingdom of Prussia was pulling the strings behind this meeting; otherwise, it would not have been designed to exclude Austria from the start.

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you truly believe that? If we do not intervene, I suspect the result of the assembly will certainly be the establishment of a Lesser German Empire that excludes Austria. Regardless of whether this meeting is legal or not, the influence it creates among the populace is undeniable. Perhaps we do not feel it clearly in Austria yet, but in other regions, the influence has already begun to spread. Once the masses accept this theory, it will lay the foundation for Prussia to unify those regions in the future," Foreign Minister Metternich said with a furrowed brow.

The title "Coachman of Europe" was not earned in vain. Although he did not believe the German region could be unified, Metternich, who pursued a European balance of power, also opposed anyone else unifying Germany.

The Kingdom of Prussia's strength was already significant; if they were allowed to continue creating opportunities, annexing the North German region would no longer be a problem.

For Austria, this was a massive threat. Historically, Metternich had already left the political stage by this time and lost his voice, powerless to stop all of this from happening.

Now that he was still serving as Austria's Foreign Minister, he naturally had to take action; disrupting the Frankfurt Assembly was the first step.

This was also the reason Franz had brought him into the cabinet. In terms of diplomacy, few people in the world could compare to him, even though the "Vienna System" he had created had already collapsed.

"Mr. Metternich, please do not engage in alarmism here. What are these capitalists, anyway? Can they represent the public will? No government will recognize their legitimacy; the power of this so-called German Parliament cannot even extend beyond Frankfurt!" Felix retorted tit-for-tat.

"Do not forget the influence capitalists have among the people. Through the newspapers in their hands, they can sway public opinion in an entire region. As far as I know, the Prussian government has already had secret contacts with them. Once the two sides reach an agreement, the capitalists will support the Kingdom of Prussia in unifying the Lesser German Empire, and then a war between us and the Kingdom of Prussia will be inevitable!" Metternich said, nearly shouting.

Watching the two men argue until their faces were red and they were on the verge of coming to blows, Franz hurriedly scolded, "Shut up, both of you! I brought you here to discuss state affairs, not to listen to you bicker!"

On the surface, Franz was furious, but in his heart, he was overjoyed. No monarch hopes for their subordinates to be a monolithic block, especially since Franz was not yet the Emperor.

As the regent crown prince, if the cabinet were to unite, Franz would soon be sidelined. To maintain a balance of power, he could not allow the cabinet members to band together.

One was a former Prime Minister who had held the reins of Austria for over twenty years, and the other was a powerful incumbent Prime Minister; when two strong-willed individuals disagreed on policy, conflict was inevitable.

"Very well. To be safe, regardless of whether this is a Prussian conspiracy or not, we must disrupt this meeting, or at the very least, suppress its influence to the minimum. If you have any ideas, put them forward. Our time is precious; wasting every minute is a crime!"

Franz still leaned toward Metternich. In later history, the status of the Frankfurt Assembly was artificially magnified after the establishment of the Lesser German Empire.

As for how much actual effect it had, only those who experienced it firsthand could estimate. Franz did not want to test it; he would rather just destroy it.

In any case, due to the Zollverein, Austria's influence among the capitalists in the German region was limited and far inferior to that of the Kingdom of Prussia. Trying to reach an agreement favorable to his side through this meeting was undoubtedly impossible.

"What if we send people to propose the establishment of a South German Federal Empire? If we promise the South German states that we will not interfere in their internal affairs, the chances of success are still quite high!" Finance Minister Karl suggested tentatively.

"It is useless. We might have a slim chance of persuading the South German states, but at a conference of bourgeois representatives, it would be absolutely impossible to pass! Furthermore, the price we would have to pay to persuade them is too high, and in the end, it would still only be a nominal unification," Metternich shook his head and said.

Franz was tempted. If a South German Federal Empire were established, then the Prussians would have no role to play, as there was actually a clear chasm between North and South Germany due to religious beliefs.

Even if it were only a nominal unification, everyone would still go their own way in practice, and he could still use economic means to infiltrate and slowly influence their politics.

Unfortunately, now was not the time; at the very least, he had to wait until Austria dealt with its internal contradictions, otherwise, he would lack the confidence to speak.