¹ From 15 to 18 August, Friedrich Wilhelm IV visited the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and Rhine on his journey to Ischl, where he met the Austrian emperor on 30 August 1851.

² The estate assemblies were abolished in 1848 and not included in the constitution of 31 January 1850. On 15 and 28 May 1851, the Prussian minister of the interior, Ferdinand von Westphalen, ordered their reinstatement as representative bodies for Prussian circles (Kreistage) and provinces (Provinzialstände). This interim measure was finally settled by the law on provincial estates of 24 May 1854.

³ The Prussian chambers were elected according to a three-class franchise imposed on 30 May 1849 and stipulated in Article 71 of the constitution of 31 January 1850.

⁴ Bloomfield alludes to the convocation of the United Diet in 1847 in order to finance a railway link from Berlin to Königsberg.

⁵ Bloomfield refers to restrictive measures such as the press ordinance of 6 July 1851 and the (intended) repeal of the constitution. The imperial rescripts of 20 August were most probably unknown to Bloomfield at the time of this dispatch. See pp. 454–456.

⁶ Schwarzenberg visited Berlin on 29 and 30 December 1850.

⁷ Howard alludes to criticism after the Olmütz Punctation of 29 November 1850 (see n. 84 in Württemberg section), when Prussia abandoned its claim to leadership in Germany.

⁸ For the dispute over the inclusion of Austria within a German commercial league see the following dispatch.

⁹ Berlin General Conference of the Zollverein, April–September 1852. The Prussian plenipotentiary mentioned was Johann von Pommer-Esche.

¹⁰ At the Darmstadt Conference (6 April 1852), Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Cassel, and Nassau agreed to include the question of a commercial union with Austria in the pending deliberations on the continuation of the Zollverein. The main goal of the Darmstadt Coalition was to secure the political autonomy and leverage of the German middle states in federal and commercial affairs. Buol's confidential communication to the Darmstadt Coalition was contained in the circular dispatches of 10 and 12 June 1852.

¹¹ ‘Based on value’; in this dispatch, Bloomfield refers to the Prussian customs law of 26 May 1818.

¹² The commercial treaty between Prussia and Hanover of 7 September 1851 (see n. 9 in Frankfurt section) was subject to approval by the other Zollverein states. Bremen concluded a commercial treaty with the Zollverein on 26 January 1856, but did not join until 1888.

¹³ On 8 June, the royal court of Florence sentenced Rosa and Francesco Madiai to forty-six and fifty-six months’ imprisonment respectively for proselytism and conversion to Protestantism.

¹⁴ The Duke of Wellington's state funeral took place in St Paul's Cathedral on 18 November 1852.

¹⁵ Constitution of 31 January 1850.

¹⁶ According to the government bill of 7 December 1852, passed by the chambers on 7 February and 10 March 1853, the members of the first chamber were to be appointed by the king, on either a hereditary or a lifetime basis. The law was enacted on 7 May 1853.

¹⁷ See n. 3 in this section.

¹⁸ See n. 2 in this section.

¹⁹ Name not traceable.

²⁰ Die Zeit, established in 1850, was considered the semi-official organ of the Zentralstelle für Presseangelegenheiten, the press bureau under the direction of the minister president, Manteuffel. Enclosure: English translation of extract from Die Zeit, not dated.

²¹ Loftus refers to the feast day of Saint Nicholas (6 December). The Gregorian calendar used in Russia at the time meant that the Russian celebration of the feast in Berlin fell on 18 December.

²² On 5 December, following the naval battle of Sinope on 30 November 1853, in which an entire flotilla of Turkish ships was destroyed by the Russian navy, the French and British envoys to Constantinople decided to dispatch the allied fleet. Official orders from the French and British governments followed on 13 and 20 December. The fleet entered the Black Sea on 4 January.

²³ Friedrich Wilhelm IV to Bunsen, 19 December 1853.

²⁴ In his dispatch to Manteuffel of 17 December 1853, Bunsen reported that the Foreign Office believed that war was inevitable.

²⁵ In the protocol of 5 December 1853, Austria, England, France, and Prussia offered to mediate between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and declared that the maintenance of Turkey's territorial integrity was the necessary condition of the European balance of power.

²⁶ ‘Affront’.

²⁷ ‘Canon fire’.

²⁸ The Tsar was in Potsdam from 7 to 10 October 1853.

²⁹ Friedrich Wilhelm IV to Victoria, 24 May 1854. Bunsen was dismissed as envoy to London on 26 April, owing to his unauthorized attempts to promote an alliance between Prussia and the Western allies in the Crimean War. Bunsen presented his letter of recall to Queen Victoria on 31 May.

³⁰ Elisabeth Ludovika.

³¹ On 27/28 March 1854, France and Great Britain declared war on Russia. The Anglo-French alliance rested on the treaties of 12 March and 10 April 1854.

³² On 8 June, Russia floated a foreign loan of 50 million silver roubles at 5%. In his conversation with Manteuffel, Loftus expressed the British government's wish that the loan should not be quoted in Prussian newspapers.

³³ The Times of 31 October 1854 reported that the Neue Preußische Zeitung (established 1848; called Kreuzzeitung after its emblem, an iron cross), the organ of the pro-Russian camarilla, received a formal warning from the police to abstain from attacks against France and the ‘political measures of other Governments’.

³⁴ Manteuffel alluded to the rumours of England's intention to blockade east Prussian ports as an extension of the blockade of Russian ports.

³⁵ In his dispatch of 21 October 1854, Manteuffel advised Werther, the Prussian envoy to St Petersburg, to call upon Russia to make a peace proposal through Austria on the basis of the Four Point Peace Proposal of Vienna (see n. 27 in Frankfurt section) and assure Russia of Prussia's support for this initiative for peace.

³⁶ Nicholas I died on 18 February 1855.

³⁷ Kaiser Alexander Garde-Grenadier-Regiment No 1.

³⁸ The elections were held on 8 October 1855.

³⁹ Liberal-conservative Party, also named the Wochenblattpartei after the Preußische Wochenblatt (established 1851). For the Kreuzzeitung Party see n. 33 in this section.

⁴⁰ See n. 3 in this section.

⁴¹ Constitution of 31 January 1850.

⁴² On 21 November 1855, France, Great Britain, and Sweden concluded a defensive treaty that guaranteed the integrity of Swedish territory against Russian aggression. It was not communicated to the Prussian government until 18 December 1855. Spain's offer to join the Anglo-French alliance against Russia with 25,000 men dated back to July 1855, and was still under discussion. The ‘Galicia’ mentioned in the dispatch most probably refers to Western Galicia, the southern part of the Kingdom of Poland under Russian rule (the Kingdom of Galicia belonged to the Austrian Empire).

⁴³ See n. 34 in this section.

⁴⁴ The anonymous author of the pamphlet claimed that Prussia and Russia had concluded special conventions in January 1855 and called for a league of neutral states.

⁴⁵ In the treaty of 20 April 1854, Prussia and Austria agreed to mutual assistance for the duration of the Crimean War and guaranteed the integrity of each other's German and non-German provinces. The Federal Diet subscribed to this alliance on 24 July 1854.

⁴⁶ While Trieste was within the boundaries of the German Confederation, the Federal Diet did not go beyond making a protest against the blockade on 18 June 1848.

⁴⁷ See n. 28 in Frankfurt section.

⁴⁸ See n. 27 in Frankfurt section.

⁴⁹ On 28 January 1856, after having received a dispatch from Buol on 25 January, Esterházy communicated Austria's wish for Prussian support for putting the Austrian Five Point Peace Proposal to a vote of the Federal Diet.

⁵⁰ Mathis's motion of 19 December 1856 (originally submitted in spring 1856) was discussed from 16 to 23 April 1857.

⁵¹ Press law of 12 May 1851.

⁵² For the Preußische Wochenblatt and the Kreuzzeitung see nn. 39 and 33 in this section. The National Zeitung was a liberal Berlin daily founded in 1848. The Catholic Deutsche Volkshalle was founded in October 1848 in Cologne.

⁵³ The Rastatt dispute originated with the joint motion of Austria and Baden to the Federal Diet of 18 June 1857, aiming for the strengthening of Austrian forces at the Rastatt federal fortress. The plan, which was agreed by Austria and Baden at the end of April 1857 and communicated to Prussia on 2 May, was contrary to Prussia's policy of containing Austrian influence in southern Germany.

⁵⁴ ‘A domestic affair’.

⁵⁵ In a circular dispatch to the French missions in Germany from early June, the French government objected to the strengthening of the Rastatt fortress.

⁵⁶ Convention of 17 November 1856 between the King of Prussia and the King of the Netherlands as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, approved by the Federal Diet on 26 February 1857.

⁵⁷ In his dispatch of 16 June, Malet reported on Prussia's hostile intentions and Bismarck's ‘remarkably strong language’ towards Rechberg, Austria's envoy to the Federal Diet.

⁵⁸ Wilhelm assumed the role of prince regent on 9 October 1858.

⁵⁹ Schleinitz was secretary of legation in London in 1840–1841.

⁶⁰ ‘Of faith’.

⁶¹ Princess Victoria.

⁶² Paget refers to the transitory phase since October 1857, when Wilhelm deputized for Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

⁶³ Wilhelm fled to London on 22 March 1848, and stayed until the end of May.

⁶⁴ The Crimean War, 1853–1856.

⁶⁵ In his telegram of 8 November 1858, Malmesbury reciprocated Schleinitz's wish to be on the most cordial terms.

⁶⁶ The Second War of Italian Independence ended on 11 July 1859 with the preliminary Peace of Villafranca (see n. 61 in Frankfurt section). For Prussian and federal policy during the war, see pp. 56–58 and 483–486.

⁶⁷ Bloomfield refers to French assurances – as put down in the circular of 26/27 April 1859 – that France did not aim for territorial expansion.

⁶⁸ The Holy Alliance, initially a declaration of intent on 26 September 1815 by the rulers of Russia, Austria, and Prussia to defend the legitimacy of the monarchic principle, agreed to offer mutual support and to work for the preservation of the principles of the Christian religion.

⁶⁹ From his accession in 1855, Alexander II had distanced his policy from the reactionary period of Nicholas I and had initiated discussions on several reforms, most importantly the serf question, which was resolved by the emancipation statute of 1861.

⁷⁰ The liberal system was based on the Napoleonic Code Civil, introduced in the areas on the left bank of the Rhine in 1804 when they were annexed within the French Empire.

⁷¹ Vossische Zeitung and Spenersche Zeitung.

⁷² Berlin Volks-Zeitung, left-liberal daily (established 1853). For the National Zeitung see n. 52 in this section.

⁷³ For the Gotha Party see n. 7 in Frankfurt section.

⁷⁴ 10 November 1859.

⁷⁵ The Schiller monument on Gendarmenmarkt was completed and formally unveiled on 10 November 1871.

⁷⁶ Wilhelm.

⁷⁷ Enclosures: newspaper cutting, detailing Prince Friedrich Wilhelm's letter marked Berlin, 6 November 1859 (original and English translation).

⁷⁸ Article 12 of the constitution of 31 January 1850.

⁷⁹ See n. 2 in this section.

⁸⁰ The Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed Churches.

⁸¹ Bloomfield refers to the edict of October 1807 and the emancipation edict of 1812.

⁸² Rescript of 16 February 1859.

⁸³ The three Jewish Rittergutsbesitzer (lords of the manor) present were Boas, Werther, and Cohn.

⁸⁴ Friedrich d'or, Prussian gold coin introduced in 1750.

⁸⁵ Section 263 of the Prussian criminal code of 1851 made it an offence to take higher interest rates than those established by law.

⁸⁶ As a consequence of its defeat by France, the Prussian army was reformed in the years 1807–1814. The reform bills laid before the house of deputies on 10 February 1860 included a law on military organization and terms of service, as well as a financial law granting 9.5 million thalers for the military reform.

⁸⁷ Wilhelm.

⁸⁸ Enclosures: extract from the Allgemeine Zeitung quoted in the Volks-Zeitung (original and English translation).

⁸⁹ Liberals.

⁹⁰ Service was to be restricted to two years.

⁹¹ Friedrich Wilhelm.

⁹² Constitution of 31 January 1850.

⁹³ The banquet was held on 11 March 1860. For the Nationalverein see n. 71 in Frankfurt section.

⁹⁴ Bloomfield refers to the Second War of Italian Independence.

⁹⁵ See pp. 271–275.

⁹⁶ In his speech, Benningsen referred to the French threat to the territorial order of 1815 and France's suspected aspirations to reconquer the Rhine frontier.

⁹⁷ Wilhelm.

⁹⁸ See n. 33 in this section.

⁹⁹ In 1860, Wilhelm Stieber, head of the criminal investigation department of the Berlin police, was brought to trial for illegal conduct. Despite reaching a verdict of not guilty, the trial revealed the arbitrary conduct of the Berlin police, the prosecution service, and the minister of justice.

¹⁰⁰ Friedrich Wilhelm IV died on 2 January 1861, and was succeeded by his brother Wilhelm I.

¹⁰¹ Demonstrations against Russian rule were held in Warsaw on 25 and 27 February; five students were killed.

¹⁰² November Uprising of 1830–1831 and the Cracow and Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) uprisings of 1846.

¹⁰³ At the Congress of Vienna of 1815, the final partition of Poland was confirmed. Article 1 of the Treaty of Vienna of 9 June 1815, to which Niegolewski referred in his motion of 20 March 1861, stipulated that ‘Poles, who are respective subjects of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, shall obtain a Representation and National Institutions.’ In 1861, Polish territories were held by Prussia (Duchy of Posen), Austria (Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duchy of Cracow), and Russia (Congress Kingdom of Poland).

¹⁰⁴ According to Paragraph 1 of the Prussian constitution of 31 January 1850, all parts of the monarchy constituted the territory of the Prussian state.

¹⁰⁵ Enclosures: cutting of article entitled ‘Kammer-Verhandlungen. 28. Sitzung des Hauses der Abgeordneten’, dated 20 March (original and English translation).

¹⁰⁶ After his accession to the throne on 2 January 1861, Wilhelm I wished for the traditional Erbhuldigung ceremony (homage), which included a mutual vow of the king and the deputies of the estates.

¹⁰⁷ Albrecht von Roon.

¹⁰⁸ Royal proclamation of 3 July 1861.

¹⁰⁹ Elections for the house of deputies took place on 6 December 1861.

¹¹⁰ The cabinet of the ‘New Era’ took office on 6 November 1858.

¹¹¹ See n. 58 in this section.

¹¹² Wilhelm arrived at Baden-Baden in July 1861. See the following dispatch.

¹¹³ Assassination attempt on Wilhelm I at Baden-Baden on 14 July 1861.

¹¹⁴ The military cabinet was an instrument of direct royal control and sovereign command of the army.

¹¹⁵ Edwin von Manteuffel was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for duelling. He was released after two weeks.

¹¹⁶ The deputation from Berlin was received by Wilhelm in Baden-Baden on 17 July. His letter to the Baden council was dated 15 July 1861.

¹¹⁷ See n. 109 in this section.

¹¹⁸ On 21 June 1862, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm – under threat of Prussian military intervention – complied with the federal resolutions of 13 and 24 May 1862 and restored the constitution of 1831. On 24 June, elections were announced, seemingly putting an end to the Hesse-Cassel Question.

¹¹⁹ On 26 May 1862, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm dismissed his ministers, which suggested a change of policy. However, despite projections of a liberal ministry (which submitted a programme on 6 June), the Prince Elector installed a conservative cabinet on 22 June 1862.

¹²⁰ On 14 March 1862, the ministry of the ‘New Era’ was replaced by the conservative ministry of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.

¹²¹ Enclosures: cutting of article entitled ‘Regierung, Heer und Volk’ from National Zeitung of 27 June 1862 (original and précis).

¹²² The session was closed owing to the irreconcilable differences over the military budget (see n. 86 in this section). On 3 October, the house of deputies passed an amended version of the draft budget that rejected all expenditures for the reorganization of the military. On 11 October, the Herrenhaus (first chamber) dismissed the house of deputies’ amended budget and – going beyond its constitutional rights – passed the budget as originally presented by the government. On 13 October, the house of deputies declared this procedure to be ‘null and void’. The royal message closed the session on the same day, and proclaimed that the government would carry out the spending plans of the original budget and have it legally ratified at a later date.

¹²³ On 11 May 1863, in the course of the debate on the Kriegsdienstgesetz (law on military service), the vice-president of the house of deputies interrupted Roon, the minister of war. On 20 May, after the chamber had rejected the ministry's demand for a declaration that the chamber had no disciplinary power over members of the government, Wilhelm I declared his support for the ministry's course. The chamber responded in its address to the king on 22 May, revoking their further collaboration with the government and demanding a change of cabinet.

¹²⁴ Wilhelm Grabow.

¹²⁵ Press ordinance of 1 June 1863.

¹²⁶ Enclosure: Article 63 of the constitution of 31 January 1850 (translation).

¹²⁷ Buchanan refers to the ordinances of 26 July 1830, and the subsequent French revolution of July, which overthrew the Bourbon dynasty.

¹²⁸ Deutsche Fortschrittspartei (German Progressive Party), founded by members of the Prussian house of deputies on 6 June 1862.

¹²⁹ For the Austrian plan for federal reform submitted to the Frankfurt congress of German princes (17 August–1 September 1863) see pp. 75–76. At Bismarck's instigation, the King of Prussia did not attend the Fürstentag.

¹³⁰ See n. 33 in this section.

¹³¹ Act of the German Confederation of 8 June 1815.

¹³² For the Schleswig-Holstein Question and Friedrich von Augustenburg's claims see pp. 77–78.

¹³³ London Protocol of 1852 (see n. 97 in Frankfurt section).

¹³⁴ The precondition of the federal execution (Bundesexekution) against Holstein (see n. 99 in Frankfurt section) was that Holstein (unlike Schleswig) was a member state of the German Confederation.

¹³⁵ See n. 33 in this section.

¹³⁶ Act of 30 December 1852, by which Duke Christian August renounced his and his family's rights to any portion of the dominions of the Danish crown. The financial compensation amounted to 1,500,000 double Rixdollar (Danish silver coinage).

¹³⁷ On 19 November 1863, the Danish government ordered state officials in Schleswig and Holstein to take the oath of allegiance to the new king within three days.

¹³⁸ On 19 November 1863, twenty-four members of the Holstein estates made a declaration in favour of the hereditary rights of Friedrich von Augustenburg, and petitioned the Federal Diet at Frankfurt for the protection of the Confederation.

¹³⁹ See n. 71 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁴⁰ The ‘Eider-Danes’ were Denmark's liberal-nationalist party, who wished to see the river Eider (the border between Schleswig and Holstein) as the border of a homogenous Danish state.

¹⁴¹ Buchanan refers to the unification of Italy in 1861, the deposition of Otto as King of Greece on 23 October 1862, and the Polish uprising against Russian rule in 1863.

¹⁴² France, Great Britain, and Russia.

¹⁴³ The non-German signatories (apart from Denmark) were France, Great Britain, Russia, and Sweden. For the London Protocol of 1852, see n. 97 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁴⁴ The preliminary peace of 1 August 1864 ended the Second Schleswig-Holstein War (see n. 103 in Frankfurt section). Denmark ceded the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg to Austria and Prussia.

¹⁴⁵ Enclosures: newspaper cutting from Elberfelder Zeitung, no date (original and translation); newspaper cutting from Volks-Zeitung entitled ‘Falsche Vorstellungen’, dated 12 August 1864 (original and translation).

¹⁴⁶ For Friedrich von Augustenburg's claims see n. 97 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁴⁷ In his conversation with Buchanan of 29 January 1864, Bismarck stated that he believed Britain would be more favourable to the Austro-Prussian occupation of Schleswig if assurances were given for the maintenance of the integrity of the Danish monarchy and if the Prince of Augustenburg were removed from Holstein.

¹⁴⁸ In the summer of 1864, Austria's position in Italy was considered in the ongoing deliberations between Bismarck and Rechberg on the Schleswig-Holstein Question. Their draft convention agreed at Schönbrunn on 24 August 1864 was discarded by the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia.

¹⁴⁹ From 1860 to 1862, Bismarck and Napier were both accredited to the Russian court at St Petersburg.

¹⁵⁰ Napier refers to Bismarck's role in Prussia's policy of neutrality in 1853–1855 and the Anglo-Prussian differences over the Second Schleswig-Holstein War of 1864.

¹⁵¹ For the Franco-Prussian Commercial Treaty and the renewal of the Zollverein treaty, see n. 88 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁵² Constitution of 31 January 1850.

¹⁵³ The union of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein was guaranteed by the Treaty of Ripen of 1460. For the claims of Friedrich von Augustenburg and the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, Peter II, see nn. 97 and 104 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁵⁴ Probably quoting Viscount Palmerston (House of Commons, 27 February 1863), who, referring to Russian rule in Poland, stated that ‘It is a great misfortune for anybody to succeed to an inheritance of triumphant wrong.’

¹⁵⁵ Napier is most probably alluding to Napoleon III's policies of territorial expansion in Europe. France had gained Nice and Savoy from Piedmont-Sardinia in 1860, and was suspected of territorial ambitions in Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Rhineland.

¹⁵⁶ After the Austro-Italian War of 1859, Venetia remained within the Austrian Empire.

¹⁵⁷ The bill on military service (Dienstpflichtgesetz) of 2 February 1865 was the fifth draft submitted to the Prussian house of deputies since February 1860.

¹⁵⁸ Report of the commission of 6 April 1865.

¹⁵⁹ Direct report (Immediatsbericht) to the king of 23 January 1865.

¹⁶⁰ Fortschrittspartei (see n. 128 in this section).

¹⁶¹ Altliberale.

¹⁶² See n. 3 in this section.

¹⁶³ Friedrich von Augustenburg refused to leave Holstein voluntarily after having declared his accession as Duke Friedrich VIII of Schleswig-Holstein on 16 November 1863 and having formed a parallel government on 25 November. On 10 July 1865, the Austrian emperor declined Prussian demands for the expulsion of the prince from Schleswig. For the Austro-Prussian dispute see n. 115 in Austria section.

¹⁶⁴ According to the Treaty of Vienna of 30 October 1864 between Austria, Prussia, and Denmark, which codified the preliminary peace of 1 August 1864 (see n. 144 in this section), the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg were placed under joint Austrian and Prussian administration (condominium). Friedrich von Augustenburg disputed King's Christian IX's right of renunciation of the duchies.

¹⁶⁵ Napier most probably refers to the violent arrest of the journalist Martin May in Altona by the Prussian military forces on 25 July 1865, which caused considerable excitement in the duchies.

¹⁶⁶ From 3 to 31 October, Bismarck stayed at Biarritz, where he had audiences with Napoleon III to discuss the French position in the case of an Austro-Prussian war. Bismarck had previously met Eugène Rouher and Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys at Paris.

¹⁶⁷ King Leopold's poor health and the question of non-German compensation to France for Prussian hegemony in Germany gave rise to speculations of Napoleon III's ambitions for Belgium.

¹⁶⁸ In 1814, Wilhelm participated in the Prussian campaign against France.

¹⁶⁹ The population in the Rhine provinces was predominantly Catholic.

¹⁷⁰ In his dispatch to Károlyi of 26 April 1866, communicated to the Prussian government on 28 April, Mensdorff proposed to award the Austro-Prussian rights over the duchies (see n. 164 in this section) to a claimant to be chosen by the Federal Diet. In return, Austria would advocate that Prussia retain special rights to Holstein (including a naval port at Kiel). In the event of Prussian non-compliance, Austria announced that it would leave the issue to the resolution of the Federal Diet (enclosures absent in FO 64/593).

¹⁷¹ See n. 114 in Frankfurt section.

¹⁷² ‘Safeguard’, originally from Greek and Roman mythology.

¹⁷³ Albrecht Graf von Bernstorff.

¹⁷⁴ The main points of the preliminary peace of Nikolsburg (Mikulov) of 26 July 1866 between Austria and Prussia were: the maintenance of the integrity of the Austrian Empire (with the exception of Lombardy-Venetia) and the Kingdom of Saxony; Austria's recognition of the dissolution of the German Confederation; Austria's consent to the formation of a North German Confederation by Prussia and a union of the states south of the River Main; and Austria's agreement to transfer all rights over Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia, and to pay an indemnity of 40,000,000 thalers.

¹⁷⁵ Besides Saxony, Prussia assumed power in the occupied states of Hanover, Holstein, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, and the Free City of Frankfurt.

¹⁷⁶ Imperial Constitution of 28 March 1849, passed by the Frankfurt National Assembly.

¹⁷⁷ Enclosures: extract from Königlich Preußischer Staats-Anzeiger of 28 July 1866 (original and French translation).