The events of the Paris Conference were passed on to Franz, and Metternich explained his views, and the top government officials in Vienna also made suggestions.

In general, it is to take it when it is good, according to Austria's original plan to annex South Germany, and now Baden cannot be saved, but there is one more Saxony.

Both are about the same in size, and it is clear that Saxony is more important to Austria, with a population of hundreds of thousands more than the Duchy of Baden, regardless of industry.

The three-point German plan, part of the plan for the unification of Austria, was first proposed by Metternich and was laid out several years earlier.

However, the original ideal plan was to unite the small states of North Germany and create a new state to prevent Prussia from unifying North Germany.

There is no doubt that this plan, if it had been proposed by Austria, would have failed 100 per cent. The Prussian government probably didn't have to think about it, so it rolled up its sleeves and went to work.

Therefore, this great task can only be entrusted to the British. In the early stage, the Austrian government had to be sufficiently instigated to make the Prussian government think that under international pressure, Austria would admit defeat and withdraw from the German region.

As soon as Austria was out, there was no suspense about the unification of the German regions in the Kingdom of Prussia, and under this temptation, Frederick Wilhelm IV did not hold back and missed the opportunity to divide Germany in two.

Franz was incapable of commanding the British, and could only convince them that it was in their best interest to divide Germany, or rather, to make the capitalists in London think that a three-point Germany could keep their market.

Austria does not have the ability to interfere in the resolution of the London government, and at most it is to buy some experts and scholars to build public opinion.

It can't even be related to Austria, it was all done by the Bavarian government from beginning to end, and it was Maximilian II who contributed the money.

The three-point German theory, the first to fool was Maximilian II, and the Kingdom of Bavaria also put forward the three-point German concept in history, but it was not successful due to lack of strength.

On the surface, it seems that the Austrian Foreign Ministry is doing nothing, but in fact Metternich is doing a lot.

In order to convince the Bavarian government that with the support of the Great Powers, three points of Germany could succeed. The Austrian government spends millions of dong on propaganda every year.

Austria controlled the beginning, but not the end. Manipulating the decision-making of a country's government is inherently unreliable, and trying to control the rhythm is simply a dream.

Without long hesitation, Franz made a decision: "Send electricity to the Vienna government, you can make concessions, but don't make it too obvious, we also need to use the pressure of the countries to force the Prussian government to give up the Rhineland." ”

Originally, a new country was established to contain the Kingdom of Prussia, but now the British whimsically proposed a strategic buffer to exchange land between the Kingdom of Prussia and this new country.

This must be supported, and most of the famous diplomatic allusions throughout history start with whims. If it's not unexpected, then can it still be considered a classic?

The Rhineland doesn't seem to be very famous, but everyone knows it by changing its name to the Ruhr area, or the Rhine-Ruhr area.

It has 80% of Germany's hard coal, 90% of coke, and 60% of steel, and is also the most important machinery manufacturing center in Germany, known as the "heart of German industry".

Without the Rhineland, would it still be possible for the Kingdom of Prussia to rise as it did historically?

Apparently impossible.

Of course, the Rhineland was not as important as later generations, and the local industry was only in its infancy in the mid-19th century.

Otherwise, when Austria annexed South Germany, Napoleon III would have gone all the way.

Even if the proposal failed, the Kingdom of Prussia refused to exchange land. It doesn't matter, when France is short of coal in the future, Napoleon III will definitely provoke the Franco-Prussian War.

Even if he didn't want to fight, the French capitalists would have found a way to start a war, and if it didn't work, Austria could add fuel to the fire.

The Prussians won, and Austria divided the new country with them; If the French have won, then it would be better for Austria to annex the new country in one fell swoop, just to balance the French who have encroached on the industrial area of the Rhineland!

……

Berlin

Since the proposal of the British came out, the Prussian government fryed. Frederick William IV angrily scolded, no one is a fool, they follow the British, isn't the main purpose for profit?

Now it's good that Austria has been kicked out, but they have taken away a lot of inheritance. Not only did the Kingdom of Prussia gain nothing, but it was also kicked out of Germany.

There is no need to think about the reason, he also knows - interests.

The nascent regime was sure to be pro-British in the future, and after Belgium, the London government had planted another nail in the coffin on the continent.

In fact, this buffer not only limited Austria, but also cut off the road to great power in the Kingdom of Prussia.

Frederick-William IV asked angrily: "What about Austria, how did they react, did they condone the British in their misdeeds?" ”

Foreign Minister Andrea replied: "Your Majesty, Austria is ambivalent and seems to be hesitating, they do not want to give up the Duchy of Baden, nor do they want to break down the negotiations.

Now the pressure is all on us, and whether we agree to the land exchange or not, this new nation will be born. ”

To put it simply, this state in the interests of the great powers would be born, but the Kingdom of Prussia could refuse the land exchange proposal, and the countries did not force them to agree.

"If we join forces with Austria now, what is the success rate of carving up Germany?" Frederick-William IV asked with concern

What England is not British, in the face of interests Frederick William IV still raised his courage and wanted to give it a go.

"Your Majesty, the premise is that the Austrians are willing to join forces with us, and now the situation has changed, except for the Duchy of Baden, Austria has almost everything it wants this time.

What are their interests in joining forces with us at this time? Unless we make significant concessions in the distribution of benefits! Foreign Minister Andrea replied

Frederick Wilhelm IV was silent, and if he had given in, the kingdom of Prussia would have been too small once Austria had annexed central Germany.

The small size of the site and the small population mean that the potential for development is limited. The dream of a great country must first be big enough!

According to the original Austrian proposal, the Kingdom of Prussia annexed North Germany with a population of more than 20 million and a territory of nearly 380,000 square kilometers, at the cost of offending Britain and France.

To provoke a war now is to also offend Britain and France, but the benefits will be much smaller, and Frederick William IV is naturally unwilling.

"Your Majesty, now that the opportunity has been missed, it is better to wait for the next opportunity! It is impossible for the European continent to be balanced forever, and as long as the power of Britain, Russia, France and Austria is unbalanced, war is inevitable. Josef von Ladowitz thought for a moment and said

After wandering left and right for a while, Frederick-William IV spoke: "And what about the question of land exchange, should we refuse?" ”

"Your Majesty, strategically speaking, after we exchange the Rhineland, we can make the territory more concentrated, the national defense and security more guaranteed, and avoid the border with the French.

But the resources of the Rhineland region are also very important to us, even if we switch to the economically developed Hamburg region, we also suffer. Prime Minister Joseph von Ladowitz replied

It was a dilemma, and Josef von Ladoritz suspected that the British proposal was originally uneasy and well-intentioned. Of course, this is not necessarily aimed at the Kingdom of Prussia, but more likely to provoke Franco-Austrian contradictions.

Once the Rhineland falls into the hands of this new country, Austria will definitely not accept the idea of the French fighting here in the future, and the British will fight if they work harder.

If the Prussian government refuses to change the land, then the situation will change, and it may not be Austria but the Kingdom of Prussia that will be on top.

It was just his instinctive guess, and reason told him it wasn't reliable. Thanks to the prestige of Napoleon the Great, the French now have a strong reaction as long as they expand abroad, and Napoleon III would not be so unwise.

……

While the Prussians were hesitating, Metternich also had a headache. The many states of the German region awaited Austria's reply.

Theoretically, the German Confederation had not yet been dissolved, and the governments of the states were waiting for Austria to say whether or not to dissolve the Bundestag.

The proposal of the British to divide the Germans, which was not kept secret, is now known almost to everyone. For these state governments, the formation of a new state naturally makes their interests more secure.

However, everyone is an old fritter, and they will not show any surprised expressions at this time, but their faces are gloomy, as if they are all opposing the dissolution of the German Confederation.

In the face of a gang of acting schools, Metternich only felt that his head was big. Knowing that they were putting on a show, Metternich had to cooperate with them to act.

If you don't do enough drama, how can you explain it to the people in China?

The reunification of Germany was abruptly dead, but we did our best, and I don't believe you see that we are harassing every day, not visiting dignitaries of various countries, although we don't see anyone.

No one else can see these people, but Metternich can't hide from them. I can only receive it with a hard head, and everyone sighs together about the hardships of German reunification, and then scolds these intervening countries, and goes back to their respective homes.

In short, here are all supporters of the unity of the German region, and there are absolutely no selfish people, at least it seems.

In this context, Metternich must also visit the delegates on a daily basis and try to gain their support.

So far, Austria has gained the understanding and support of Naples, the Papal States, Tuscany and other countries.

Even Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and other countries have changed their attitudes, and the union of Austria and the South German states has been recognized, taking into account religious beliefs.

As the saying goes, one blow, then decline, three and exhaustion. The Intervention Alliance, which had not yet been formed, had been divided and disintegrated without everyone noticing.

On October 1, 1853, the Paris Conference, which lasted for more than a month, came to an end, and at Metternich's insistence, Austria successfully annexed Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Frankfurt, Hesse-Darmstain and other regions.

The land area was increased by about 122,000 square kilometers and the population was increased by about 9.5 million, which was the first step on the road to German reunification.

Under the principle of unanimity of the great powers, the remaining German regional states, with the exception of the Kingdom of Prussia, were merged into the Federal Empire of Germany, and the old traditional electoral system was restored.

The question of the exchange of territory between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Federal Empire of Germany is currently in a state of stalemate, and the Prussian government's appetite is too great to be resisted by many states, especially the governments of the countries in the area being exchanged, which are strongly opposed.

If it's just the government that's against it, then the countries can still force it, but the problem is that the reaction from the people is even more violent. Most of the embassy of the Kingdom of Prussia in Germany was besieged by the populace.

This fierce reaction directly shook the Prussian government's determination to exchange land. Frederick Wilhelm IV did not want to rule a mob on his own, and he had not forgotten the lessons of the Berlin Revolution.

Compared with the stability of the rule, the national strategy can be put behind, and besides, the development potential of the Rhineland region is really large, and the Prussian government is reluctant to throw it out.

If the benefits are too great, then they cannot afford to exchange them, obviously it is impossible now, the German federal government only agreed to exchange equal areas, and the Prussian government certainly did not agree.

If it weren't for everyone's consideration of the face of the great powers, perhaps the negotiations would have ended by now.

Having received the final resolution of the Paris Conference, Franz breathed a deep sigh of relief, but of course his joy was not expressed.

From the outside world's point of view, Franz the Great is now angry. In order to protest against the unfair treatment of the Paris Conference, he also wrote an essay "Dark Days" very pretendedly.

"Today is the darkest day of my life, when the German region has been forcibly divided by a gang of shameless bandits and a national thief.

God frowned, and the sun's rays hit the ground, leaving only a few thin and weak rays of light.

The wind is howling, the storm is coming, is the great Germany ready?

Get ready for this wind and rain and for this dim hour.

This is a world of the strong, and you must be strong, O my people. The wind does not blow us down, and the rain does not weigh on us.

The only one who can knock us down is always ourselves! Only by being strong and bravely facing all this, the dark days will always pass, and you can always see the rainbow after the wind and rain.

……”

Before he returned to Vienna, Franz's article was first delivered to the German region, and he was stingy with half a cent, even if the cost of telegraph in this era was sky-high.

Naturally, public opinion propaganda has to seize the opportunity, and Franz is very experienced in this regard. At this time, it is estimated that few people in Germany are in a good mood, and Franz naturally wants to stand with the people.

For the sake of the future, at this time he must also call on everyone to hold on, absolutely not to give in to reality, the division is only temporary, and the reunification of the German regions is a matter of time.

As long as the unified flag does not fall, it is equivalent to opening a back door for the future expansion of Austria.

Under Franz's influence, the Vienna government also canceled the celebrations that had been planned, and the whole government was mourning the division of the German region.