Evolution in the revolutionary era
Since 1815, the German states had belonged to the German Confederation. Its territory was defined essentially after theEvolution after 1850
Austria rejected these attempts and made Prussia give up for the time being its union plans in late 1850. Except for Hungary, the Austrian Empire remained a part of the re-established German Confederation, while Prussia still tried to improve its position within the confederation and even cherished its union plans. Around 1860, the German question became dynamic again. Austria came out weakened by the Italian War of the previous year while Prussia sought to gain the approval of the national movement. Several proposals were made to reform the German Confederation, most notably in 1863 at the ''Frankfurter Fürstentag''. At this moment, the networks of the political elites in Lesser Germany were already quite separate from the Austrian ones. In April and June 1866, Prussia proposed to convert the German Confederation into a federal state without Austria. Bavaria refused to become Prussia's junior partner in this project. But nevertheless Prussia sought the confrontation with Austria that was unwilling to accept Prussia as its equal within the confederation. TheFootnotes