Not Money, but Lives

The Vienna Government's laissez-faire attitude had undoubtedly emboldened the North German nationalist faction. Although the governments of the various states had yet to make any public statements, popular calls were steadily growing louder.

To ensure the plan's smooth implementation, German Emperor George I had privately declared that establishing the North German Empire was a crucial step in the process of German unification.

On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with that. Going from a three-way balance to a standoff between two powers did indeed bring Germany one step closer to unification.

But on closer thought, the problems were enormous. If the merger of Germany and Prussia counted as the North German Empire, then Franz's New Holy Roman Empire would become the South German Empire.

Who would ultimately unify whom would then require serious discussion.

Did George I intend for the North to unify the South?

Well, if he said that aloud, probably no sane person would believe it.

If the Prusso-Polish Federation at its peak had merged with Germany, there might have been the tiniest sliver of a chance. And that sliver depended on Austria being jointly besieged by all the nations of Europe.

At this point, even that tiny sliver of a chance was gone. The Kingdom of Prussia, badly battered and drained of vitality, had a comprehensive national strength inferior even to Bavaria's. Even with the Comedy Empire added in, they would at most be comparable to several states within the Holy Roman Empire.

Their strength was inadequate, and their internal problems were piled high. Leaving everything else aside, they had not even sorted out their military. The armies of the various states existed independently, and the central government had no command authority over them.

If that were all, it would be one thing. More crucially,