"How about we convene a federal parliament for the German states as well, invite the governments of every country to attend, and discuss German unification?
"I believe the influence created by a conference at the governmental level is definitely beyond what a bunch of capitalists can match!" Archduke Louis proposed.
"But such a conference will never produce any results. The interests and demands of the various states are all different; reaching a consensus is almost impossible!" Prime Minister Felix said with a frown.
There was another option that everyone tacitly avoided mentioning: applying diplomatic pressure and forcibly dissolving the capitalists' parliament.
The chances of success were too low. Many states in the German lands were currently in revolution, and the Frankfurt region was effectively already under the capitalists' control. Unless troops were sent in.
That was clearly impossible. If Franz had the energy for that, he might as well suppress the domestic rebellions sooner and restore the nation's strength.
"We can contact the various German states and directly declare the Frankfurt Assembly illegal, refusing to recognize any agreement they reach!" Metternich said after some thought.
Historically, Austria had done exactly that. But that was after the Frankfurt Assembly drafted a constitution in 1849, making all the monarchies flee from it as though from a plague. In the end, Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and the others jointly denied its legitimacy.
Yet twenty-nine German states still accepted that constitution under pressure from domestic public opinion. This also became the legal foundation that later allowed Prussia to unify Germany.
There was no contradiction in this. Though Prussians stood behind this conference, that did not represent the royal family's stance. Prussia was not a solid block either; all manner of factions were intertwined within it.
"How about this? Send a group of capitalists in to