ABSTRACT
The im pact of N apoleon’s return to France had caused the four great powers of Europe - Great Britain, A ustria, Russia and Prussia - to temporarily bury their differences. Britain and A ustria quietly nullified the secret alliance made at Vienna, and on the Prussian side Gneisenau and Boyen abandoned detailed plans they had draw n up for a Germ an ‘people’s w ar’. A lthough in contradiction of the principle of m onarchic legitimacy, this planned war was to solve the German question, if necessary at the expense of the princes; the plans caused Frederick William III and H ardenberg some misgivings, but they were not in outright opposition.
