ABSTRACT
The year 1849 opened in singular obscurity. Prussia had restored her kingly power, Austria had restored order in her German provinces: so the two greatest states in Germany were again in existence. But the German National Parliament remained with a Central Executive and Reichsverweser (Imperial Vicar) as the living symbol of German unity, as the body which might hope still to realise the dreams of so many and to make Germany no longer a name but a nation. There were too many of the smaller states committed to its policy, there was too much public opinion still in its favour, for it to be flouted altogether or at once. It was therefore in a position to force, and did force, upon Austria a great decision as to the future. After long debate the members of the National Assembly had decided not to exclude Austria from the proposed Federation (or Empire, as it was often called), but they equally declined to include any non-German part of Austria in the new German union. So they offered Austria a place in the new German Empire, but stipulated that her non-German parts (Hungary, etc.) should stand aside. Schwarzenberg replied to this offer on December 13, 1848, by saying that Austria and all its parts would, in future, be one single, organic centralised state, and, as such, must enter the Confederation (Bund). He rejected the new German Empire altogether, and proposed to revive the old Bund with a stronger executive.
